Dad, I don't want to walk with you!!
I saw several dogs yesterday that quite plainly had no attachment to the person who was walking them. Sad isn’t it. Okay, so maybe they had been told to walk the dog (thought this had died out) but to be honest I just think that their owners hadn’t worked on their relationships with their dogs and so they just existed together. So the dog was living it’s life alongside but doing it’s own thing. What’s the problem in that? Nothing at all but I bet that’s not the reason they got a dog. They had great plans to be able to take their dog everywhere and it would be part of the family. Lovely ideas of walking on the beach with the dog, the kids having fun - a bit like Lassie really. But what has happened, now the dog goes off and plays with other dogs, or even worse. Only comes back when it is ready, sits in the other room and generally has no connection with the family. It is usually the Mum who takes the dog to training classes for one term, generally fitting it in with everything else they have to do. But no one has invested in the time to play and work with the dog. So being a survivor, they just get on with it. A charge about with their mates on their walk, or just chugging along behind their owner along the sea front with no interest in their human, but that's okay cos that is what they have become accustomed to. Sad though isn't it? For all of you that spend lots of time with their dogs and train them, do scentwork with them and enjoy walks, just think what they are missing.
So many dog’s live alongside their families but I wonder how much better it would be for everyone involved if they were connected better. Hmmm. One to work on I think. Our lifestyle classes are held once a fortnight on a Wednesday or Sunday mornings. Here we work on lots of fun games and things to do. We practice in playing with our dogs and getting them to want to be with us more. This helps when you don't want a lead walk everytime. You know your dog will stay with you because you are the best. We try and make each session fun and interesting for everyone. This week at our Sunday lifestyle class we have a lunchtime get together for everyone. Stuart will be doing his burgers and there will be a vege option. It’s going to be a great day so come and join us. Make sure you book though as we don’t want to run out of food.
