pet.techniques

Don’t sugarcoat the bios.

OK, I’m writing this with 1000% support of rescues and all who volunteer their time, their homes, and their hearts to provide stable homes for dogs. We are strong advocates of rescue groups that ethically place dogs with adopters who share values, lifestyle, and training goals.

We’re well aware that rescues are overworked, under-funded, and are doing their absolute best to adopt dogs out as quickly and safely as possible, even when the work seems never-ending.

That being said, there’s a difference between putting a “positive spin” in a dog’s bio and straight up withholding information, or worse, lying about a dog’s temperament.

From personal experience and validation from families who have adopted our foster dogs, honesty always wins. Sometimes it might not be what we want to say, like a dog that’s maybe bitten a dog or person in the past, or a dog that requires a very specific lifestyle to succeed, but the right family will understand that rescue dogs come with a particular amount of baggage, and that’s ok 🖤

Whether you’re a foster person, adopter, or dog owner struggling to accept your dog’s limitations, know you’re not alone. It’s our job as humans to learn about our dogs, advocate for our dogs, and do what we can to help them succeed.

I discipline the s*** out of my dogs so that I can love the s*** out of them.

Getting your relationship back on track is all about addition...

Adding more structure to your dog, adding tools to your toolbox to help communicate, adding useful commands to your vocabularly to better guide your dog, etc.

At the end of the day, I love my dogs (as we all do), so I’ve done the work to understand that “loving” them is only half the battle. If I stop there I’ll only experience short-term satisfaction.

I’ve also got to embrace the disciplinary role to help them learn. Learn about boundaries, consequences, and accountability- all things that are essential to a clear understanding of the world.

Your level of care MUST be balanced. Love with affection, but love with leadership.