Mistakes dog owners make (Part 2)

Picking up on the theme of last week, here are a few more thoughts on how we humans can improve how we manage and live with our dogs:

• Medical aid: would you know what to do if your dog needed immediate medical aid? If your answer is “go straight to my vet’s clinic”, then you are both right and wrong. Right in the sense that, if your dog is capable of being moved and your vet is close by, you may be ok. But wrong if, as often happens, events happen when your vet’s clinic is closed. Do you know where the 24 hour emergency clinics are? If your dog cannot be moved or, for example, is having trouble breathing, can you perform first aid on your dog? If the weather is bad and not conducive to driving, as can happen in our Canadian winters, would you be able to cope with your dog suddenly becoming sick? Doing some homework on how to cope with emergency medical situations may end up saving your dog’s life. Courses on canine first aid are available and well worth taking.
• Thinking like a dog: have you ever wondered what the world looks like from a dog’s perspective? If you haven’t, try it sometime: you may be surprised how you start to look at your dog’s behaviour in a different light. Instead of getting frustrated, which may lead down a negative path, step back and try to analyse why your dog did what she did, bearing in mind that, for example, dogs’ main sense is smell unlike humans’ which is sight. Each dog has its own personality but breeds have their own general characteristics. Take the time to read up on dog psychology and behaviours. Body language plays a huge part in how dogs communicate with not only other dogs but with other species, like humans, as well. What matters to a dog and how a dog prioritizes what’s important is just different than a human. The more you understand, the happier you’ll be.
• Dogs getting along: do all humans like all other humans? Just check out the news any day of the year and the answer will be a resounding NO! So why assume all dogs will get along well together? Does the phrase “it’s only a dog” play a part in our thinking? We may never truly know why dogs enjoy the company of some dogs and not others but it behoves us to pick up on our dog’s body language and understand the signals being sent to avoid negative situations arising. If you’re not sure, be cautious. Check with the owners of other dogs if it’s ok for the dogs to meet: never assume and then pay the price.
• Dogs are not toys: please respect the fact that dogs are living creatures that have feelings not just toys to be played with, or worse, discarded. Without wanting to sound like a party pooper, if you decide to dress your dog up (I’m not referring to winter clothing here), do it in a way which doesn’t restrict the dog’s movement or cause it discomfort. You may think it’s fun but your dog may be getting a raw deal, so watch the body language or verbal cues.

We all want the best for our dogs but there are times we need to stop and think, not just from a human perspective, but also from the perspective of man’s best friend.