Chromatic K9

If I could give one piece of advice to every single pet owner reading this-whether your dog is fearful, reactive, or just “naughty”-stop giving your dog false choices.

Let me present you with a scenario:
You are a seven year old child and it’s dinner time. Your mom says “would you like broccoli or a chocolate cake?”
You look at her with disbelief and excitedly say “chocolate cake of course!!”
Chocolate cake for dinner will eventually result in pediatric diabetes so your mom serves you broccoli.
I want you to imagine the absolute meltdown you would have at this point.

Would you have the same emotional response if your mom never gave you the choice and just said “we’re having broccoli?”
Probably not.

The food was the same but the expectation created was not.

We do this to dogs all the time:
We ask them “would you like to get in the crate?” We accept their “no” some of the time. Other times, we’ve got to leave so we shove them in.

We tighten the leash and we ask “would you like to keep moving with me or stay at this spot you’ve been sniffing for a while longer?” We let them sniff on a tight leash most of the time but when their leash tightens in the direction of a dog they’d like to go see and they refuse to move and maybe even vocalize their frustration we call them “stubborn” or “reactive”

We ask “will you please let me trim your nails?” And accept their no. But when the vet has to get some bloodwork done all of a sudden they have to hold still and tolerate restraint for the first time in their lives, we label them “vet aggressive”

The problem isn’t giving your dog choice. It’s also not taking that choice away in situations where there is only one correct answer.

The problem is clarity. Are you asking or are you telling?