Internet Dog Ownership vs Real Life Dog Ownership
Owning a dog is something that so many of us dream of, probably from a young age. Who hasn’t been in their I want to be a vet and own all the animals in the world stage? For many, owning a dog is just a step they’re desperate to cross off their life list, but it doesn’t mean it’s always what we once imagined. The internet can be so life-changing, for the good but also the bad and dog ownership is no exception to that scrutiny. Which, for us, the owners, can be exhausting, and it leads to a lot of mental gymnastics where we don’t know if we’re doing right for doing wrong.
The Internet Isn’t Real
It’s a tale old as time, or at least as old as the internet has been in our daily lives, but we all know that what we see on our screens isn’t always what is the truth. Seeing a tiny snippet of someone else’s life with their dogs is never going to tell you the whole story. It’s so easy to only want to share the positive and what has been a good part of your day. Infact, it’s something that, without realising, we all encourage because we use the internet as an escape from our real lives, so sometimes we don’t want to see all the low points of someone else’s day. But, in turn, this is what creates these highly unrealistic portrayals of someone's life.
Mistakes Can’t Be Edited Out of Life
I refuse to believe there is anyone out there who wouldn’t like to simply retake an incident that has happened with their dog that hasn’t left them reeling afterwards. When your sharing anything about dog ownership on the internet, you can simply edit out the part where it doesn’t quite fit what you’re trying to share. Filming strangers and their dogs is something that has become so normalised in recent years, but I can’t imagine anyone will want to learn from being shamed on the internet for the world to see and sneer at them.
What Works For One Doesn’t Work For All
Wouldn’t it be absolutely great if that were the case? We’d all just float through life with a handy little manual. When sharing any type of advice online, you have to caveat it with a warning that it very well may not work for you and your dog, and that’s ok. We are all so different, you can have the exact same dog, maybe they’re even siblings, but one training method might work for one and not the other. Blanket advice is so easily given online, and for some things that is great, but for true behaviour issues, seeking out professional help is vital for not only your dog but you too.
Not Everyone is Online
Having some sort of internet presence is something that is so normalised, in fact, it’s considered abnormal not to, but many people don’t. Which means they don’t know all these unspoken online rules, which are now a key part of dog ownership, it would seem. The landscape of dog ownership is constantly changing; what was once considered normal and the done thing now isn’t. Lead slips that might state if your dog is nervous or not friendly haven’t always been the done thing. Whereas now it’s a great way to communicate that your dog might need some space without the need for an awkward conversation.
We All Have Our Own Ideals
Just like anything else in life, we all have our own ideals and belief systems because that is what makes us unique in this world. There is something about the dog world where it’s so easy to get swayed by what someone else is doing and what you then believe you should be doing. I know how easy it is to get sucked into whatever is popular in the online dog world, and when it doesn’t become your reality it leaves you feeling so deflated and like you’ve failed somehow.
Dogs Don’t Fit in Our World
Whilst some parts of the world are more dog-friendly than others, I think it’s a pretty fair comment that we expect our dogs to adapt to a world that has no interest in adapting for them. We may think that we’re a nation of dog owners, but if you’ve owned a slightly higher needs dog, then you will know that is far from the truth, and it can be so tiresome. It seems that we very much have dogs that will be tolerated if they do everything that we’ve deemed to be acceptable, but as soon as they fall out of those fairly unrealistic rules (i.e natural dog behaviours), they’re a nuisance.
The Internet Doesn’t Know You & Your Dog
Sometimes, there can be some valuable advice to be taken from the online world when it comes to dog ownership, there is no denying that. Some people make it their entire mission, and it’s something that we value so much at Soothe and Settle. Something that is so important to remember is that the person on the other side of the screen doesn’t know you and your dog. Only you know the true ins and outs of that relationship and everything that you deal with on a day-to-day basis, and the internet can never account for all those things.
Dog Ownership Is Supposed To Be Fun
Whilst it’s important to talk about the good and the bad, owning a dog is something that is supposed to enrich your life in a huge number of ways. Of course, it’s not always that way and something we have written about in our latest blog post, but in general, there is a lot of joy to be taken from sharing your life with a dog. So often it can feel like the internet sucks away any of those silly things that you may do because it’s not always what is done by the book but how many other elements of life can we say that about? Of course, owning a dog comes with a long list of responsibilities that need to be met and adhered to, but having fun with your dog, even though it might not always be in the most conventional way, is fine.
Here at Soothe and Settle, it is our mission to make your dogs happy which in turn makes us humans happy.
For more helpful tips and advice on caring for your nervous dog, check out our anxious dog blog page, and to be part of our mission to help dogs everywhere feel safe, subscribe to our mailing list below.
