Ace Holds the Cards

Ace wanders the neighborhood of his own volition. His mom once told me that he won't potty when he's on a leash so she just lets him wander. He meanders through each yard, doing whatever he wants, while she watches and tries to correct him.

"Come here, Ace."
"I'm sorry," she says to me as Ace approaches my dog (who is leashed). 
"No no, Ace."

And so on.

Ace is king of the hill, ruler of his house, master instead of pet. 
And Ace is only about four pounds.

Someone isn't playing with a full deck. Instead of leashing their dog they allow him to control their lives. They follow him around the neighborhood, cutting through yards, walking on driveways to get to the woods behind the houses. All because Ace won't potty while leashed. 

They are allowing a four-pound pet to control them.

If this is how a dog is being raised how are we parenting our children? It's no wonder America is in the state it's in.

Give them screens to appease them.
Apologize to your children when they misbehave.
Push them aside while we do what we want to.
Give them what they want without making them work for it.
Refuse to let them accept the consequences for their actions.

Ace has trained his parents to respond the way he wants them to, similar to how children behave. Raising children (and pets) well takes a lot of time and energy. It is exhausting. There's a lot of repetition. A lot of mistakes (on both parts), and a lot of tears. It's frustrating and can feel like a whirlwind in your mind at the end of a grueling day, but they need to be taught what is acceptable and what isn't.

I'm not saying I did everything right as a parent (dog parent and people parent). I have a twelve year old dog who still tries to get her way and we recently changed from a harness to a new collar for walking. This new collar doesn't allow her to yank or pull on the leash and she's forced to walk beside me. Gone are the days of her lunging for rabbits and squirrels (and assuring a trip to the chiropractor for me!). Gone are the days of her digging her feet into the grass and nearly flattening her sausage-like body (she's a little fat in her old age) so she can smell that intriguing scent. Did she enjoy this new collar? No. In fact, she scratched her face so hard the first two weeks that she made her nose bleed every day. I kept with it, forcing her to submit, because she's the dog and I'm the master. 

If I don't teach her how to behave she will try to take control. That's the way things work in dog-world.

Kids can do the same thing. 

Don't neglect your parenting. You are the adult. These little lessons you're exhausting yourself with every. single. day. are teaching them how to adult. Keep it up, mom and dad. 

And please, keep your mutt on a leash. 

*Don't get me started on the woman who drives with her dog on her lap, window open, dog barking and trying to jump out the window to get my dog....sigh.