12/16/2021
I like this post so much. Let’s take the pressure off ourselves and our dogs. Let’s make a life with our dogs that works for them and for us.
Can we, please, for the sake of dogs everywhere, and their people, normalize doing NOTHING with your dog?
No, I don’t mean leaving them alone all day or not training them or enriching their life at home. I mean not feeling like we have to DO something with them or have them BE something or a certain way. I’m not talking about neglecting dogs, I’m talking about taking pressure off them.
The majority of dogs are totally, 100% fine doing nothing. They truly don’t care about going with you to uncle Tim’s graduation bbq, or going to the dog park to make “friends” or any of the other stuff that WE, their people want for our own enjoyment and what the idea of having a dog has meant to us. Then, when we push these things on dogs, we are upset and disappointed that they don’t enjoy them, or behave a certain way, without looking at the big picture.
You have my full permission to do nothing with your dog. To train them for as much as you need, to enrich their lives as much as they desire, but if that means they stay home and snuggle on the couch with you instead of competing in a sport or going out in public, that is OKAY.
It’s also okay to teach your dog who does enjoy activities to DO NOTHING. And I can’t stress this enough. My dogs have days where they don’t get anything but some playtime in the yard and bones to chew. I don’t have them assume they get everything all day long. I see so many dogs that just don’t know how to do nothing because they are always doing SOMETHING.
The pressure dog people feel nowadays is directly correlated I believe to the increasing behavior issues dogs are having. The idea of dogs being able to do all these things we want them to and go all these places is just setting a standard and expectation that is completely unfair and setting both people and dogs up for failure.
Teach your dog to do nothing. Be okay doing nothing with your dog. Be okay leaving them home, not letting them say hi to everyone, not having to make friends with other dogs, not getting this or that title or certificate or whatever it is.
The four hooligans went on a walk, a long one this morning, and now will spend the rest of the day doing nothing, and that’s okay.
PLEASE IF YOU SHARE- GIVE CREDIT TO THE AUTHOR - Helen st. Pierre
