Are you the same every day?

Do you ever make mistakes?  Do you ever get angry and lose your temper?  Do you sometime just feel not quite right?  Maybe an upset stomach or headache.  I’m sure the answer is yes to these questions…therefore why can our dogs not have similar days?  They are emotional sentient beings and therefore we should treat them as such.  Why do we expect our dogs to be 100% every day, every week every year???  This isn’t an excuse to overlook behaviour that needs to be addressed but more of a plea that we sometimes just need to give our dogs a break from our unrealistic expectations. 
 
I have conversations with people that say usually my dog is perfectly sociable but today they growled at another dog; it was totally unexpected, and I felt really disappointed and upset with them.   I usually respond with: don’t you sometimes just not feel like being sociable?  Sometimes you aren’t 100% and therefore you respond with more aggression or generally less polite?  My husband will certainly tell you that I can have a short temper some days…that can be lack of sleep, stress from work, overwhelm about the busyness of life or simply a headache.  Thankfully my husband doesn’t worry that this is the way I will always be, just that I was having a bad day and that tomorrow I will be back to my usual self! 
 
Can we not give the same regard towards our dogs?  Sometimes they will make a mistake at a trial, even though you have spent months training.  Sometimes it seems like they have forgotten their training.  Sometimes they might not appreciate a bouncy dog rushing up to them on a walk.  As long as these behaviours aren’t increasing in frequency and are occasional (and not serious in nature), then let’s all be ok with saying “it’s ok, my dog isn’t perfect, and neither am I!”  

​Jo x
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