Have our lifestyles changed our dogs' lifestyles?

I was reading an article on why people have dogs as pets and wondered what the Dogsey views were on the following :-


People are marrying later and divorcing more frequently. They work longer hours than they ever had before and they have longer commutes. The number of pets started to boom right around the same time that these trends began to take off. This suggests that people are leaning on pets to fill the gap in social support mechanisms that earlier might have come from their families or tight-knit neighbourhoods. This is why single people or childless couples might want to get a pet. There's just a lot more of those folks right now and they have the wherewithal financially to do so. In turn they've sort of spurred a whole industry of dog walkers and pet sitters because if you don't have a homemaker who is home with the dog all day, you need help caring for your dog.

It's more complex (and sad) than that in a fair few cases. I've had a cat ever since I left home - for the company when you're running the work > home > more work > sleep > work treadmill. The cat's literally been my reason for staying alive when I was at my lowest - sad, but true.

Got the dog when the recession and changes in the law meant I wasn't out at work all day every day - but the other big reason behind getting the dog was an utter mess of emotions running on from the fact that after years of trying for a kid and fighting fertility problems, we then started getting lucky on the first part - and discovered I miscarry a heck of a lot. I guess (in a non-sad he's my baybeeee but in he is definitely a dog that fills a void way if you get what I mean) he's the subsitute for "something" to give my time and attention to and distract me from a year coming up of memorable dates when the lost babies would have been due. I also have issues with my weight that I've been working on for a few years and the exercise/walking factor was in the equation as well, and I suffer massively from depression, and at its worst agoraphobia (I didn't go out of the house for at least a month after the last miscarriage), and the dog was an attempt to combat all of that and FORCE (in a furry, waggy, grotesque farting kind of way) me to get out and about and interact with the world since the GP refuses to treat me for any of those issues (that one's a looong story lol). I'm very isolated anyway because the nature of the work I DID do meant that I didn't make a network of colleagues and from that friends - so yeah, the dog's my company during the day and a distraction from the stuff I can't deal with emotionally. He's also a better listener than the cat who just flounces off... but then he's on the lead so he has no choice!

I've got other friends who ended up with dogs for similar reasons - and boy oh boy do you get the prats who love to laugh and pour scorn on us biological freaks! I hate the judging and stereotyping of the childless that goes on anyway - more than anything else, I'm waiting for the hedonistic lifestyle of endless holidays, fancy cars and drunken nights out to kick in since it's apparently a given when you haven't got kids! (I suspect I got cheated on that one )

Don't get me wrong - I'm not some sad woman who got the dog, dresses it in silly clothes and calls it her baby, and I didn't get the dog without a heck of a lot of soul searching about whether we were doing it for the right reasons or not... I also was slightly wary of dogs as a kid purely because of a lack of familiarity with them, and I didn't want any kids we did have (if the miracle ever did happen - although I doubt it now, the last miscarriage seems to have wrecked my system totally) to grow up fearful of them just because they didn't know them.

Good post dizzi and I absolutely agree, my dogs have supported me too when emotionally I have been struggling they are a great distraction, really sorry to hear about your miscarriage problems and there are people out there who will never understand the trauma that causes and how difficult it is to deal with, my dogs are company for me as I work from home a lot , they listen when I rant , well they have no choice lol but they never judge, the info in original post was not my view just wanted to start the debate but you are right many people it would seem do have dogs for the wrong reasons and change the dogs lifestyle to fit theirs not always in the best interests of the dog or maybe they would disagree.

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On a purely personal note, then no, just the opposite! My lifestyle's been changed by having the dogs ~ but for the better I might add

In our society, then, yes, quite a lot in the last few decades.

Agree dogs have changed my lifestyle in a very postive way, but yes in our society there is probably some truth in the article I read and hence the post.

I disagree - most dogs don't have a job any more in our modern day of living? That's not comfortable - that's frustrating. Central heating has caused more health problems for dogs than it has good.
And clothing - whilst I agree the naked bums that you and many other members have may need them, it's ridiculous to me to see other breeds of dog wearing them.

Yorkies for example - Yorkies are a hardy terrier breed! I should know, I'm from Yorkshire - yet people dress them up in ridiculous tee-shirts and parade them around as accessories! Same with Chi's. Sure our Climate isn't warm enough for them - but what makes people think they cannot walk? They have four legs - more than what we've got, they are more than capable of walking! A simple dog coat and a half an hour walk around the block for Chi's will warm them up - not stick them in a handbag with countless numbers of tee-shirts and blankets - where's the fun in that?

And status dogs - what's that all about?! Whoop - di - ******* - do... you have a big/dangerous/out of control dog!!! - Do you want a medal for that? You bloody numpty!

