Dogs

I am amazed that in today's world there are still people who totally don't get dogs. I'm not talking about the evil people who hurt them (that's an issue that is so disturbing to me that I can't even talk about it) but people who try to "train" their dog without even understanding how a dog thinks.

Now don't get me wrong, I'm no dog trainer. My dogs know how to sit and lay down and not much else. My goal with them is companionship, period. Still, if I wanted to train them further I definitely wouldn't treat them as a beneath me being, like so many try to do.

Granted, they are canids and there is a pack instinct in dogs but their similarity to wolves ends there. We have domesticated and bred dogs for thousands upon thousands of years. In fact, cavemen domesticated them and think about it like this: if humans have evolved then how can we deny that dogs haven't evolved?

My point is that dogs haven't been wolves for thousands of years so naturally the old wolf instincts are extinct, so to speak. Their behaviors and health issues are the result of human interference. Period.

Dogs are supposed to be our friends and companions. They are not to be treated as wild animals nor as anything less than how you would treat your friends. If you don't feel a friend to them, then please find your dog a better home where they will be appreciated. It is unfair to keep a dog if you cannot treat it the way it should be treated.

When I see dogs chained up outside, or literally living in the backyard, I am incensed and disgusted. There is no reason to keep a dog if that's how you're going to treat it. Obviously working dogs have a job to do and there are some that have to remain outdoors because they were bred for a certain task, such as the sheep dogs that live with the flock (who I might add uses the flock as his pack), but those are few and far between.

I cannot say this loudly enough:

DOGS DO NOT BELONG ON CHAINS NOR IN THE BACKYARD! EVER!

For those of you who are interested in training your dog in any way, shape or form, you should try watching any of the videos by Emily Larlham known on youtube as Kikopup.

Positive training gives positive results and brings you closer to your dog a a relationship.

I'm reminded of something I heard the late Roger Caras say in a TV interview. It was an old Native American legend (I believe Native American, it could have been some other culture). I don't remember the exact legend but basically man and all animals of the world were standing in a field and the earth began to split apart, making a great divide, when all of a sudden, before the divide was too far, dog jumped over to man's side. That is why the dog is our friend.

It is a moving myth and even demonstrates the devotion our dogs have for us. Man didn't jump to animal's side, but dogs came to man.

For this reason, why doesn't all man return that devotion?

Please share this with your friends. It's not so I can get hits or whatever, because you can just copy and paste this in an email, without any acknowledgement of me whatsoever. I just want this to spread this word, so that people will learn.

If you know someone who chains up their dog or leaves them in the yard, send this to them so that they can learn why it's wrong. Please!

Thank you readers for listening. I just had to get this off my chest.

Cheers to you all!