First, I did not personally insult you. Second, you are simply not the fairness judge. Hypothetical questions of fairness can still be harshly judgemental.
You can ponder all you like, but your ‘question’ is rooted in judgement of others and who ‘should’ do what or what not.
Good point. I would never do that. It’s why I try to use words like “fulfilled” and “content” (i.e Living within their true natures) rather than “happy”. But it’s the very fact that dogs aren’t human that makes it hard to know if we’re doing the best thing for them.
Indeed, dogs are pack animals and will thrive best within their pack. But I find myself wondering, is this all they need…?
Ah, but I wasn’t meaning, treating dogs like humans. No no, that’s another approach altogether! Quite the reverse, I was thinking about treating dogs like… Dogs. That is, allowing them to be most fully the animal they were created to be.
Although I should think any dog would be over the moon to have two meals a day cooked for him!
Well, humans have created so many different breeds for different purposes. So, technically, I would think such breeds would need to be doing their intended “job” to be fulfilled. A lab fetching waterfowl, jack russels hunting foxes, Dachshunds to hunt badgers… I don’t think most of these dogs are used for such purposes anymore.
I mean you can usually tell how happy a dog is when you walk at the door with a leash in your hand. They in most cases cant wait for you to put the leash on.
Also, personally I don’t let the dogs off the leash during shorter house sits anyways. I Just don’t have it in me to call the pet owners and let them know their dog has ran off. I had it happen once with a dog walk and after 2 hours of sprinting through a forest, the owners finally found the dog hiding.
Dogs in general are very easy with routines, if they know a leash = a walk, they are more than happy about it.
But surely the excitement is for the outing, not actually being on a leash? I would assume most of the dogs who are always leash-walked just don’t know anything else..
And I completely agree: Nothing worse than losing a dog or cat .. Or just thinking you have. I was chatting just yesterday with an HO whose cat I looked after several times (she died last year - the cat, that is - aged 22). She’s getting her first dog and being a caring , responsible “owner” is reading everything she can get her hands on and taking all sorts of advice from experienced dog people. She said that she wasn’t planning to teach the dog anything other than the word “No!” No “sit” or “stay” or “heel”… I begged her to make sure the dog is rock-solid on one other word: Her own name. And that she knows to come immediately when called.