08/02/2023
DONโT FORCE ME TO BE SOCIAL!
Do we like everyone we meet? Do we all enjoy socialising and spending time with lots of different people? I certainly donโt and refer to myself as a โcaninetrovertโ โ a person that much prefers to spend time with dogs rather than people. Maybe Iโm a little different to the โnormโ, but be that as it may, we are all individuals with different personality styles and social preferences.
Some of us are extroverts, gaining energy from interacting with people; some of us introverts, who find people draining and need alone time to recharge our social batteries and some of us are somewhere in between.
If we acknowledge that we are all different in this way, we also need to acknowledge and accept that our dogs are similar.
They could be overly affectionate or fiercely independent, approachable or nervous, energetic or laid back, confident or cautious, sociable, tolerant, selective or reactive.
We may be really disappointed when our dogs turn out not to be the socialite we expected them to be.
Some may even see this as a behaviour problem that needs to be โfixedโ. Sometimes it can be improved, especially if the cause is from a negative experience, but genetics, breed tendencies, individual personalities, health and age all contribute to tolerance levels and sociability.
Accept your dog for who they are, allow them to choose whether they want to be sociable or not, respect their choices and never force an interaction that your dog is not comfortable with.