What Advocating For My Dog Means & Why It Matters

I talk a lot about “advocating” for my dog. It’s one of my most important values as a pet owner: While I’ll make very few absolute statements, I absolutely do think every dog deserves advocacy.

But what exactly does “advocate for your dog” mean?

Here’s a deep dive into our advocacy: what it looks like, why I think it’s important, and how I do it!

TL;DR

Advocacy article visual summary on Instagram

And this post sums up the main points of this article in visual form.

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A post shared by writer Haley + heeler Scout (@paws.andreflect)

The What: What even is advocating for my dog?

I think of advocating for Scout as two main things:

1. Understanding + respecting who she is, and
2. Helping her be safe + comfortable out in the world.

1) Understanding who my dog is

Seeing her as a canine, not a human

We fit dogs into our human society and often judge them accordingly — but canines don’t have the same inherent value frameworks, moral assumptions, and evolutionary focuses that many human societies do. What’s “bad” to us isn’t necessarily “bad” to our pets. And why should it be?

I want to honor Scout as the creature she is in her own context, not only in mine.

That means learning about what it’s like to be a canine, imagining her umwelt (unique experience of the world), and catching myself whenever I expect her to act like a small human who just happens to be covered in fur.

Some ways I see this play out in our life together:

• Understanding her preferred walking speed and providing opportunities to range on a long line or retractable lead
• Allowing her to chase squirrels and other prey when it’s safe
• Regularly letting her follow her nose
• And so on

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A post shared by Scout and Haley (@paws.andreflect)

Yet also acknowledging our similarities and her emotions

At the same time that I want to respect my dog’s “dog-iness”, I also don’t want to dismiss her intelligence, emotions, and depth of experience (as some trainers would have us do).

I love the way Frans de Waal talks about the balance between anthropomorphism and anthropodenial. While Scout isn’t a human, she absolutely is a fellow social mammal who has co-evolved with my own species over generations and generations.

Thinking that our dogs are actually just four-legged people often creates confusion and conflict on both ends. But in some cases, anthropodenial — the opposite of anthropomorphism, where instead of ascribing human characteristics to our pets we deny they have any at all — might be worse.

Like everything, there’s a balance:

• Anthropomorphism can create problems, but it can also inspire the empathy we need to live well together.
• Anthropodenial can help us get past unproductive assumptions to be more logical, but it can also make us cold.

At the end of the day, Scout is not a human — but she’s also not a robot or low-level organism that only responds operantly to immediate consequences.

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A post shared by Scout and Haley (@paws.andreflect)

Respecting her genetics and preferences

Speaking of evolution and biology: As nice as the mantra sometimes sounds, the truth is that it’s not “all in how you raise them”.

I think it’s important to both 1) accept our pets’ inherent predispositions and 2) consider what work we can do to help them better fit into — and enjoy! — our lives together.

Coming to terms with both who Scout is because of her breed, direct lineage, and early experiences as well as who she can be through our continued training has helped me set practical goals and celebrate the little wins.

A few examples of what this means to me:

• I’m not going to ask a creature whose ancestors were intentionally bred to be territorial to never bark at a guest or package delivery.
• When possible, I’m going to give my dog safe outlets to express her drives — like tug and fetch — instead of suppressing them.
• If my dog shows me that she absolutely hates a certain situation (like live music events because they’re too loud) I’m not going to subject her to it on a regular basis.
• And so on.

2) Keeping her safe as we navigate the world

I won’t let you get hurt physically

Beyond just understanding and respecting who my dog is, advocating also means keeping her safe. This modern human world is full of hazards our dogs may not know how (or not be able) to avoid on their own.

Keeping Scout physically safe can look like a lot of different things:

• Not letting anyone put her in a compromising situation where she might feel the need to defend herself, which in extreme cases could result in a bite on her record — leading to a decrease in quality of life opportunities or even euthanasia. It’s important to realize that any dog can bite in the right circumstances!
• Carefully considering what environments I bring her into to avoid dangerous terrain, areas with venomous wildlife, and so on
• Regularly checking on her physical state and making adjustments to our activities as needed

And I will try to make sure you feel safe, too

Like us humans, our dogs can be afraid of or uncomfortable with things that aren’t explicitly dangerous.

While I can’t protect Scout from every remotely stressful situation in the world (and I wouldn’t want to for the sake of our growth) I can take reasonable steps to help her feel mentally and emotionally secure.

For example:

• I might know an approaching kid is pretty harmless, but my dog might be uncertain. It’s easy to put myself between them and protect her space.
• I’m not properly concerned that one of the neighborhood cats will do damage to Scout — but she’s still uneasy when they approach her. It’s no problem to make space or intercept the boldest ones before they reach us.
• Sean’s small plastic drone isn’t going to physically hurt our dog, but the weird movement and noise can be unsettling. Simple: We only use it when she’s comfortably out of the way!
• And so on.

