We all want our dogs to be as happy as they can be. Dog owners love their dogs, like dogs love their owners.
Yet, we sometimes can hurt our dog’s feelings without knowing. I hope this article can help you realize if you are doing something wrong and if so how you can fix it.
Here are 5 common ways that you might be hurting your dog’s feelings on a daily basis.
Table of Contents
What Are The 5 Ways You May Be Hurting Your Dog’s Feelings?
Negative Reinforcement When Using The “Come” Command
Many people use this command for a multitude of things. For dinner time, for playtime, when it’s time to walk or when it’s bath time.
But, when you use the come command to get your dog to do something they don’t enjoy or want to do, they will get let down.
Your dog’s feelings might get hurt if they run over expecting a reward and instead they get a punishment.
Your dog starts to think when they “come” they have to do something they don’t like. This could lead to disobedience of your commands.
Not Playing With Your Dog
Dogs love playtime, even more than playtime they love their owners.
It can be hard to find time to play with your dog, and they might want to play with you after a long tiring day at work.
It is important that you find the time to play with your dog.
Even a short 5 – 15 minute session your dog will be a lot happier for it.
When you refuse your dog playtime, you are letting them down and they feel refused and can get sad because of this.
Isolation
Dogs love their owners and their families a lot. They don’t like it when they get put outside or put in a dog crate away from their owner(s).
Dogs get quite sad when they get isolated from their owners because you are the only person they hang out with.
Without you they are all alone and they feel your anger towards them. It’s okay to cage them if they do something wrong, but understand they feel sad when you do this.
Inconsistent Rules
Dogs are smart animals and they can learn commands and your rules you have for them. It is important that if you make a rule you stick to it and you don’t compromise.
If you tell your dog to never eat human food, you should never feed your dog human food.
If you tell them not to do something, let them to do it, and then they do it later on and get punished their feelings get hurt.
You made them think they could break that rule, and then punished them.
Tight Leashes
Don’t keep your dog on a tight leash they like to roam around a little bit while they are on a walk. You hurt their feelings when you restrain their collar or harness on a walk.
You should have control, but shouldn’t choke your dog. Let them enjoy their walk, and be consistent with your leash/walking style.
This way, your dog won’t try to break your rules. And you won’t have to hurt their feelings.
Final Thoughts
If you have done any of these things, don’t feel bad. Most people have done these without knowing it makes their dogs feel bad.
But, now that you know try some of the things on this list, it could make your dog much happier.
