I used to watch Cesar Millan's show, Dog Whisperer, and I was so fascinated with his understanding of dog psychology and behavior, that when my family finally got a dog, I was thrilled to test out the stuff that I saw him do. To my surprise, it was more complicated than it looked.
We got our dog when she was just about a month old, so I experienced all the highs and lows of raising a puppy until she matured. It has been about seven years since our dog became a part of the family, and throughout the years, I have learned so much more about taking care of dogs simply by observing her and trying out certain methods from Millan, but with a few tweaks.
I was never very affectionate with our dog during the early years. I would pull away when she tried to lick my face. But now, I find it quite endearing. Whenever she would jump up on my bed while I was sleeping, I would awaken and push her away. These days, I care less whether she sleeps on my bed or not, although I have found a few ways to get her out of my bed and onto her own bed.
Perhaps, because of all these actions that I have recently started to do, my dog has become more attached to me more than to my parents. And I have found it's a lot easier to coax her, for example, to take a bath because of it.
Now, this list, compiled by two veterinarians, gives us 12 things which we may unknowingly do that annoys our dogs. And as I read through them, I'm quite relieved that I have not actually done these things, except for a couple, which fortunately, did not annoy our dog as much.
I will say, however, with regard to our dog, there are a few things that she absolutely hates. Taking baths is one of them, and despite her being okay with me to give her a bath, she still abhors it. For my sake, she bears with it. She also hates being carried. Even with me, she would be annoyed if I were to grab her under her front legs to try and carry her. And she hates food droppers.
Going back to the list on RD, one thing that I have done but, to my knowledge, does not annoy our dog is the fact that I stare back at her when she stares at me. According to the vets, dogs may feel threatened when they are being stared at. In my defense, I don't stare at my dog for long periods of time.
Hugging, apparently is also a big no-no, and I learned this while observing my niece interacting with our dog. When my niece was younger, she would often embrace our dog around her midsection, and our dog would often growl at her for doing that.
Another thing on the list, which I absolutely agree with, is the fact that dogs hate being dressed up. My mother once bought a small shirt for a dog. And just by looking at the reaction of our dog, it was clear to me, she hated it. Thankfully, we threw that away, and our dog now runs natural around the house.
One thing on the list which I have found to have dire consequences was being inconsistent with routines. When our dog was about two years old, she had a bout with the parvovirus, and thankfully, she survived, but not without scars in the lining of her digestive tract.
So, there are times when we forget to feed her exactly on time, her stomach will react negatively and she will vomit. Then, she will refuse to eat and spend the rest of the day hiding under my bed. The only way to coax her out is to tempt her for a walk, and even then, it's not guaranteed she will come out.
Anyways, for the rest of the things that we unwittingly do that annoy our dogs, check out the article on Reader's Digest.
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