Diana's Grove Dog Rescue - Making it work for you and your dog

Making it work for you and for your dog
by Cynthia Jones,
co-founder and co-owner of Diana's Grove

A successful placement requires more than finding a fine dog for a fine family. It takes more than being wonderful to make it work. Here's why:

Dogs have innate needs. When those needs are met, add a pinch of obedience training, and you will have a rewarding lifetime relationship. Now, if we ran a plant rescue shelter, I would tell people, Your new plant needs water, sunlight, and soil. These things are a plant's innate needs. No water, no light ... the plant will die. Not negotiable. Provide just the bare minimum and the plant will lose its beauty. As it withers, it will become more work than it's worth. When the plant's needs are met, the plant thrives. It adds to your life. The same is true for dogs.

Jackie A dog on a chain in the back yard will wither. The joy within that dog will die. A dog's primary need is to be with you, her owner. Dogs are social animals; they are pack animals. Companionship and social interaction are the heart and soul of a dog's nature. Take that away and your dog loses his vitality. Her soul will ache and yearn until her yearning eats up her belief in happiness.

Your dog needs a fenced yard-a protected place to run, play, and eliminate without being attached to a leash or chain. Why? You have the same need. Answer that question for yourself and you have answered it for your dog. Exercise, for a dog, is like light for the plant. It is essential for the dog's mental and physical well-being. Lack of exercise is the main reason a dog becomes destructive. Nothing to do, too much energy-I think I'll shred the couch.

Obedience training is the final key to a successful relationship between dog and owner. Training does far more than convince your dog to sit when you have a biscuit in your hand. Training, successful training, is fun for the dog. If it isn't fun, find a different approach to training your dog! If working with your dog frustrates you and you find yourself becoming short-tempered, stop. Enroll both your dog and yourself in an obedience class and start again.

Lancelot You see, "sit" and "down" aren't the primary reasons to train your dog: the relationship is. Training is a way for you to build a relationship with your dog. It enables you to learn how to communicate with each other. Effective training creates a healthy pack dynamic. When you train your dog, you will learn how to be the one in charge, the alpha dog. When your dog knows that you are in charge, he can relax and let you manage the family. In a dog's instinctual makeup, it is his job to protect you from wolves and other wild things. Training will let him know that you have a few coping skills of your own, that you can take care of yourself and him. The untrained dog believes that he has to manage the world, a world filled with social problems and political complications. Even a bright Border Collie has a hard time being in charge of the world. How can a Jack Russell Terrier cope with terrorism?

Your dog agrees to give you unconditional love, to listen to you with true devotion, to look forward to your return-even when you have only been gone for 10 minutes. She will obey your commands without asking why. He knows that you are worthy of his trust even when you don't know that yourself. In return, will you agree to enable your dog to be the companion that she can be? Design your schedule so she can spend ten hours a day with you or another human companion, and know that some of those hours might be ones when you are asleep and she is sleeping next to your bed at night.

Your part of the bargain: fence your yard, install a dog door, take a daily walk; it is good for you and good for your dog. If you can provide for some of the above needs, not all, but some, then look for the dog that is looking for you. Choose a dog whose personality, temperament, and habits are right for the home that you will provide. Long hair, short hair, black or white, beautiful in a classic way or not-your dog doesn't care about these details. May we learn to be as wise as our dogs ... and as generous.

If you would like to donate to the Diana’s Grove Dog rescue or you are considering an adoption, please visit our Petfinder website at http://www.petfinder.org/shelters/MO271.html or call Constance at 573-689-2029. We are pleased to announce that we are now accepting online donations at Diana's Grove Dog Rescue Donations!