As with all relationships, our relationships with dogs are relationships of constant recalibration, or should be. This is why we should never get dogs on a whim, no matter how attractive that may be. Sharing your life with a dog is a commitment to constant training adaptation, daily empathy and compassion, and no small mind reading. This is one of the reasons so many dogs bought during the lockdown are now in trouble: too little socialization with other dogs and people and too much time spent solely with their owners is a recipe for behavioral problems. And when it goes wrong, it can lead to years of pain and shame. My friend Zoe has a six-year-old Staffordshire Bull Terrier, Romeo, who hates other dogs. “I blame myself for some of his problems,” he says. “I’ve raised quite a few dogs, mostly staffs or staff crosses, but I’ve never had a puppy in a house with small children, and that makes a big difference. You rarely get a sense of order or calm or an established hierarchy with three kids around. “He’s a great student. Honestly, if you go out with him, dog lovers cross the street to see him – one guy missed his bus stop once because they were so in love. Universally loves humanity – but hates other dogs. “I have had no success in socializing him. His reactions are completely random: he can walk past four greyhounds and then mentally turn into a whippet. I am always alert, scanning the horizon for any other dog. It’s like walking with a psychopath.” However, she persisted. Because you do, don’t you? You make accommodations, you try new things, and you keep loving them, because they undeniably love us, even on our worst days. Owning a dog can be pure joy or sometimes a lesson in endurance, but in every moment of our relationship with our dogs, they teach us more about acceptance, fortitude, humility, and what it means to be a truly compassionate human being.
