Dogs are still dogs.

Dog ownership has exploded in recent years. Recent studies suggest that at least 36% of homes in the UK have one or more dogs. That’s over a third! This means that we are seeing more and more dogs out and about.

What I am also seeing, is more people not understanding that their dog is a dog. Not a cat, not a rabbit, not a robot.

𝐃𝐢𝐠𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐛𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐫𝐢𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐮𝐩 𝐭𝐨𝐲𝐬, 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐛𝐢𝐫𝐝𝐬 𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐟𝐮𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬, 𝐬𝐧𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐩𝐨𝐨 – 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐞𝐱𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐍𝐎𝐑𝐌𝐀𝐋 𝐝𝐨𝐠 𝐛𝐞𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐫. Yes, there are times when some of these behaviours can become excessive and then we have to look at what might be causing that, but to a point, all of this is normal.

I was recently on a walk and saw a beautiful sighthound walking along. Sighthounds have very developed eyesight, and were bred for detecting the movement of prey, chasing, and catching the prey. They are very speedy, and agile dogs.

This particular sighthound was being walked directly towards a duck that was sat on the grass. We were in a huge area where the duck could have been given a wider berth. The sighthound lunged at the duck, about 2 metres away. No physical harm to the duck, who waddled away and got in to the water. The sighthound however, was told off, shouted at, their collar was grabbed and they were called “naughty”.

Is this naughty? Or did a hound, bred for hunting, seemingly no other training around wildlife, get walked straight towards a duck while their human made no efforts to engage them in anything else? Is the dog at fault, or is this a case of ‘user-error’?

Don’t get me wrong. My dog used to be quite interested in wildlife! So, we did lots of training, teaching him alternative behaviours on sight of birds and waterfowl. He has safe outlets for prey drive that don’t involve the real deal.

Society’s expectations of dogs has shifted recently. Dogs behaving like dogs can be seen as a problem. People aren’t using good judgment. People choose breeds that were bred for specific purposes, such as alarm barking, guarding, following scents, hunting, herding, and then get cross when they display any of these behaviours. People don’t want to engage with their dogs. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐭𝐨 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 “𝐝𝐨”, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐠 𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠.

It is on us to offer safe outlets for natural behaviour, to offer training, and manage situations to set our dog’s up for success.

They aren’t born in to the world knowing that our expectation of them is quite different to behaviour that is normal for their species (which I am sure you’d agree, is unfair). They don’t have an off-switch that we can just press for being a dog.

A quick tip for walks, is to engage with your dog. A lot of people take their dogs on walks with them but don’t interact with them a lot. A first step if you want to make changes to your dog’s behaviour is to engage with them when out and about.

Please don’t tell your dog off for being a dog.

www.knowyourdogdevon.com

Sally Lewis 2025