Dogs speaking - from our side of the fence

Why do some of us cower in the corner, tremble, growl, bark and sound aggressive, bite under many different circumstances? We weren’t born that way, so what happened? Many people make comments like ‘ That dog must have been mistreated. That dog is mean. Something happened to him in his past life.’

Well, maybe it’s what DIDN’T HAPPEN that is the reason! Those first few months in our lives are so, so important - exposure, exposure, exposure… to being handled, touching us all over, to cars, to babies, hearing different voices, playing with humans (gentle ones), meeting and interacting with other animals, playing with other dogs to learn ‘dog language’, being allowed to develop our very sensitive senses, to use our noses, smelling, smelling, smelling… learning about the world. It’s not human talk that is going to teach us these valuable things, it is our own noses, eyes and ears.

So if some of us were unlucky and didn’t have that ideal childhood we develop our own ways of coping and protecting ourselves. Fear and uncertainty make us nip, bite, growl. We need YOUR help, understanding and patience to get us out of these habits so we can develop trust in humans and become your friend. TIME is the secret… no rush… no time frame… let us be ‘invisible’ near you, respect our ‘bubble’, let us trust that you will not start to try to touch us. Let us get used to you from afar, how you move, how you talk, how you smell… and when we are comfortable we will approach you, check you out some more, and when we are ready we will ask for physical contact, just little by little. TIME = 30 minutes, several hours, several days, even months… if you can do this for us, we will love you forever!

COVID-19 and socialization: So if you have a young dog right now you do have a challenge, but you can do it, and MUST find and develop innovative ways of exposing your dog to as much as possible. There are lots of voices on the TV! Maybe there is a puppy class or organized and supervised socialization class in your area (covid-19 friendly, of course). Take him outside so he can see, hear and smell and much as possible. Good luck. It will be worth it! Thank you from all the canines of the world.