A lovely friend of mine had an experience recently where someone man handled her dog. She could see clearly that the dog was becoming stressed and spoke up for her dog. Perhaps this other person was offended, perhaps they felt slighted or thought my friend was rude. Could be, but it also doesn’t matter what they thought.
What matters is that this wonderful, caring, thoughtful guardian spoke up for her dog. She upheld her end of the human-canine bond.
This is what I said to this grand and beautiful friend “Never apologize for being a guardian for your dog. We owe them a duty of care and we should always extend this duty in every situation. It was your duty to look out for and protect your dog and you upheld your duty. Well done. Many people don’t want to offend another person and so they will allow things to be done to their pet that both they and their dog are uncomfortable with. This is very clear when it comes to what people will allow vets and trainers to do to their dogs because they view these people as professionals and/or experts. No matter who it is, or what they are saying or doing, you have a right and as I said a duty as well as a moral obligation to step in if there is harm or discomfort from either your own perspective and very importantly the animal’s perspective.”
Here’s what Oxford says a guardian is – “Protector, keeper, person having legal custody over another esp. a minor”
The first part of the definition is protector. Guardianship means understanding when your dog is uncomfortable and changing the situation or managing it until you can help or aid your dog through training to be more comfortable. It means standing up when you instinctively know that a person, whether it be someone you consider to be a professional or expert is doing something you inherently disagree with whether it be a style of training to how your dog is being petted or approached.
Now there are times when a vet will need to do some things to your dog that your dog is not going to like for example taking a blood sample. In those cases this is a necessary “evil” so to speak. You can’t just simply say to the vet “my dog doesn’t like this so stop”, especially if your dog is ill and this is a diagnostic neccessity. You can make things go a whole lot more smoothly at the vet’s office by taking your dog there from puppyhood and having the vet and techs just give out treats and affection, as well as feed your dog super high value food when the blood is being drawn.
What I am talking about though is things like the infamous, unnecessary and dangerous “Alpha Roll” whereby a dog is pinned on it’s back for a supposed infraction, the unwanted petting from a stranger, manhandling by a photographer or inappropriate actions that children often inflict upon a dog. These things you can and should stand up and say NO to when it comes to your dog, without remorse, without guilt.
Guardianship is about respect, about caring, about protection, about doing the best for your pet, about being strong, about being humane and about being human, it is about holding up our end of the bargin in the human-canine bond.
You did just fine my friend

