The New Work of Dogs by Jon Katz

This is the book I'm pertaining to in my link, WHY US.

I say we have a healthy attitude towards dogs for we treat them like dogs, and yes maybe like children, but in a healthy sense.

"In an increasingly fragmented and disconnected society, the relationship between dogs and man has taken on a new meaning. We're turning to our pets for emotional support and stability more and more."

I believe this is good up to a point. If our emotional bond starts to strangle our pets, not allowing them to be dogs and do what dogs do, then it's gone too far.

TRUE STORY

I got a call from a new customer who was going away and needed us to watch their dog. They were extremely anxious and nervous about leaving him, and he has never been around other dogs. (everything about this sent up a red flag)

It was bitter sweet, for when he was left it was like he was free at last - he was allowed to be a dog, sniffing, running and playing with all the other dogs here. He had an unbelievable ball! Bitter, in that we didn't think we'd see him again, since the customer had an extremely hard time separating from him.

This unleashing of the beast went on for days. He was so incredibly happy! When the customer picked him up, we warned that he may sleep a lot and may even be depressed.

Well, we called to check up on him after a few days and the customer said that he had been very tired and not himself. The customer believed that he was depressed and must have not liked being away from them!

We immediately felt so very sorry for him. His owner just did not get it, but we thought that would be typical.

Oh, how often we thought about him. I even called to offer the customer to come over with him for a play day for free, but never heard again.

This is an example of how this person was not treating the dog like a dog. They were extremely emotionally wrapped up in this dog, and seems he was only there to meet the customer's needs. Not fair for this poor pooch. And that is one true, sad story we witnessed here.

We love our dogs like children, and yes they meet our nurturing needs as we meet theirs , but we realize we can not burden them with our emotional baggage.

We train our babies, and discipline them because we believe well behaved pets are happier and so are their owners. Of course we can always do a lot better.

So, we encourage you too to train, discipline and love your pets in a healthy manner - unleash their dogness ! (new word)