I don't agree with dogs training!!! Do you?

Question

My love for animals is maibe going a bit to the extreme...
Me and Almi, my bichon, understand each other perfectly. I tried to train her to sit! I was succesfull, but I stoped because I think is cruel to make animals play like puppets. Almi understands all I say to her....really....sometimes I think if she is realy "a dog" !!
So , a dog should get our love and attention, not our commands!!!!

Answer 1

I think it's a waste of time cause all that time you spend training your dog... you can play with him/her

Answer 2

The purpose in training your dog is not to make it do what you want it to do and not for it to be your little puppet. The point in training your animal is to make sure that it does not do something by its instincts. Animals are different than humans in some ways and their instincts can make them act out sometimes. If you train them then they are less likely to bite the mailman, or jump on a little girl knocking her down, or run out of the door and out of the fenced in yard getting some stray female knocked up and pregnant, or getting into a dog fight and euthanized because it is now a threat to society.

Think of it as a child. They do not learn things unless you teach them right and wrong. Not only does this ensure that the animal listens, but it also shows who the dominant pack leader is: you! This only means that the dog trusts you and has respect for you and that the animal is comfortable in calling you a parent. Just because you give the animal love and attention, does not mean you are the parent. If you spoil the dog they only walk all over you and you have no control at all, this does not gain any respect.

Answer 3

Dogs are PACK animals.

Pack animals need a clear leader and they need to know their place in the pack. Without these two things, the dogs become insecure and this leads to antisocial behavior towards everyone other than the owner, and quite often, also towards the owner.

I saw a girl like you on a show on Animal Planet where a teen girl's dog attacked friends who visited, and even the girl's mother. This was in the UK. The trainer said "no more chips (like potato chips, etc), no more sleeping on the bed. The dog had to sit to be given treats. She had to sit to be petted. She was taught that her job as dog was to be polite and to do as she was told. And then she knew her job, and her place in the pack, and then she was no longer insecure and she treated all people with respect and stopped attacking.

Every human needs a job to do to feel happy, fulfilled and successful. Dogs also need a job to do to feel they are valuable and contribute to the pack.

Human children need to learn to live by rules and with limits. Without these they are insecure and act obnoxious. The same is true of dogs.

If you love your dog, you set limits and teach them to do things like sit, stay, down, off (or leave it), etc. Loving your child or your pet is shown not by giving it everything and demanding nothing but by making it feel good about itself because, by doing things it is asked to do, it knows it is loved and it knows it's a productive member of the pack (family).

You are not doing YOUR job right now. You are not teaching your dog it's place in the family, it's job, and you are letting it turn into a spoiled, obnoxious brat. Your dog is becoming insecure, not knowing it's place in the pack. Eventually Almi will try to be Pack Leader as every pack needs a leader who tells the others what to do and disciplines them for infractions... and Almi sees NO pack leader guiding and directing the pack.

It's not cruelty. It's not making them puppets. Making Almi follow commands is how you show love and give guidance.

It would have been cruel to not send you to school and make you follow directions so you learned how to read and do math. You could not have written this question if you hadn't been made to go to school and learn. It's also cruel to not teach your dog so your dog learns and knows things and can do things.

Answer 4

I see nothing cruel about training.
Humans are trained too, we learn our behaviors and how to act around other people and in various situations.

Bigger dogs would be nearly impossible to have if they weren't trained. If you have a 120 pound woman walking a 150 dog, the dog NEEDS to be trained, else the woman wouldn't be able to control it at all. This would be a dangerous situation for the woman, the dog, and anyone around. (The dog could drag the woman, dart into traffic, knock people down by jumping on them, etc.)

Then you have some breeds (like papillons, border collies, and many more) that really strive to have a "job". They are much happier if they have a purpose, rather than just sitting around the house.

Also, training your dog helps you and the dog bond. It also enforces that you are the "alpha" and that the dog should obey you. This isn't cruel and unnatural, it's pack behavior.

Answer 5

I completely disagree with you. It's nice that you have this close relationship with your dog, but not everyone is so lucky as to have a dog who understands every word they say. The point of training is not to simply make dogs do things for our amusement, but to help them practice good manners and to keep them safe. If I understand you correctly and what you say is true, you can just say "Now Almi, you must never for any reason run into the street because it's very dangerous and you could get hit by a car" and your dog will get the point. But most of us can't do that, so we teach our dogs to sit and stay and come when called. If done right, dog training is very positive. Dogs listen to what you say because they want to please you, not because you're forcing them to do something they don't want to. Training a dog is like teaching a child manners and rules. We don't do it to have control over the dog our child, we do it to make them welcome and safe in the larger world.

Answer 6

Well there's training a dog like a puppet and there's teaching them manners. Everyone is taught manners. The "sit" command isn't just for your benefit, it is for the benefit of all. Picture a Great Dane. Picture a little old lady. Now picture that Great Dane charging the little old lady and knocking her down, injuring her. If the Great Dane had known "sit", and done it on command, the little old lady would be safe.

Dogs enjoy human interaction, and if you do it correctly, training of any kind can be a game for the dog. Dogs love to play games right?

Answer 7

I so totally do not agree. Dogs have to be taught, trained what is acceptable behavior just like a child does. Many. many dogs have lost their home because of lack of training and the dogs behavior becomes unbearable. Having a dog well trained can save the dogs live. I was once quite impressed when I observed an elderly gentleman walking his dog. the dog saw a squirrel and took off after it, running toward a busy street. The man said two words. "Baron, Down." The dog obediently went into a down and did not run into the street. The squirrel did not have such a happy ending.

Answer 8

i understand where you are coming from and it sound like you have a well behaved dog anyway but you have to understand that some dogs are very hard to control and without training would be too much of a handful and more and more pets would be surrendered to animal shelters everywhere. dogs such as the kelpies and German Shepard's say that are high strung can become aggressive and difficult to handle without proper training just like many other breeds. it is a choice to train or be a "puppeteer" if you like but i have found through owning kelpies and breeding cavaliers (that can be extremely stubborn when they want to be) that training makes life for you and the dogs easier. its not harming the dogs in anyway as long as you give praise and proper reward and dogs love stimulation and the challenges that training brings and also making there owners proud.

Answer 9

It is important your dog understands that you are the Alpha "dog" in your relationship. Otherwise, you are in for quite a bit of trouble. It is not cruel to train your dog. The command "sit" is not to make a puppet of your dog, merely to show you are the one in control. You give your dog love and attention, yes, but don't let them be the boss.

Answer 10

Proper dog training is nothing more than enhanced communication, and it can be done completely hands-free. Every moment you spend with your dog, ONE of you is training the other.... She barks, you open the door... she's trained you to let her out! You get out a biscuit, she tilts her head and makes the cutest face... you've trained her to give you that look!

If strict obedience training isn't your style, look at activities like agility, freestyle, frisbee, and dock diving. Those are all sports that require rigorous "training," but the dogs are performing on a level no "puppet" ever could... and loving every minute of it.

Answer 11

gee why don't you come to my house some evening when I'm obedience training? Working with one dog at a time while the others whine because THEY want to be the one "working" now! when he was young my male HAD to have 15 min of obedience "work" a day or he was a pain in the rear- those 15 min and he was a good polite dog the rest of the day....