Our lifestyles have changed our dogs - that's for sure.
Not only are they stand in's for children - which I have nothing against BTW because sometimes I feel that my maternal instinct is used on Louie - which he loves but they are also stand in's for best friends and lost partners/family. They make us feel whole and I love that about them. But what I hate about the fact that I have 2 dogs, 3 at the weekends, is that I cannot fullfill their life's to the extent of which their generations before them were fullfilled. Not only because they are crosses but because I can't afford it (atm) and because I need to work in order to afford it. Sure I offer them other ways like playing ball and challenging them with tricks and training which keep them stimulated and happy. But are they truly happy with their lifestyle having to change to benefit us more than them?

The huskies and mals and other sled dogs at the sibe vibe rallies - you can see a real smile on their faces - doing what they were bred for! Doing what they are good at.

Gundogs actively working in the fields, Louie decided to chase a flock of crows in an empty farmers field - granted he probably won't make it as a real gundog but has the working stock in him (he has his own technique and no control over it either - Puppies!) But when he returned to me - I have never seen his face so alight with happiness and although I probably won't get him into any shoots, I will try other things his two breeds were designed for.

Most of us humans believe (even the RSPCA) that a dog is just happy with a bone and a warm bed at night, under shelter - but are they really? If that is the case, maybe us humans have changed them too much?

I asked a question on another forum today, are we wrong for having springers as pets, or should we have them doing what they are bred for working, I have one who seems to be in his element when running about through the fields/bushes and a nose to die for, and this makes me wonder because as a pet this is not harnessed it is uncontrolled use of it, so am I wrong to want my cuddly house pet.

] Oh No Lynn - Springers make fantastic pets - as do others - what I was saying is that many dog owners see them as pets, and just that - they get the occasional walk around the park and then thrown a bone every now and then, but where's the excitement for them? You've seen Rolo's face when he's jumping about in the fields snuffling for something - that's kind of enrichment for them. IMO you can have both a worker and a pet, you just have to find a happy medium. If you got Rolo into a tracking kind of work then he'd be happy, something you could control, like just finding the treat in the garden or in the field - and you'd also get him to snuggle up with at home. It's people that don't try to use their dogs or allow their dogs to be their full potential or at least half of it. I'm sorry if I caused offence to you by what I posted or anyone else for that matter. I simply wanted to highlight how much we have changed our dogs.

Carmel - I have laid back dogs - but they'd be happier in a field chasing ducks and crows and balls than constantly stuck at home with the occasional walk and the once every now and then bone - thrown for them. IMO that's just a lazy owner. A dog needs excitement and a job to do, otherwise it causes behavioural problems. How many dogs do you see in rescues that are there because they've chewed up furniture? Loads - because their lifes aren't enriched and they had lazy owners who developed a sense of "this puppy knows right from wrong because I've told them whats right and whats wrong."

There are plenty activities, humans have developed for these high drive, high energy type of dogs; there is Flyball, Agility, Obedience, dancing, tracking, retrieval from water and land..and loads of others for those who are not able to take them to a field and herd or take them on shoots/hunts.
I've even seen things like tunnels built underground for Doxies and Westies and Yorkies - to find the scent of a rat or badger or rabbit - so they can be in their element.

Even Pekinese's had jobs, they were to guard their owner (Royalty) and what not - not right up on my Chinese history.
Chinese crested were bred for ratting on ships and also to keep their masters feet warm in bed.

Maybe I contradict myself for having 2/3 dogs I cannot let fulfill their potential - but I admit that. And I have obstacles to face atm, like finding a job, getting the house sorted and settling in. But also I have the obstacle that Louie is too young to start any sport I have named above, Sadie at 9 is seen as too old - I was trying to get her into PAT, but they seem to think that a 9 year old dog who can still run 25 miles in one day behind my bike is too old to sit on a bed with a sick/elderly/handicapped person and will get tired easily. And Benjie - he has issues to overcome before I can get him into any form of anything. BUT I train them - they have games in the garden - I hide treats - I get them to use their noses, which CM - I know his training methods are out of date and I know I have now mentioned him and will cause an onslaught - but he has a point - how many dogs these days use their nose? They don't have to find their food, they don't have to find water, they don't have to find females to breed and vice versa, they don't have to find somewhere warm to sleep - they are given it. And most dogs with dog issues - don't use their nose when they meet another dog..I know Benjie doesn't he uses his eyes and then goes off on one, he doesn't sniff the air or anything - it's just see a dog and Bam - an attack of lunging and barking and growling.

I try to use what I can out of the breeds I have. Sadie will never be a ratter or a herder - she's pretty rubbish at both (accident with the herding - she slipped the collar) she will allow small animals to run around - and even hamsters on her back...some JRT she would have made.
Louie - has potential but is ignorant - so we're working on it.
And Benjie - he has issues and we don't know what he is, he has strong guarding instincts though, but I don't really want to get him into a guarding type activity as I believe it will make him worse.

I may just be rambling on at this point so I'll just finish here.

No way. Luckily, Springers and most other hunting/pointing breeds get to satisfy all their working instincts when on walks.