Dogs’ basic needs
All dogs have the right to a feeling of safety. This comes in the form of having their basic needs met freely and without restriction – food, water, shelter and health. We want to be showing our dogs that they will have all their needs met continually.
This may seem very basic, but there is a lot of advice out there which disrupts a dog’s ability to maintain this sense of safety (and I use the term ‘advice’ in the loosest possible way) and I wanted to highlight this and why it is problematic.
Water
Water is essential for the survival of all living things. It is the most basic of needs – and it even a fundamental human right, recognised by the United Nations.
So why are we still seeing it recommended to remove a puppy’s water bowl an hour or two before bed, to prevent accidents? If a dog is thirsty, it should not be restricted from drinking because it’s more convenient for us if they’re dehydrated. Puppies are growing so quickly and are so small that dehydration can have serious effects on their little bodies.
When we bring a puppy home, they are going to have accidents. They don’t know the rules and it’s up to us to teach them that going outside is better than going inside, by giving them ample opportunity to go outside and rewarding them heavily for any outdoor business. Their bladders are also just not big enough to go a full night until they’re around 16 weeks, so we should go into puppy adoption being fully prepared for disrupted sleep for at least this time frame.
We shouldn’t be removing water to make it easier for us.
Food
Another example of restricting dogs’ basic survival needs is the idea that dogs should ‘earn’ their food.
Again, food is a basic need. Putting their food in a slow feeder or lick mat to slow them down is one thing (and this can have great benefits for enrichment as well!) but making them perform a ‘command’ in order to get a treat each time, or ‘wait’ until they’ve been told they can have their dinner is just not necessary.
Again, this mentality is very pervasive and, when you think about it, what are we actually gaining from making our dogs wait to eat their meals? I don’t know about you, but this would royally hack me off the shoe was on the other foot.
Similarly, if we only use high value food when we’re trying to get our dogs to perform an action they don’t like (get in the car, bath or put the harness on) the food can become coercive and dogs can become wary of taking food from us.
I don’t generally recommend free feeding (having food down at all times) but regular meals, given without the expectation of anything in return, is really important for well-being.
All of this is not to say that we shouldn’t use food for training, food is a very powerful motivator for many dogs. But the idea that they should work for all their food isn’t helpful.
Safety
It’s also important to show them that you are safe. That they can trust you and that you are never going to do them harm. Your bond is integral to everything that you do with you dog – you want them to think that you are the absolute bees knees and a source of love and good things for them.
This means that we never want to be punishing our dogs or causing them any intentional pain or discomfort when we’re working with them.
Positive reinforcement, using kind and ethical methods, also happen to be the methods that have been backed by science and proven, time and time again, to be equally (if not more) effective than punishment based training (ecollars, prongs, slip leads, water spray, pet corrector, shouting etc). Punishment based training has also been shown, without exception, to have a negative fallout on the dogs’ well-being in studies.
Dogs thrive when they are shown love and compassion and taught new things in a positive way, using play, food or praise as a reward.
Shelter and health
With a few exceptions (such as livestock guardian dogs), the majority of modern breeds have been selectively bred to live alongside humans in their homes. The majority of dogs want to be with their humans as much as they can and so they should be living in our homes, not sleeping outside or tethered to a tree.
With regards to health, we need to make sure that our dogs can have access to the life-saving medical care they need such as vaccinations, flea and worm prevention etc.
This aspect of dog ownership can be contested as it has been argued to be rooted in classism: many people cannot afford insurance or life-saving surgeries. Does this mean they shouldn’t have dogs? Some would say it does, others say it doesn’t.
But if you shouldn’t have a pet because you can’t afford insurance, then where do we draw the line? Should you not have a dog if you can’t afford to feed raw or a high-end kibble? If you can’t afford a house with a big garden? If you can’t afford a car to take them to exciting places? This is a grey and highly nuanced area and certainly not one that I feel qualified to speak on, so I’ll leave you to make your own conclusions here.
To conclude…
What this all boils down to is that we should be considering our dogs’ basic needs and ensuring that we aren’t imposing any restrictions or criteria on them gaining them.
We have come a long way in terms of understanding learning theory and how we should interact with our dogs, but a lot of ‘old school’ mentality surrounding alphas, dominance, pack leaders and respect is still pervasive throughout society and even the most well-meaning person can have been mislead by these ideas.
So the next time you go to give your dog a treat, you can just give it to them ‘for nothing’. They will love you for it.
