I’m trying to develop a routine of complimenting people on their dogs’ behavior. Not their appearance, size or breed, but their behavior.
Like with everything else, people are much a lot more likely to compliment or criticize a dog’s appearance rather than her behavior. just take a Staffordshire terrier to the pet dog park and enjoy people back away because they see the “pitbull” rather than the calm, well-trained pet dog that she is. Or take a great dane out and notice how people gasp at her size rather than appreciate her gentleness.
The primary thing that sticks out to me with dogs is when I see one that’s calm and kicked back in public. This is probably because the average pet dog barks, pulls or nearly strangles herself on walks, trips to PetSmart or any other time she gets out of the house. I notice when a pet dog is under control, quiet and responsive to her owner.
It’s a goal of mine to be able to take my pet dog anywhere with no issues. So when I see a pet dog behaving better than mine, I notice. It’s a secret competition. a lot of dogs I interact with behave a lot worse than my dog, others are much a lot more focused and calm. When I see a pet dog I admire, the owner has typically put a lot of time into working with that dog.
There’s no better way to learn about animal behavior and training than to speak with someone who has successfully trained a pet dog to do whatever you want your pet dog to do. and a lot of pet dog owners like to hear something like, “That’s a really great pet dog you have. how did you get him to stay at your side no matter what?”
People compliment me on how calm my pet dog is, and it’s a great compliment to receive. but no one ever asks how he got that way. They assume it’s his personality, that labs are easy to train (uh, yeah) or that I lucked out. These people have undoubtedly never seen my pet dog obsess over a tennis ball or crash through an agility course. They don’t know that it took daily six-mile runs and hours of training to get my hyper pet dog to relax.
We all know pet dog owners like to brag about their dogs. It’s what we do. We like to complain about them too, but that’s just another version of bragging. “My pet dog took and ate an entire steak from the table …”
So, the next time you see a well-behaved dog, tell her owner you’re impressed. then ask how she got to that point. There’s always a lot more we can learn.
What kinds of compliments does your pet dog get? What do you admire in other people’s dogs?