​Are you willing to adapt?

We expect our dogs to adapt to live in our human world, but do we actually make adaptions to our lives so that our dogs can have the best possible life?  The privilege of having a dog in our lives is one that is so easy to get.  You could literally just decide one morning, and I reckon you could buy one with a few days.  Now I don’t want to get started on this issue (I have big feelings about that too!) but focus on the idea that without much planning or thought you can bring an animal into your home and just expect them to fit in.  This isn’t just take 2 weeks off work to settle them in and go back to ‘normal’ without any changes to your life. 

Are you ready to have some disturbed nights sleep if the new dog needs help to settle?  To get up early when the weathers too hot to walk during the day or get very wet when it won’t stop raining? Are you happy to give the dog their own space/area that is a safe place?  Are you willing to spend time learning how to read their body language communication?  Do you accept that fur will now be in every area of your house?  Do you understand that you might have to say no to some social plans because you cannot leave your dog for long periods of time?  Or you need to pay for a dog sitter?   

A big issue I come across is people struggling to change their opinion of what a dog should like and enjoy?  I talk about the ‘Disney dog’ in that we have grown up with unrealistic expectations of dogs in general.  Not all dogs enjoy going to the pub.  Not all dogs want to play with other dogs.  Not all dogs can be off lead in certain environments.  Can you make the changes needed to help support your dog’s individual choice? 

I speak to people that have had a certain breed of dog before and they presume that the next one will be the same.  Although there will likely be similarities between them with breed traits, but even if they are bred from similar lines, they will still be different.  That’s all about personality!  Are you willing to get to know the dog in front of you and work together to get the best outcomes for both of you?  To fulfil both of your wants? 

A sentence I say a lot is “don’t set your dog up to fail”.  If you know they cannot do a certain thing or cope in a certain situation, then why are you asking them to do it? Now don’t get me wrong, some of these things are training issues and as such you can spend time training your dog to learn all sorts of skills and modify their behaviour, however sometimes you need to accept that maybe it’s you that needs to adjust, it’s you that needs to change your behaviour and embrace the dog in front of you. 

Jo x
 
Photo of Penny & Pickle from this morning’s home visit – how gorgeous are they!