Many people try to win their new puppy’s love be letting the puppy always have its` own way.

The pup is showered with affection and attention because he/she is so cute and cuddly.

Buckets of attention are a wonderful thing for most puppies, but it must be tempered with respect.

If you give in to your puppy’s every whim, your pup will never learn self control and self discipline.

Your puppy will never learn to respect you. If your puppy does not respect you, it will have no reason to do

anything for you. Your relationship will be like two 5 year olds bossing each other around.

Just as a child needs a caring parent; an athletic team needs a coach; your puppy needs a leader.

If you do not take up the role of leader, your dog will; and you will end up with an unruly, disobedient,

Out of control,  often aggressive monster of a dog. Most of these dogs end up living a life of isolation in

The back yard because no one can deal with it; or they end up dead- euthanized at the local animal shelter.

They end up at the shelter because either the owner can’t   live with the dog anymore, or a member of the public has filed a complaint against the dog and government officials have taken the dog away from the owner. DON`T LET THIS HAPPEN TO YOUR DOG!

Other people have an equally erroneous misconception of this issue. Instead of showering the puppy with love and affection, they think that to earn the dog’s respect they must bully and terrorize the puppy into submission.

A dog treated this way will eventually bite their owner. This is not respect. Respect is not something that is forced. It is won. A dog will never respect someone it doesn’t trust.

 

Audrey Tendam