If Scout feels unsafe in a situation I know we’ll have to encounter, like trips to the vet? Advocating looks like helping her gain confidence as fairly as possible — instead of just expecting her to deal with it.

The Why: Why do I think advocating for my dog is important?

Scout came to me timid around other dogs, but it wasn’t until she was attacked on a walk that she started displaying full-blown fear reactivity. The dog we were passing looked under control until the last second — then it lunged and pinned her to the concrete. It was awful.

Mammals are quite capable of single-event (or one-trial) learning, especially when the situation is traumatic. (There are some nice Huberman Lab podcast episodes that touch on this.)

This is not to say we should live in fear and never do anything remotely risky with our dogs. That would be a sad existence! Life is full of surprises and unpredictabilities, and hiding from the world isn’t productive.

But it is worthwhile to take small, reasonable precautions that can prevent us from dealing with bigger issues down the line. Here are some benefits of advocating for my dog:

It builds our relationship

My favorite bonds are built on trust and cooperation. Learning how Scout feels, paying attention to her body language, and taking steps to increase her comfort has made me feel more deeply connected to her.

Advocating makes more adventures possible

Plus, the more Scout trusts me and the more I trust her? The bigger our world gets!

Having faith in our relationship enables us to tackle a range of things in a variety of environments. Before I earned Scout’s trust, she felt the need to take things into her own hands — whereas she can now reliably see a scary thing and look to me for direction first.

I keep both my dog and the world around us safe

Ultimately, two of my biggest values as a dog owner are being fair to my dog and being fair to the world around us.

When I do a good job of advocating for Scout, I keep her safe and fulfilled — and I also make sure we’re polite and respectful out in public.

The How: Ways I advocate for my dog

The following Instagram post sums up many ways I advocate for Scout. I dive more deeply into a few of our most common ones below!

You can also read more about general precautions I imagine I’d take with any dog (even a super stable, social one) in this article.

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A post shared by Scout and Haley (@paws.andreflect)

Ask if I should really bring her with me when I go somewhere

Even though Scout can reliably navigate many situations as a polite member of society, there’s a difference between “handling” something and actually enjoying it. While I absolutely push her limits sometimes in the name of growth (or just because every relationship has some give and take!) on the whole I want to spend our time together in ways we both love.

It’s a joy to be out in the world with my cattle dog by my side… and it’s also a joy to enjoy some dog-less time when the situation calls for it! Putting our mutual trust and overall quality of life first has never been the wrong move.

Only allow some people to pet my dog (and give them clear instructions)

Over a year ago I wrote an article on why I don’t let strangers pet my dog out in public. Much of that thought process still stands!

As time has gone on, though, I’m much more likely to allow folks to interact with Scout — and I truly believe that having some positive interactions with strangers here and there has improved her overall confidence.

This article has a deep dive into how I decide whether or not to let someone pet my dog and what I do throughout the interaction.

Never let anyone touch her when she’s in a command

Whenever I ask for obedience from Scout, we make a deal. She will hold the position — and I will protect her personal space.

This goes for both temptations (things she’s interested in, like squirrels) and distractions (things that make her uncomfortable). It creates a very clear picture that when she is in a command, all she has to worry about is that command!

Why is this important to me? Because Scout is an insecure dog on the whole. I want to show her without a shadow of a doubt that if she does what I ask, she will be safe!

And even if something is fine for her (like being pet gently by most strangers) I still want her to have the agency to leave that interaction any time she wants.

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A post shared by Scout and Haley (@paws.andreflect)

Protect her space from off-leash dogs

After being attacked while on leash, Scout doesn’t have interest in interacting with strange dogs — and she certainly doesn’t want them approaching at full speed. When another dog tries to approach us without permission, I step in to make sure she feels safe.

The key is to show her I have her back without making the situation even worse (or being an outright jerk to the other owner). When possible, my favorite method is to simply step in front and pet the other dog: This shows Scout that I’m okay interacting with it (it’s no big deal) but I also won’t let it get to her.

You can read more of my thoughts on leash laws in this article, how I’ve grown to better handle my emotions about off-leash dogs in this one, and some responses to common questions by other owners here.

Advocacy is broad and flexible

I don’t think there’s any one “right” way to advocate for our dogs. Depending on our individual companions, environments, and long-term goals, all of our approaches might look different!

What it really comes down to for me is showing Scout I have her back. Making sure she knows we’re always on the same team. Trying to do right by her as much as possible.

Being worthy of her trust — and living a mutually enjoyable life.