What Dogs Deserve
Dogs are one of the most loved and most vulnerable parts of our society. They are adored and they are abused. They are protected and they are neglected. Let’s face it, dogs put up with a lot.
I am going to cover what dogs deserve here, I promise, but first some background.
There’s a huge culture around dogs that in many ways matches the culture we see around veganism. The egocentric belief that humans must come first. This is something I hear from weird arguments about being vegan and about dog training methods.
Anti-veganism is strange, it’s people saying that people must eat, survival of the fittest, the circle of life (The Lion King right) like we will die if we don’t eat animals. That’s not true though, I haven’t eaten animals since I was around 5 years old, and yet here I am.
The whole vegan thing is much more that we often see though, I appreciate that. People being people need to go through their stuff.
We don’t all sing from the same song sheet of life. I can’t shout at you to be vegan; it won’t work. I’ll just isolate you by shouting at you – and then you understand me even less, and to top that off I have also made you uncomfortable around me.
I can show you a better way though, and when you’re ready you can learn about it. But you have to be ready, you have to be just a little bit open hearted to the message.
In the meantime, I won’t be joining you for a steak – if you don’t mind.
I believe there’s an ascension of knowledge and wisdom in this life. We start off with nothing much on the knowledge front, we just want connection, food, safety and love. We then go through all these stages of gathering knowledge, information and stuff - often things, money etc, thinking this is the meaning of life and will make us happy.
Then eventually we realise that the best and wisest thing is also the simplest. Again we realise that if we can achieve connection, food, safety and love – within the parameters of everything life throws our way, we have made it. We are the whole and satisfied human we were born to be.
So back to dogs.
Because dogs are my heart animal, especially Chips. Isn't he great?
Guess what my friends.
Dogs shouldn’t have to be exposed to our issues in this world. They are not here for us they are here with us. They already show and give us the perfect example of connection and love that we could possibly ever bear witness to. They are screaming it in our faces, in their own way.
They are bloody well leading us by example and bringing us the best gift we have ever had, a gift that most of us lost humans are incapable of providing, the gift of pure reflection and love.
And in return what are we giving them?
What are we doing to them?
We are putting prong collars on them to shut them up.
We are fighting for it to stay legal to electrocute them.
We are telling desperate dog guardians that they need to hurt their dogs to solve their problem.
We are beating them to try and change them, change their communication attempts, their perfect messages.
We are depriving them of the right to meet their own tender needs and shaping them to meet ours.
And dogs don’t deserve any of that, they haven’t asked for it. They have done nothing wrong. They are no danger to us. They don’t need beating into submission.
They just want to be with us.
And to feel safe with us.
Dogs just want connection, food, safety and love.
Just like we do.
So let’s not let them down anymore.
Let’s give them the respect that they deserve.
The respect that every single dog in every single human home in this World deserves.
Thanks for reading my blog, if you're a dog professional. You can get one of my books for free over at The National Institute for Canine Ethics.
If you're a dog guardian you can get one of my free courses over at Canine Principles.
Or feel free to grab all of them from both spaces (that's what I would do - no messing) See you next time xx