Why training is so important.

We all love our animals. We all trust them. We all want what is best for them. But love and trust is never enough.
Dogs are hunters. It is in their genes. Even my sweet little diva dog Sashka has the urge to hunt. Last summer when we were at the lake and sitting around the camp fire, Sashka spotted a mouse. She chased it, cornered it, and was going to kill it if I hadn’t stepped in. But Sashka and I have gone thru training and when I say “Leave It!” you better believe she understands. But like any dog, if I don’t watch she is likely to try again.
So one of our adopters called this morning quite upset. The dog she adopted had killed a chicken and she wanted to know what she could do to make sure it never happened again. Training, training, training. I can’t impress enough that ALL dogs need training. Not just one set of puppy classes, but ongoing training. They are never too young or too old. And until you can be sure that that dog is not going to harm another animal, please supervise. No. Let me rephrase that. YOU MUST SUPERVISE.
This wasn’t the dog’s fault. This was the fault of humans. When you adopt a young animal, you are getting a clean slate. YOU get to decide how that dog will live, what experiences it will have and how its life will unfold. This isn’t an undertaking that anyone should take lightly. You are responsible for a life. And when something like this happens, when a young dog kills another animal, be it a mouse, a chicken, a cat, dog or human, WE as pet owners are responsible.