Here is a story that all animal lovers will probably enjoy, but it is about a time in my life, so I will be talking way to much about myself in this post.
So, at one point in time my mother had brought in this drug addict named Rick. This story is not as much about him as it is his dog. Rick had a dog named Blue for his blue eyes. A bull dog and Shepard mix. Beautiful animal both in looks and personality.
I quickly learned that Blue was more out of control than most dogs should be. He would jump the fence, he would reach up... lets just say that he did things that humans say dogs shouldnt do. Rick thought that his dog could get away with anything.
Now... After years of owning dogs, I have learned to communicate with them in a way that they understand, and its not as difficult as people would like to think.
A dog is trying to understand you, the least you can do is try to understand and speak their language. They want what you eat because
dogs trust what you eat as they trust you. They have grown through evolution both by force and by choice. You can research that on your own.
Rick constantly said that I was abusing his dog. He fed his dog more than just dog food, and in the worst ways possible, and got angry with anyone who corrected Blue for so much as jumping. It seems like Blue was living the life, but not to me. He had his own space on the couch, he had his own space in the bed, and in general lived like a human with no instruction. Blue was not as happy as he tried to force himself to be. Dogs want and need instruction. They live to make you happy, and only live for themselves when they must.
I started by teaching him to walk on a leash. It took a bit of time, but only a few hours per day for about a week. Large dog must be allowed to roam. That fixed our fence jumping issues. Yes (because the idiot would not get him neutered) he did try to fight other dogs, and he generally won. Nobody in that area knew how to control their own dogs, which where mostly pitbulls. But Blue became very fond of me, and our smaller dogs. (that has a story in itself about his love for our smaller dogs).
To be on topic, I wish to say that I tried to tell Rick the difference. I tried to teach him. He did not want to learn, and had to be removed from the house by force at gun point.
To this day I miss Blue. But he taught me as much as my other dogs did, so the moral is this... Never allow a dog to dominate you, just work with them. They are trying to work with you, its the least you can do.
TL;DR: Please read if you care too.
