Bad to the Bone

Bad to the Bone

by Tynia Johnson

Did your mom or dad ever say, “Do not look a gift horse in the mouth” or “A penny saved is a penny earned”?  If you did not hear these, then some other pearls of wisdom were surly heard. I would like to offer you another  - “You get what you pay for”. Feeling like I am "pulling your leg"? Wait, there is more...

Feeding and treating your dog is a form of payment. I know, I know. You never thought of it that way or you do not believe me. That is fine, I will explain. 

We all understand a reward - a fair return for good or bad behavior  or a thing given in recognition of one's service, effort, or achievement. So you might buy this for the treat but not the food?

Okay let us get down to it. How do you get your food - hunt, gather, garden, grocery store, food bank (just kidding), manna from heaven? If you do any of these things, including the food bank and the manna, you are expending energy or making an effort to acquire something to eat. Your efforts are rewarded and you either use the reward to buy food or the reward is the food. Generally, you have to expend a certain amount of energy to acquire a certain amount of reward. We generally call it work and dogs call it - meandering to the dish or giving the look (begging).

Dogs can behave anyway they want and are fed to the point of obesity. So if you continue to reward your dog they will continue to soil the house, ignore you, and bite the very hand that feeds them. If you could go to work, stay for 5 minutes per week and pick up a full salary for the month, what would be your motivation to work a full month? You may be paying your dog to be a rotten apple, and you know what effect a rotten apple has on things it comes in contact with.

For goodness sake, do not just stop feeding your dog!

Overfeeding is not the root of the problem; it is the fertilizer. If you want to stop spreading the poop and get to the root, call me. 

The Sassy Trainer

If ya cannot stand the Sass, then get out of my blog.