This post may sound harsh but understand it is coming from a good place and trying to prevent owners encountering issues with their dogs down the line.
All too often I see posts that say “my dog won’t allow...” or “my dog won’t tolerate....” or “my dog doesn’t let.....” Really?
Ask yourself why your dog is being put in a position of decision making it is not equipped to deal with?
Dogs, especially young dogs and puppies should not have choices. They should not be given the option to make decisions, that’s YOUR JOB. It is your job to decide what your dog can and can’t do. Your dog needs direction and guidance to grow into a well balanced individual that has confidence in YOU and YOUR decisions.
Dogs don’t always make the right choices or the right decisions, they are dogs and do not have the power of reasoning or concept of consequences the same as humans. They act out of instinct or react out of previous experience, and that’s not always compatible with our human way of life. Your dog only knows what you teach it and what it’s instincts drive it to do, it cannot weigh up options and necessarily come to the right decision in every circumstance. For example: your vet is a stranger that smells of strange scents, possibly acts in what may be perceived as a threatening manner in order to do their job. Your dog MUST NOT make the decision it doesn’t tolerate people near, as there will be some occasions it is absolutely necessary, even life saving. Your dog may be besotted by your kids, but what if one day it decides to “correct” your child for what it considers a breach of its own rules? What if it decides that you are not allowed to discipline your own kids? Dogs should not make decisions.
Please don’t add this level of stress and responsibility into your dog’s life, it’s really unfair and unkind and will result in a dog lacking in confidence when it is punished for making wrong decisions it should never have been in a position to make in the first place.
Dogs are not furry people, don’t credit them with human levels of calculation of consequences.
Dogs need routine, guidance and direction. Not options and choices. Build trust from making good decisions for your dog and let him enjoy doing what he does best - being a dog.

 

Jenny Wells