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.
