By LAURIE C. WILLIAMS
For the Stafford County Sun

Whenever I meet someone who claims to not like dogs (yes, those people do exist — unbelievably so!), I will usually press to find out the reason why. Sometimes they confess that it isn’t that they don’t like them, but more so that they find them needy and demanding of too much attention. For those people I say bravo. I’m glad they realize this before getting a dog!

And then there are the people who prefer cats, which again is fine by me. Cats certainly have their own unique charm and are definitely more self-sufficient. However I’ve found that quite a few people who dislike dogs are merely suffering from displaced anger. They often hold dogs accountable for infractions and crimes that should be attributed to their corresponding human. Living and working with dogs on a daily basis, I can concur that some dogs truly do have habits that are downright annoying. Hey, I wouldn’t have a job if that weren’t the case! But we usually can’t blame the dog for this. Most often he’s just being a dog and ends up the scapegoat for lack of proper “petiquette” on his human’s part.

Let’s face it, dog’s do not have a moral code. They are animals that do whatever comes naturally and feels good. If it smells good, a dog will sniff it — a lot! If it tastes good, a dog will gobble it up as fast as he can. If a dog needs to eliminate, he’ll likely do it, right there, on the spot, unless he is prevented from doing so or has been taught to do it somewhere else. Anything left on the floor or out in the open is fair game to a dog, and if not stopped he may just chew it or tear it into shreds. Why? Because it’s fun! And that includes your brand new Coach purse, and further he’ll likely have the time of his life doing it! After all, the dog behaviors we find most annoying are perfectly natural and often instinctual to a dog such as barking, digging, jumping up and pulling.

And yet when a dog does these things, we look at him like he’s an alien thinking, “Where did you come from and why on earth would you do such a thing?” We forget that dogs were bred to bark, dig, jump and pull, but unfortunately somewhere along the way we stopped using dogs for what they were bred for and now want them to stop.

Unfortunately Mother Nature doesn’t work that way. The fact of the matter is, rather than expecting a dog to just know what annoys us, we should communicate to them what we like and how to live in our world, both in and outside of our homes. In other words, we need to teach them how to put their best paw forward!

There are some key essentials of petiquette. For starters, nobody likes stepping in dog waste. I love dogs and I hate stepping in it, so imagine how someone feels who doesn’t have a dog or really care for dogs feels when he or she steps into a pile? Walk down any street on given day and count the piles of dog waste you see on the ground and you realize something has gone terribly wrong. Something that should be clear common sense and courtesy is being ignored. But we can’t blame the dogs for this. Last I checked there isn’t a single dog that has been taught to clean up his own waste. Trust me on this, I’ve thought long and hard about it. If and when I ever figure it out how to do so, I will be richer than Bill Gates and Oprah combined. Any time a dog goes anywhere out in public there should be one thing that is taken along on the outing: poop bags!

Incessant barking is rarely music to anyone’s ears. While we can build up a tolerance and almost become immune to our own dog’s bark, for our neighbors it is likely deafening, especially when occurring during the middle of the night. For starters, if barking could be a problem where you live, make it a little easier on your dog (and yourself) by choosing the breed wisely. In other words, don’t get a Beagle, or a Coonhound, or a Bassett, or any kind of Scent Hound for that matter. But any breed of dog can bark (yes, even Basenjis if they want to, it just sounds a little different), but incessant barking is usually the result of boredom, lack of human interaction, stimulation and the need for more supervision. I think we tend to forget that dogs are social animals and really weren’t meant to spend long periods of time alone. As a responsible pet parent we need to make provisions for our dogs so that they have the proper supervision they need.

While it may not bother us when our dog happily jumps up to greet us, it’s likely most other people don’t want to be sacked!  Further, it’s a liability issue. We live in a litigious society. Dogs can inadvertently cause damage to a person with their nails, and yes, I do know of a case where a dog was labeled as “dangerous” for jumping up and scratching someone completely by mistake.  Dogs simply must be taught how not to jump on people. It is one of those non-negotiable behaviors that should be part of every dog’s repertoire.

One of my favorite movies, “My Dog Skip,” came on the other day.  It shows Skip roaming the neighborhood and the children played ball with him, the butcher gave him slices of bologna, and he was loved by all. Yes, it was adorable. However the story is set in the 40s or 50s, and those days are long gone. When was the last time you saw a butcher? I know it’s hard to keep some dogs fenced in. I have a few escape artists myself, but nowadays, not only is it unsafe for a dog to roam free, it’s against the law. Training isn’t really the issue here. Personally I don’t feel a dog can ever be 100 percent reliably trained to remain within a certain boundary unsupervised, even when electronic fences are installed. If the desire for what the dog wants on the other side is higher than that dog’s fear of being shocked, he’ll most likely go for it. Again, proper supervision and a really strong, foolproof fence are in order.

All in all, our dog’s manners (or lack thereof) say more about us than it does about our dog.  It comes down to a matter of our respect for other people, respect for ourselves, but most importantly, respect for our dog. Our dog deserves to be welcomed and viewed as a good canine citizen not only by us, but by everyone he or she meets, and it’s up to us to show him how to put his best paw forward.