I Hate Fences, and I Love "City" Dogs
Are fences themselves a bad thing for dogs? Of course not. Are Cities a better place for dogs to live? No. Any place can be a great place for dogs to live. However, having a fence and living in a city comes with typical patterns that owners and dogs fall into.
Historically, “City” dogs have a much better mental state of mind than their suburban counterparts. Let’s think about two owners, one city, and one suburban. Owner 1 lives in a high rise apartment building in a busy part of town. Owner 2 lives in a house with a nice backyard and fence surrounding it.
Every time Owner 1 takes the dog out to go to the bathroom, he must be on a leash. He must go through multiple doors to get outside (good opportunity for leadership) and he will be standing right next to the dog the whole time while he goes to the bathroom. Then maybe they play with a toy in the common grassy area before heading back inside. The theme here is that the owner is right next to the dog because the dog is on a leash. The dog is not getting a ton of freedom, and the owner is right there to stop any bad behaviors from happening.
Every time Owner 2 takes the dog out to go to the bathroom all he has to do is open the sliding glass door, and the dog runs out. The owner goes and makes a sandwich, gets ready for work, or even watches TV. Where is the dog going to go? There’s a fence. However, the dog has a ton of freedom, and freedom usually comes with a price (especially early on in life). The dog is digging, running the fence at other dogs or people, and maybe even eating its own shit. The owner is nowhere to be found and has let tons of bad behavior happen. It’s SIMPLE. Whatever you ALLOW TO HAPPEN, means it is OKAY in the dog’s eyes. Stop getting mad at your dog for things YOU ALLOW and confusing the dog. City Owner 1 was right there to stop or avoid bad behavior, while Owner 2 was not.
Every time Owner 1 takes the dog to go for a walk it looks just like normal people walking in a downtown area. Have you ever worked downtown? How do/did you walk to your Job? You walk with a purpose, you don’t talk to anyone, you do not make eye contact, you do not care about the onslaught of crazy sounds coming from everywhere, and you generally don’t pay attention to or acknowledge a lot of the things that do not matter. Maybe you even have your headphones in. This is the same way Owner 1 walks his dog. He walks his dog with a purpose and the owner leads the way. He and the dog don’t stop unless they have to, they do not talk to anyone, they do not care about any of the crazy sounds going on, and they don’t pay attention to things that do not matter. No one comes up and pets the dog, no one says anything to the dog. The Dog simply EXISTS. The dog doesn’t acknowledge or care about other things other than its owner. He treats other people as furniture and other people treat the dog like it’s not even there.
Every time Owner 2 takes his dog for a walk they do not walk with a purpose and the dog leads the way. They stop and talk to everyone, the dog is zigging and zagging back and forth, the owner lets tons of other people or dogs come up to pet and talk to the dog. And then on the rest of the walk, Owner 2 wonders why their dog doesn’t stop pulling and barking at other people and dogs. Hmmm…
The bottom line is this: Any place can be a great place to have a dog. However, as an owner you need to be responsible and stop allowing bad behaviors to happen. Once this is established early in the dog’s life (1-2 years) then you can relax more because the dog knows what he can and can’t do. But if you aren’t present he will never know. If you work with me, I can show you easy ways to manage your dog that DO NOT require EXTRA time. You will actually GAIN time. On a walk, have a purpose. This is not the time to let anyone or dog come up to your dog. Lead the walk and let your dog EXIST around other stimuli without acknowledgment. You will be amazed at what this will do for your dog.
