I guarantee you all of these athletes enjoy their lives more than the fat lapdogs I see come into work every day. If you’ve ever known a dog truly bred for work or sports you’ll understand that there’s no forcing them to do any of this–it’s in their blood.
“let’s selectively breed dogs for thousands of years for a purpose and then just suddenly stop using them for that purpose”
wow great idea
If you think dogs shouldn’t participate in sports please unfollow me.
Fwiw, selectively bred dogs can do without the thing they were selectively bred for as long as it is replaced with something similar in everyday life that fills that need.
My corgi definitely had some herding instinct in him, but he didn’t cause issues because the way he was brought up with children and other animals, he was basically the schoolyard bell of our lives. He watched out for other animals; he would alert us when it was time to put the chickens in their coops at sundown, he would alert us when it was time to let them out in the morning and he spent his time using his brain to figure things out, like whether he should bark at the door or not (depended on whether or not I liked the person knocking, believe it or not) locating the cat at various times of day to check in, etc.
To get his energy out we played chase some days in the field, alternating who chased who. We also went outside on our midday walk and barked at each other, since corgis seem to have a fundamental need to bark. Formulating social relationships with other non-dog animals really worked his brain, too. I got the impression he was nearly fluent in cat.
You can fulfill instincts in a dog without joining organized competitive sports. You just have to figure out what works their brain that you and they enjoy together.
You know, this is a lovely perspective and one I wish was more common. The trainer I work for sees a lot of people who only think of what they want from their dog, not what their dogs’ instincts are telling them.
Dogs are who they are, and they deserve to be respected for that, but it doesn’t necessarily mean doing EXACTLY what they were bred for. Just recognize their predispositions and accommodate them.
sky's stuff 