3d • Predation Tidbits
Think Before You Choose
When people imagine what having a dog is like most times it is the glorified and romantic version that enters people’s heads. This can be due to meeting mostly well behaved dogs through friends and family and perhaps the only dog a person has had was their family dog growing up. Due to this they did not experience the full grasp of what being responsible for another living creature is like.
Another big inspiration for wanting a dog is the movies: 101 Dalmatians, Homeward Bound, Turner and Hooch, Lassie, Benji or Rescued by Ruby just to name a few. Many times movies like these will get people interested in a certain breed without ever doing their research on whether or not this breed is right for them. If this happens to be the case the dog may end up displaying some behavioral issues that the family cannot handle anymore and off to the shelter they go. It is a sad and unfortunate reality for some very good dogs who are just misunderstood and not in the right environment.
Do not fret this is not a doom and gloom post. As much as it is a sad reality it does also show the other side of people which are those who step up for these misunderstood and cast aside dogs (and other animals) which is a beautiful thing to see. There are also some working groups who rescue these “high energy” and “out of control” dogs and give them a purpose which is what they were bred for in the first place!
I say all of this to mention that it is so vitally important to understand what type of dog you have that way you can approach them as understanding as possible. That way you can understand them for the individual that they are. Not every high energy dog likes to play fetch with a tennis ball and even some high energy dog will not do a gosh darn thing for you for a treat. This is where doing a reward selection, even once every month or as needed, especially for puppies, can really maximize the joy of playing the game of detection for your dog.
A quick example would be that when Chiron K9 first acquired Csili her reward with the other party was either a KONG or ChuckIt ball and through reward selection I have found out that she actually really enjoys playing tug and in particular with a fuzzy tug (NOT a rope tug). Her long standing favorite at the minute are the tugs from OneFitK9 who I found on Etsy (great place for unique dog toys) but they do also have their own website.
There is obviously plenty more to cover on a topic like this so please feel free to share your thoughts in the comments. If someone you know is thinking they want a high energy dog please help guide them to make the best choice for them and for the dog.
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Think Before You Choose
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