Anthropomorphizing and Humanizing our dogs, is it bad?

Anthropomorphize -  "the attribution of uniquely human characteristics to non-human creatures and beings, phenomena, material states and objects or abstract concepts." 

Eric Goebelbecker
www.dogstardaily.com


How many times have you referred to your dog as your "four-legged child" or "Fur Kid"? In itself there really is nothing wrong with wanting to treat your dog like one of the family but just as you would look out for the well being of your family members, you have to look out for your pet's as well. Going overboard on how much you baby your pet can be psychologically harmful to your pet.

Dogs need certain things for them to lead healthy happy lives. The top 5 are:
1. A confident leader
2. Exercise
3. Structure
4. Rules
5. Boundaries

One of the things I see on a daily basis is that owners "baby" their dogs. I don't think we as dog owners understand the real harm that we are causing our dogs. By imposing thoughts and behaviors that are not really part of their thought processes, we try to make them seem to "act" more human.

Dogs have drives that set them apart from humans. The three main drives of dogs are prey, defense, and pack. Each of these drives causes dogs to behave in ways that we do not always understand. When we treat our dogs like they are little humans we are not looking out for their best interests. By assigning human traits and personalities to dogs we turn a blind eye to their language, behaviors and needs. Doing this can cause serious psychological problems for the dog that can manifest in a number of different ways including stress, chewing, and even digestive issues.

Take prey drive and toys for instance; when you see your dog going after his stuffed toy making it squeak and tearing the stuffing from it, do you think it's cute ? The reality of the situation is that he is practicing prey drive and kill skills. These are basic innate attributes that dogs have that passed down for generations, no amount of carrying them around in a little fashionable bags is going to change that.

I met a little dog, who we shall name Fufu (to protect her true identity) that was unable to even interact with other people and dogs because of her fear. She had been adopted from a pet rescue. The owner had not properly socialized her and treated the dog as her child. She cradled her like a baby against her chest and protested against the fact that her dog would be allowed to go outside. These situations are not good for dogs. If her owner would just allow her to "be" a dog and give her the things she needs in her life to be stable I think she would have a very different attitude towards other dogs and people.

In itself being "babied" as such may not be to much for some dogs, but this little dog was so fearful and nervous that she couldn’t even hold down her breakfast. It's often said of humans that we need all things in moderation I think the same principle should also be applied for how we humanize our dogs. Take dressing your dog for example. You have the owner of a short-haired small dog who puts a warm shirt or coat on their dog in the winter versus the owner who dresses their dog up in PJs every night for bed. The first owner is being responsible and looking out for their pet while having their pet out in the elements. The second owner is taking it a bit far and treating the dog as they would their child in dressing them for bed.

Which one do you think is anthropomorphizing their dog?

A similar case in point, take sleeping on the bed. While again, in itself is not usually a bad thing, however it could be reinforcing bad behaviors and in that case you could be advised by your trainer to not allow your dog to sleep on the bed. If your response to this is "but it will hurt his feelings" then you are indeed anthropomorphizing your dog.

There will be more to come on the sleeping on the bed issue later on.

Boykin Spaniels

Meet Scout, a Boykin Spaniel.

Just after the turn of the century in South Carolina, bird hunters were breeding a stock of hunting dogs that would be compact and rugged.  They needed to be small enough to travel in boats and rugged enough for both land and water retrieves.  Enter the Boykin Spainel.   To quote the breed standard "The Boykin is built to cover rough ground and swim in all conditions with agility and reasonable speed."

The Boykin breed has been traced back to a little brown stray named Dumpy.  He was found by a banker in Spartanburg, South Carolina and was sent to live with L.W Boykin who trained him to be a prized waterfowl retriever and turkey dog.  Over the years since, Dumpy's line has been thought to be crossed with other breeds such as the Chesapeake Bay Retriever, Springer Spaniel, Cocker Spaniel and the American Water Spaniel, though no written records survive to support or disprove these claims.

If there is one thing the Boykin has it's Stamina, these hearty little hunters can stay by their owners side all day and keep going with the kids all night.  Remember even with their steady temperament it is never a good idea to leave children and dogs unsupervised.  They are best suited for life with an active family.  Though they are docile and obedient, these dogs are hunters and can get into more than their fair share of mischief if they do not get enough exercise on a daily basis.

up coming posts

While away for the weekend several ideas where thrown across my plate.  Separation Anxiety, traveling with your pets, healthy diet, and "babying your dog".  More to come...

a pit bull named Schubert

On Sunday night I took my dog, who has a very bad habit of running off after what ever takes his fancy, out for his bed time potty break.  Just a few seconds after getting out the door, he took off down the drive barking his head off.  I ran out after him to see him running up to a large dog in the dark, all the while barking at him like mad.  This dog turned out to be a rather large reddish/tan pit bull.  My husband ended up calling him Schubert
He turned out to be the sweetest, goof ball of a dog I've ever met.  I ended up brining him in the house and taking him to a vet the following afternoon to see if he had a chip.

There was so many weird things that went on with trying to find who this dog belonged to.  I was able to get him into a pit bull rescue organization, only to find out that he had heart worms, along with whip worms, and hook worms.

Today while at work my husband took him outside because he was making a huge mess in the house.  He called me to let me know that Schubert had busted out of the gate and was gone.  He went out looking as best he could, seeing as he has lost a good bit of his sight.

When I got home we drove around looking for him and even walked around looking for him.  On the way home we met a couple of guys and after asking if they had seen him, they told us that he had just found his pit today that had been missing for a few days.

I'm guessing that he was Schubert's owner, I wish had I been thinking straight and shown him the picture on my phone.  I wish I would have told him how sick his dog was and that he really needed to get him to a vet.  I would have done a lot differently if I had been thinking straight.

Musings

I've decided that I wanted to have something to remember my times and lessons as a professional dog trainer.

A few weeks back, well I guess almost a month ago now I guess, I was attacked by a lab puppy.  He was less than a year old and I don't know what he had suffered to have so much aggression so early on in life.  I kept trying to think back to figure out what I could have done differently but if I had not been the one to go into his den he would have gotten someone else, and it could have been a lot worse.   I have to say that I don't remember him biting me, and it only hurt afterwards and I was to concerned with trying not to hurt him while trying to restrain him that I didn't really even notice that he had got me until someone said I was bleeding.  I didn't think it was going to affect me but while standing in a den with a dog that went after another dogs feet under the den wall made me jump and yelp.  So I guess it has affected me.

I hope that it will stick with me enough to keep me safe for the rest of my career.