Mama’s Don’t Let Your Doggies Grow Up to be Cowboys..

Or let ‘em chew guitars and ride in old trucks.  Make ‘em be doctors and lawyers and such!

I admire cowboys enormously and have huge respect for the jobs they do.  It’s a hard life.  As Willy and Waylon sing, “make ‘em be doctors and lawyers and such” they reminisce about just how hard that life is and how hard it is to be close to a cowboy. 

Maybe it’s a long stretch of the imagination to relate dogs to cowboys, but I relate a “rogueness” about a cowboy.   Willie and Waylon plead with mamas to help their children fit a little more into society.  

There are cowboy doggies, meaning dogs that work hard with cowboys or sheepherders to make life simpler;  it is their JOB.  Herding has very strict rules that those doggies know and live by.  It’s not a free for all.

Last week I talked about your dog having respect for you.  But, it is a two way street.  Now you, too, must have respect for your dog and who he is.  Knowing what motivates your dog because of his breeding and understanding dog behavior is the key to having a good relationship with your dog.  So many times I see someone with a Border Collie (a high energy dog whose natural instinct is to herd sheep or cattle all day) asking him to live in a small condo and chill on the sofa with a walkabout on a leash once a day.  Or I see giant Labradors that are incredibly strong with enormous instinct to hunt living with an elderly couple that cannot walk him because the dog’s strength has pulled them over one too many times.

When we make decisions about bringing a dog home, we must think of more than a cute face, or how badly he needs a home, or that you want a companion to hang out with, or that you have always wanted that breed.  It’s critical to look at who that dog is, what his breed is or suspected mix is and what he was born to do.  We must honor the dog for who he is and his heritage. Will his breed fit with who you are?  If you have a busy life, know how to train dogs, and where your dog can work for you all day, a Border Collie could be the perfect dog.  If you have a more sedentary life, you might choose a dog bred to be a lap dog that is smaller and easy to train, like a Cavalier King Charles.

Respecting your dog is means understanding his essential needs to have a leader.  It means respecting his need to have guidance, and understanding about his natural drives.  It means not trying to fit a round dog into a square hole.  It means teaching your dog not to be a rogue and out of control.  Even the hardest cattle dog has strict rules to herd with and to comply with around the ranch, or the dog can be severely injured or cause injury to valuable stock.

When contemplating bringing a new dog into your home, avoid impulse.  Do the best you can do to honor your dog by knowing that your life and his is a fit.  Take your time. Do some research on different breeds.  And, by all means start some rules and training before your puppy is 16 weeks old. If you adopt an older dog, start guiding him the moment he comes through the door.  Don’t let your doggies grow up to be cowboys.  

Caption:  “Don’t let ‘em chew guitars and ride on old trucks. Make be doctors and lawyers and such!”