Standing up for your dog — how to do what’s best for your furry friend when they need you.

Understanding Your Dog’s Unique Personality

Every dog has a different personality! Some will be head strong and resilient, others may be timid and shy. But, no matter what your pre-conceived notions are as to what a dog should be or what type of dog you may have had previously, you need to make sure that you are doing what is best for the particular dog you have. This means making as many of their experiences as possible, and their general day to day life, as easy going and as stress free as you can.

If you’ve seen our posts about Evie, our Dingo/Kelpie, or if you’ve been lucky enough to meet her in real life, you will know that she is what can only be described as a sensitive soul. She is truly one of the most delicate dogs I’ve ever come across and as a result of her personality and the previous experiences she has had, we have to tread very carefully when it comes to what she is exposed to and how we go about training her.

By watching her body language and the choices she makes you can tell she is an ‘overthinker’. This means she puts a tremendous amount of pressure on herself and as a result her brain struggles to function in an optimal manner. We know her limits well and go above and beyond to make sure she isn’t pushed past these limits, ending up over threshold. We give her as much space as she needs to feel comfortable, make moving away from what concerns a rewarding choice and move at a pace that suits her.

Creating a Stress-Free Environment for Sensitive Dogs

While we might do the best we can for her, we can’t always control what happens around her, what she experiences and what other people and dogs choose to do or not do. It is this uncertainty that can make life with a sensitive dog problematic. We constantly have to change her walking routes so we don’t encounter the dogs running out of the park to see her on the other side of the road, the dogs hanging around construction sites who choose to make their way over unsupervised, the humans who decide it is their right to come over and talk to her uninvited. The list could go on and on… It might seem inconvenient to us but we need to do what is best for her and try to keep her environment as relaxed as possible.

The Importance of Positive Experiences and Advocacy

Our toddler regularly likes to remind us about something they practice at daycare. That it is important to make sure our ‘buckets’ are filled up, our emotional buckets that is, basically we need to experience lots of feel good scenarios. The same is certainly true for our dogs as well. We need to build their confidence up by facilitating lots of positive and reinforcing experiences, this is especially important for those dogs that worry and take things to heart. For every unwanted or negative experience, we need to do our best to provide them with as many uplifting and rewarding ones as possible.

When we stand up for Evie and what she not only needs to be a happy dog but what she deserves, we definitely see the benefits. Her interest levels in day to day activities increase, her body language becomes looser, showing she is relaxing, and she becomes more optimistic rather than pessimistic. We chose to bring her into our family, and when we did that we made a promise to do what is best for her, whatever she needs to be a happy and healthy dog. Your dog becomes a big part of your family, so show them the love and respect they deserve!