The Wrong idea of freedom

By Minou Tpain

The Wrong idea of freedom

Picture this. A family has a dog that is full of energy so they open up the door to the backyard, let the dog out to be free & close the door. The family goes on about their business & lets the dog back in 1 hour later.

Sounds pretty harmless right?

But now let’s paint a different picture. A family has a dog that picks up a toy & pushes it into the mom’s leg. She shoos him away & he walks to the dad, “Not right now buddy.” The dog puts the toy down & happily runs over to kid#1who he knocks down & the kid screams. The dog moves away & heads to the back door. He barks several times at a nearby bunny. Kid#2yells at the dog to be quite but mom comes to the door and says “Go outside & be free.”

Sometimes we have the wrong idea of freedom for our dogs. We feel that all they want in life is to run free, be one with nature so we let them out to enjoy themselves. But where are the humans in this situation? This idea of freedom where we allow our dogs to be outside for hours unsupervised is detrimental to a dog’s overall behavior and is a lazy response and excuse for “giving” your dog what he needs.

When a dog is left outside for long periods of time without his protectors, he feels the need to take care of things himself, so when something weird or scary comes around they will often choose to take care of it by barking and now we end up with a dog that barks at everything that passes by.

So if you are guilty of this (and don’t feel bad if you are, I too had fallen in that trap before) then consider going in the backyard with your dogs. Spend time with them. Be with them. Help them feel protected. You can also train out there, practice recall or work around passing triggers

Freedom is important but what it is NOT is unsupervised time alone, freedom is about safe choices and opportunities but it must be regulated so our dogs always feel protected and know that you are there for them, always.

#dogtraining #dogtraining101#dogtrainingadvice #dogtrainingisfun#dogtrainingrevolution #dogtrainingthoughts#dogtraininglife #doberman #cattledog#dogyard

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