This happened about a year ago. I laid a track for my dog across a green field, through the concrete pathway and almost into a parking lot – it was a hard track. The day was relatively hot, and the grass was freshly cut. Those who know what all that means, will understand; tracking on freshly cut grass across other different surfaces in hot weather is challenging even for an experienced dog. Mine was just a little over a year old back then.
She was doing great on track. Nose was deep in grass, focus was perfectly on track, even her usual fast pace gave in to a slower tempo. I was very happy and proud.
Until we came close to approaching a spot where my track went through the concrete pathway. Not because of the change of surfaces, but because right there, on our track, was standing a young woman with a stroller and a corgi. The fact that someone was standing on our track, with a dog or without, was not a problem, though. What was the problem is that this harness-wearing corgi was pulling his owner towards my dog, who was tenaciously working a hard track.
I put my dog in “down” anticipating that the lady will get a message and will not let her dog get close to mine. But it looked like she was totally cool with being pulled around. The corgi dug up with his rear end trying to get to my dog – and his owner followed. Because there is food on my track, the corgi, as he was coming closer and closer, munched on it from the ground, which made me really upset; I worked hard to lay that track, and my dog works hard to finish it – and now there is no food left and lots of foreign footprints on that stretch, which is neither good for a young dog nor fair.
Upset or not, I am always making an effort to remain professional and civilized. So, I politely asked the lady to remove her corgi from my track and to stop him from approaching my dog. I said that we were training and are not interested in playing at this moment. The lady was nice enough to understand, so she stopped. And started talking to her dog; talking like a grown-up would talk to a child who does not want to leave playground. She tried to reason with him, she begged him, she threatened to take his toys away and to ground him. Of course, neither of those negotiation attempts were effective. Finally, my patience became very thin, and I straight-out asked her why wouldn’t she just remove the dog from my track and let me finish working. To which the lady responded, “He sometimes just refuses to walk on me… but it is okay, I will just pick him up.”
After those words, the lady picks up her corgi, puts it in a STROLLER, and starts walking away, while saying, “He will learn to walk on leash eventually, he is only 36 months, still a puppy.”
This case is, of course, a bit extreme. But if you think about it, too many people consider their dogs at “still a puppy” stage, even though physiologically and mentally they are not.
Humanizing dogs is a terrible, unfair, cruel thing, both for dogs who get confused by such treatment and do not understand a single rule by which their lives are supposed to be structured, nor to humans who so often become victims to their “furbabies’” unruly behaviour.
I have nothing against loving your dog and spoiling it with a piece of nice fish here or a fancy cheese there. I will sometimes invite my dog to snuggle on a couch with me. I will also allow her to do stupid but cute things that I deem harmless. But under no circumstances will I allow her to resource-guard my couch or to take charge and decide where we go on walks or how fast. It is up to me to decide all those things. Not because of “humans are superior species” assumption. But because dogs find great comfort in following rules and routines, and, if you are not providing them with a structured lifestyle, they will try to structure it for themselves.
And guess what happens then? If a dog comes up with its own set of rules by which you and your family ought to live, it is no longer a “furbaby” but a terrorist. And we all know that you cannot negotiate with terrorists, because the more you give in, the higher their demands will be. And the sooner you realize that your dog became a terrorist, the faster you can act on it.