Too Much Freedom Can Lead to Dog Misbehaviour

Although human beings can never be compared in terms of things like their DNA and ability/inability to be rational, there are a few ways by which we are like our pet pooches. Just like us, they also want to take a walk, play, eat, and sleep. We get annoyed by their incessant barking sometimes, but we sure have humans who can nag all day and bosses breathing down our necks and barking orders (no pun there).

As well as humans, our four-legged pets also want their freedom. They don’t want to be on leash or contained in a fence all day, even all their life. However, too much of anything can certainly be bad, and that includes too much freedom. In fact, truth be told, one of the major causes of dogs misbehaving is having too much of it.

Dealing with dogs

When dealing with our pet pooches, we must think like them. When it comes to behaviour issues, it’s not really what we do that matters, but how our dog perceives what we do. Giving them too much freedom —like letting them patrol the entire property unrestrained while we’re not home or allowing them to roam the house and invade each room —we’re actually sending them a dangerous message.

Freedom and power

For dogs, freedom is relative, and they associate it with power. Remember when we were kids and we were not allowed to touch breakable and sharp objects? Of course, that was all for our own good and safety. Aside from dangerous things, we were also not allowed to open the fridge and cupboards at will and get whatever food we want all the time. But the minute our parents leave the house, we try to impose our own freedom and do whatever we want. That’s how freedom is associated with power, which is how our dog can perceive it as well.

Freedom as evidence of rank

Dogs are hierarchical creatures. In their world (sometimes even in our world), resources are controlled by the top dog. In the wild, top dogs have unlimited freedom. Domesticated dogs that are given the same unlimited freedom can perceive it as evidence of rank. He feels that, since he is the top dog, he owns and controls everything. He’s free to go where he wants and can do whatever he desires. Needless to say, this leads to unwanted behaviour.

Image credit: derekp (flickr.com)

Giving our canine companions some freedom is good. In fact, it’s one of the responsibilities of a dog owner. However, when freedom is abused, that’s when trouble can start happening. Send a strong message to him that his freedom is with a limit by keeping him within bounds at certain times, like putting up a dog fence so he stays in one place when you want him to (you can get different types of dog fence at dogmaster.com.au).

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Related articles:

Dog Fence Tips (ehow.com)

Training Your New Puppy or Dog (dogbreedinfo.com) 

Is Your Dog Dominant? (aspca.org)