Poor Dogs

I've always known that the vast majority of dog owners don't really know what the hell they're doing with their dogs, but it's been thrown in my face a lot more than normal since I've been out walking Moxie, and it's really starting to get to me.

Y'see, right now Moxie's in a rather rebellious stage where she's testing her limits - like a little kid that's just learned how to say 'no' to her parents - yet still, every single person she meets is amazed at how well behaved she is. Now, if I have to call her six times to get her to come back, that's not good behaviour. That's her deliberately ignoring me the first five times. She heard me, she knows what that command means, she was testing how badly behaved she could be before her Mommy got really mad.

But these comments of amazement are coming from people who have to keep their dogs on leads the entire time, because they can't trust them to be well behaved off the lead. News flash, people: Dogs do not know what is good and what is bad until you teach them the difference. You can't expect them to follow commands if you never teach them what the command means and if you only ever let them off the lead once in a blue moon of course they're going to take that chance to run amok - because in their experience the second they come back to you they go straight back on the lead and aren't allowed off for months. That's not punishing their bad behaviour, no matter what you might think. They don't connect the two. They just know that every now and then they're allowed to have some fun, so they make the most of it whilst they can. Wouldn't you do the same?

At three months old Moxie is better trained than 95% of the dogs she meets. This depresses me, especially because I know damn well that Moxie is nowhere near as well trained as she should be - as she could be if I had the spoons for it. I do the best I can with what I have, and hopefully she'll be well-trained enough by the time she's grown big that I won't have to hurt myself training her and she won't hurt me out of ignorance, but she has the potential for so much more. As do all dogs. Every dog deserves to be well-trained; it makes their lives so much better. It means no being told off for things they don't understand, no being locked in rooms or outside when visitors come over, no being stuck on a lead having to watch dogs like Moxie run around and play and not being able to join in. It's not their fault, and it breaks my heart when people tell me their dogs are naughty and can't be trusted. No dog is inherently naughty, they just don't know any better.

I know it's not really considered mean or cruel to keep your dog on a leash etc but it really does upset me. They deserve better.

(It also upsets Moxie. She's a very sociable little puppy and doesn't want to go to the park to play with balls or sticks; she wants to go to play with dogs and she's very rarely allowed to do so. Even the ones allowed off the lead are usually dragged away from her and put back on it the second they start to play because the owners seem to think that that's 'being naughty' as well.)