….only time will tell if I am right or I am wrong.
Dogs are pretty opinionated creatures.
There are plenty of dogs that greet visitors to the home with exuberant wonder, full body wiggling, and frenetic tail wagging. There are also dogs that are a bit more selective of which guests they will say hello to, and which they will do the opposite. So Heinz the German Shepherd will voice his opinion – loudly – “Hey, this guy’s great but his girlfriend I’m not too crazy about.”
Then there’s the “I like this dog, but not that dog” on a walk. How did Elliot the Beagle decide that? Sometimes it seems to make sense – okay, big dogs are out, little dogs are fine – and then it doesn’t as in “little dogs, yes, except that dachshund and that chihuahua.”
Opinions are not right or wrong. They are just expressions of a feeling on a subject not necessarily based on fact. The operative word here is expression. When a dog’s opinion results in barking, lunging and growling, well, we appreciate his opinion but NOT the way he expresses it.
Here’s where you, your dog’s helpful companion, can teach him to keep his opinions to himself. Its the polite thing to do, after all. It will also save you from being embarrassed by your canine buddy’s behavior.
Issue #1: If your dog is allowed to answer the door, naturally he will have an opinion about the person on the other side of it.
Solution: Teach your dog to go to his Spot when the doorbell rings, and to stay there until released.
Issue #2: If your dog is permitted to bolt out the door ahead of you, drag you by the leash to his favorite pee spots, and is always in front of you on a walk, then he is in a position to express his opinion about this person, that dog, or each and every UPS truck.
Solution: Teach your dog to walk next to you, and to walk past other dogs, whether he has an opinion about them or not.
So when your dog has an opinion and insists on expressing it, remember the words of the author Jean Ferris who said “As wonderful as dogs can be, they are famous for missing the point.”
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