[quote=6packscaredy]ifa dog is perceived as a human family member why leave at home?[/quote]
Maybe I’m a bad dog owner (from a dog owner’s perspective). My dog is my pet. And yes- my kids come first before my dog.
My dog does add value to our household – but he’s a secondary family member… not a primary.
Heck – I don’t even let him get on the furniture. He has a perfectly good dog bed- and I don’t like the fur on the couch. He knows he’s not the Alpha in the house… He follows the rules.
We’ve discussed possibly taking him out offleash. And vetoed that idea. If he saw a rabbit, bird, squirrel – he’d take off. Even though he’s very well behaved on leash. He’s a dog. Not a human… dog instincts win out.
I love my dog. Have even nicknamed him “the wonderdog”. But he’s a dog…not a human.
I think too many dog owners forget the idea that dogs are animals with dog-instincts, not human instincts. Love your dog for it’s dogginess… don’t try to make it a human. And deal with the dogginess by using a leash in public, giving it exercise, cleaning up after it if it poops in public, and accepting that your dog might not always be nice.
