6: Myths and Generalizations That Hurt Me as a New Dog Owner

Sean and Haley sit down to chat through some dog ownership myths and generalizations that have personally affected life with Scout. I've felt a lot of internal conflict on different topics, especially in my first year with her — and across-the-board, contradictory statements from different trainers and friends and family members fueled much of that turmoil.

We talk about:

• The false idea that "good dogs have to love other dogs and people"
• It's not "all in how you raise them" and the nuance of nature & nurture working together
• How rehoming is sometimes the best option for everyone involved
• Potentially hurtful statements like "your dog won’t have behavioral problems if.... you’re a good enough leader, they trust you, etc" that put all the onus on us humans (who are trying our best and already feel plenty overwhelmed & insecure)
• Similarly, advice like "if you’re calm your dog will be calm" and variations of "just don’t make a big deal out of things"
• The classic dogs on the furniture debate and a bit about our understanding of dominance
• That "you shouldn’t comfort your dog when they’re scared"
• If taking our dogs on a daily walk is the end all be all and generalizations about exercise

Some related links and references:

• One of our first blogs, asking why your dog needs to do... well, anything
• Blog on how we set impactful goals with Scout
• It's all in how you raise them blog
• Ian Dunbar on the TWC podcast (and our running list of podcast notes)
• Puppies born ready to interpret human signals
• Blog on the balance between advocating for vs babying my dog
• Our personal dogs on the furniture rules
• Books I recommend to dog owners (we specifically mention Dog is Love by Clive Wynne and Frans de Waal's works)
• David Mech dominance articles (I pronounce his name wrong twice in this episode — my apologies! I was quite embarrassed when I realized. That's what I get for primary learning through written works. Oops. But the points about his works still stand.)
• Human control of resources / automatic dominance over dogs