by PH437670
•
14 August 2023
Earlier this year a client told me they couldnt handle their dog. After providing my usual support and realising the lady really didnt have the secure garden or space in the home to help the dog, my family and I agreed to take him. Monty is now at ours and part of the family. It took him a month to poo on the walk, 2 weeks to learn his new name and 3 months to really trust that every visitor that came and went to the house wasnt going to take him to their home. He was confused and young, dealing with the physical changes in his body too and still to this day east his tea as though he has never been fed. Professional dogs dont have training till they are 1 year old, having spent time being domesticated and allowed to teeth, grow and physically develop. Children take 4 years to become school ready and dogs can take 6-8 months to really be walk ready. As humans we have all the patience and understanding with our kids that they take years to grow and develop, they have good days and bad day and they need time to trust and understand their life with us. Why cant we allow this time and enjoy learning more about our dogs? Watching a dog develop, grow, love and trust time in their human pack or time alone as they learn about separation is a huge achievement and should involve a sense of pride. Praise them as they learn to sleep alone, look up on the walk for guidance, cock their leg if male and come back off lead when called. There is so much pressure on the new dog to arrive knowing its name and knowing how to live amongst hoovers, cars, leads, visitors and doorbells. We have to show them, spend time with them teaching them how to eat and not graze, where to toilet and how to walk nicely on a lead. We have dogs for up to15 years- allow them at least 15 day or weeks even to get life at home right first. Is this unattainable expectation we have on the dogs, the reason people just give up and rehome? We would never rehome our kids after the first months of sleepless nights? Please enjoy your dogs, they dont want to be pushed from pillar to post. They want to learn and please you. Show them what to do instead of shouting NO, STOP and DOWN. Aggression comes from fear and over tiredness. Dogs in the wild sleep for 18 hours of the day. Let our domestic sleep more, not follow, not guard at windows, not chew all day, just sleep. Then when you need them to listen and learn, walk nicely and come back on command - they will. For more please call me on 07815152781