If we could give a dog just six words, I think it would come up with two phrases.
The first would be “It’s not fair.” A dog wants a good pack leader. And a good pack leader is firm, fair and consistent. I believe a dog has a strong sense of what is fair and what is not.
But I have also come to the conclusion that dogs are born con artists. Even the best behaved dog is always looking for an opportunity to turn any situation to their advantage. Personally I think the only reason my two Lakelands, and for that matter your dog, haven’t taken a car to go joyriding is that they don’t have thumbs to steer with.
So if a dog could say “it’s not fair, it would use the phrase the way a four year old human does. Sometimes it would mean you aren’t being fair. But other times it would just mean “give me my way.”
The next phrase would be “But you said.” Dogs, like children, are born lawyers. While their vocabulary may be limited they know what each word and each command means. And they take them very literally.
I don’t teach the command “stay” but rather the command “wait.” Stay is usually used to keep the dog sitting in one place while you walk away. I want my dog to stop whenever and wherever I command at the moment I give the command. Wait is an X on the ground where the dog is not to move from until I release it. But unless I add something else it is up to the dog whether they stand, sit, or lay down while holding their wait.
Sometimes someone else will tell their dog “sit” in here. The dog will sit then get back up. They will then tell the dog “I said sit.” And then I will tell the owner you said sit and the dog sat. You didn’t tell him to wait.
And as I do the dog looks at them and thinks “But you said.”
Doug
