Rescue regret and the missing dog training link.
Dog Shelters all over America are overflowing with unwanted pets. During the adoption craze of the pandemic, many people sought comfort in the lockdown through a furry friend, without enough consideration for when the lockdowns would be over. Now that most people have returned to the workforce, record numbers of dogs are being abandoned.
During the first phase of the pandemic, it was very difficult to find a dog to adopt, let alone a puppy. Dogs were being shipped in from other countries to meet the need in the US! Dog professionals knew what (ultimately) was coming.
So many people went into dog rescue with their hearts and not their heads. There are many expenses that come with a dog, but perhaps the most expensive part of a dog is time. Owning a dog means spending a lot of your time with them, sometimes forgoing other valuable activities such as traveling, or spending long hours away from your home at work or socializing. You need to spend time exercising and playing with a dog. At the very least, you have to budget your time to meet all of you and your dog’s needs.
One thing is for sure, many of these adopters did not budget any time for dog training. And in combination with lack of time for exercise, play and socialization, it became a recipe for disaster. Rescue Regret is such a prolific phenomenon that it was even featured on Dr. Phil.
Dog training is extremely valuable in so many ways. It’s valuable to the dog. Good dog training helps a dog understand their role and place in the family. It makes them feel valued and needed. It establishes a language between two species that could not otherwise easily communicate. Great puppy training helps your dog learn about the world in a constructive way; much like great parenting.
We’ve all seen the effects and dealt with the trauma of poor upbringing, whether we experienced it ourselves or watched someone else go through it or suffer from it. Raising a puppy or adopting a dog is no different. Dog training can’t be skipped due to lack of time. It’s valuable to the dog owner. If you think training a dog is stressful or time consuming, try living with an untrained dog! They are destructive, loud, unruly, messy and annoying.
The fantasy of owning a dog versus the reality have become quite clear, and now that the dog is “a problem,” the adopter finds out about another cost. They have already been disenchanted with the baseline costs of food, and equipment and vet care; Now they realize they did not budget for training their dog or puppy. A quick google search can show you the dog training costs of various programs. But in Dog Training, you get what you pay for. The programs that are really worth doing are priced accordingly.
The cost of the best dog training may be high, but it’s a drop in the bucket compared to the cost of not training your dog. Think of the associated costs with:
Eating inedible objects, requiring obstruction surgery
Poisoning – eating plants or edibles, or other items due to not being crate trained or confined without stimulation for too long.
Destroying furniture, like your leather sofa
Hit by car (due to escape or not coming when called)
A dog bite
All of these costs are in the thousands of dollars range, and are mostly preventable with good dog training.
Dog training is incredibly valuable to the dog owner. Besides the obvious reasons of having a dog that’s easy to live with; one that listens to you and is fun to be around. Training your dog is going to teach you a lot of valuable lessons that can foster personal growth in ways you can’t imagine. Patience, trust, critical thinking, problem-solving, perspective, selflessness, and acts of kindness are all lessons that can be taught through dog training in a profound way. Believe me, you will do a deep dive into self-process and psychology should you be brave enough to participate in that journey. Yes, dog training can change your life, too.
If you have rescue regret and need some help, contact us. We offer dog training in Denver and the surrounding areas.