What is YOUR dog's purpose?

After living rurally for quite a few years now it’s not uncommon for us to see cows or sheep being moved along the road by the dogs that still work on farms.

The dogs are focused, alert and seemingly oblivious to anything else.

The phrase ‘born to do something’ seems appropriate here.

Obviously some training has been put into them but from chatting to the guys that have these working dogs, genetics seems to be the biggest driver determining whether they keep them to work or not.

These dogs look like they are in the zone. They are probably the most content they will ever be doing what they do, it makes me wonder how content a lot of pet dogs are. Or, how content these working dogs are when we put them in suburbia.

Pet dogs get a lot more ‘luxuries’ like expensive beds, toys, coats, bedrooms etc but what is it that the dog finds ‘luxurious?’

Dogs were designed to do so much more than lie on a couch most of the day and go for a street walk. There are probably some people reading this thinking “That’s all my dog wants to do!” Dogs, just like us, are very adaptable. If that’s all the choice they are given, then a lot of dogs will just adapt to that lifestyle.

But for the ones that don’t just adapt and fit in, we then start to see behaviour ‘problems’. A dog behaving badly isn’t because they are naughty or stubborn or challenging us. It’s because they likely have unmet biological needs.

I know I’d rather live in a shithole but get to wake up and do the things I love than live in a mansion and not have anything to do that is meaningful to me. You might think you’d like that mansion but it's generally the pursuit of attaining that mansion through meaningful work that you are really striving for.

The pursuit of chasing our goals is always more pleasurable than attaining the goal.

Some dogs NEED training. They NEED something to strive far. They will do better having a task to aim at than being told to do whatever they like - usually because doing whatever they like in our artificial society leads to them chasing cyclists or chasing a screaming kid for example.

When we take some dogs away from the things they were born to do and then place them in suburbia, it’s very hard for them to adapt. Even with training, guidance and management some dogs can be a huge challenge.

We need to be looking at dogs as individuals. We need to accept it’s not JUST about how we raise dogs. Genetics are real. The environment influences those genetics. If we don’t provide appropriate outlets for biological needs, our dogs will look to their environment to practice those behaviours. And even when we do provide outlets they will still be triggered by the environment regardless and that’s why with some dogs, a certain level of management is always required to keep the dogs and society safe.

And that’s why it’s called dog TRAINING, not dog TRAINED.

Some dogs you can get away with never training them except to sit in front of their food bowl and then there are other dogs that if you don’t train them they simply aren’t safe to live in our society.

Look at your dog as an individual and ask yourself what was this dog born to do.. Once you know what that is, set yourself and your dogs some goals that they get to practice weekly.

If you’re not sure what that might be I would recommend getting involved with some form of scent work and I don’t mean just a scatter of food every now and then.

I mean actual scent work where the dog is focused and challenged on an achievable goal that is gradually made more challenging each time they do it.

Behaviour 'problems' are only problems for us. For the dog it is usually a sign of unmet biological needs. If you can find a way to scratch that itch I'll guarantee both of your lives will become easier.