What makes a good dog owner?

 

Every animal or puppy I sell to a prospective buyer, I wonder what kind of home it will be entering. I pray with every sale, that the owner will be a good dog owner. But what makes a good dog owner? I consider myself one, as I love my dogs, care for them, and train them to the best of my ability. But what actually makes me any better than another dog owner or breeder?


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First of all, I feel the animal should be treated with respect. This creature is a dog, and each dog has a specific need and purpose in this world, just like us. And part of that need is to have someone care for it:



  • being responsible for the dog’s health and medical care;

  • make sure the dog is safe toward others and itself;

  • being responsible for its reproduction habits, such as spaying, neutering, or breeding;

  • being responsible for its training and behavior toward other animals and people;

  • being responsible for knowledge about the dog’s breed, such as temperament, purpose, habits, characteristics, etc.;

  • and being responsible for the dog in the family, such as training the dog to behave with younger children and training younger children to respect the dog’s boundaries. 


Good owners cannot be labeled as good just because they do one little something. It is because they love their dogs and do the best they can for them to make their lives better. According to Abram Maslow and his triangle, there are several levels of caring for dogs and humans. The bottom and first level, which is the most important level, is that of the basic physiological needs: the ability to stay warm or cool; enough water to drink; enough sleep and rest; enough quality of food to eat; clean area of bodily wastes. Once this need is met, then the level of safety needs to be met: physical and emotional security; health safety; and family and owner security. This has been known to outweigh the physiological needs in importance.

The third level of the triangle is the layer of love and belonging. This is a social level where the dog or puppy cannot be properly socialized unless he feels secure and loved, knowing where his sense of belonging is to feel accepted. The second and this level is where the dog’s life can end in trouble, beginning with the first level. The owners have to fill the first three of these in order for the animal to move on, for the status and esteem levels to be fulfilled. Otherwise, they develop dysfunctional habits and behavior and end up “out the door”; but before doing that, remember…God spelled backward is dog, his favorite pet!