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I was out one day with a friend who is a total cat person, and has never had a dog.  She asked me, “Why don’t people train their dogs?”  What a basic question.  I needed a simple answer.  So I said, “cause most people equate discipline with being mean”.  Way too simple I know.  But I have to say it rings true, more often than not.

People love to say how they “spoil” their dog.  They wear it like a badge of honor.  Like that proves how much they love their dog.  So a person like me, who won’t put up with much, such as barking excessively at the door bell, or jumping up on people,  are deemed mean and tough on their dog.

People have asked me how do you train your dogs?  I have no good answer.  I have never formally trained them.  They just know not to tick me off.  How do they know?  I don’t know.  They just do.  I think it’s an alpha thing.  But still they ask.

Like one friend whose dog barks incessantly over nothing, clouds could move and this dog barks. Sure, it gets on her nerves, and everyone around her, so she asks, what do I do?  I tell her, “get used to it”, for she doesn’t have it in her to correct the situation. 

She is a typically dog owner that equates discipline with not loving your dog.

Funny thing is,  one time I was left with the dog alone,  it started barking, I told it to knock it off, and that was the end of it.

Now some people would deem that being mean.  In some eyes, they are probably right.  When I finished explaining this theory to my cat-loving friend, all she said is, “sort of like kids?”  Now isn’t that the truth?

EPILOGUE: If you doubt me in the correlation between raising kids & dogs, read this article from a retired Emergency Medical Technician/ professional dog trainer. It’s worse than I thought.