Some of us remember a time when "socializing" a dog came automatically. Training a dog meant teaching your dog to sit,get the newspaper,your slippers,etc. When it came to "socializing your dog" that was accomplished without thought as the dog followed the children through the house and out to play into the neighborhood. Mothers were generally home when the children were at school, and after school, the children were not committed to structured play activities elsewhere.
Those days have passed day for most of us. Dogs and other pets,more than ever, fill a companionship void for families and other urban dwellers. Dogs are at home alone for great periods of time,and getting into mischief and soon begin to chew rugs,become destructive,or simply depressed. Many owners realized this, and the professional pet sitters and dog walkers came into exisitance along with the urban and suburban dog parks. Consequently, the importance of dog training became crucial, and animal associations contantly try to meet the new pet ownership issues such as proclaiming January as the month to train your dog. This campaign has come from the Association of Dog Trainers, and does remind us what we are really responsible for when it comes to owning a dog. Right they are in bringing up training, since winter is the time puppies and rescues have entered new homes (thankfully) in great numbers. The worry is if these same dogs become behavioral problems,and the owners turn them over to rescue organizations,abandon them,or raise an aggressive, ill-behaved dog. These are the dogs that can not behave on dog walks, or participate in community activity that involves other people or dogs.
There are so many resources to help with training your dog to properly walk and to engage in dog exercising at an off leash park etc. If help is needed with exercising and dog walking, a plethora of local pet sitting companies,and dog trainers exist to help These resources can easily be found on the web. The current recession has led to a wealth of information on "do-it-yourself dog training",so there is no excuse for us to any longer put off our dog training. Once again, we owe it to our pets.
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