As my pup starts to grow I continue to have new lessons for my dog. If only I could make her realize that just because you want something doesn’t mean you can bite.
Too Many Functions for One Face
Dogs have it pretty tough. They don’t have hands. They don’t have thumbs. They can’t speak. They pretty much just have a mouth.
To grab, they use their mouth. To eat, they use their mouth. To get attention, they use their mouth. To play, they use their mouth. To set boundaries, they use their mouth.
Where we do each of those differently, they pretty much have the one goto move. Unfortunately, add to that the need for puppies to bite, and you have all the makings of a conundrum. Are they being aggressive or getting your attention? Are they angry or having fun?
Then again, sometimes it’s painfully clear.
Last week I had shared a lesson for my dog: just because it smells like sh*t, doesn’t mean you should eat it. Today I have a new lesson for my dog: just because you want something doesn’t mean you can bite.
That Nip on the Heel
There’s nothing quite like being hamstrung by a pooch as you’re walking. They’re having fun, and you’re… not. They want to play and you want to pull out a dictionary of expletives and let loose.
That’s why I want to tell my pooch that just because you want something doesn’t mean you can bite. If only dogs were more like us.
If only they learned the patience we have. It’s not like we yell at people when they aren’t behaving in the way we want. It’s not like we get angry at the people we care about because they don’t do the things we would like them too. It’s not like we chew out the person in line in front of us at the store because they’re taking too long, or hit the slow cashier with a level of sarcasm that’s since been unmatched.
It’s a good thing we’re better than that. We realize that just because you want something doesn’t mean you can bite. Don’t we?
Or maybe we take after our best friends more than we would like to think. Perhaps today is a good day to look at things in a new way and realize if we don’t want it for our pooches, maybe we need to stop doing it ourselves. Perhaps people are dealing with things, and they just need someone to help. It could be our best move is to be kind and understanding, and if we want something, just ask. Maybe it’s time to stop biting.
