Very few of us started out with the perfect dog. Many dog owners experience disappointment when their new dog doesn’t meet their expectations. When imagining what sharing our home with a dog would be like, most of us picture the classic image of the dog sitting comfortably by the fireplace or snuggled at our feet. The anticipated leisurely strolls in the park, coming home to a wagging tail, and morning snuggles with a furry best friend may be what drove us to look for a dog in the first place. Maybe your dreams were shattered when your dog did anything but that. Perhaps you dreamed of having a dog that you could enter into agility or obedience trials, but your dog is too fearful or reactive. Maybe your dog drags you around the park, lunging and barking at every passerby, or you come home to a wagging tail in addition to a destroyed house. It can be devastating when your dog is nothing that you hoped he would be. These feelings of disappointment are often renewed when you see another’s dog walking calmly by his human’s side-- all the while, yours is pulling your arm out of its socket and calling attention to you both as he lunges and barks at your neighbors. It's hard to accept the realities we feel we can't change. Maybe with enough time and patient training your dog can reach that point of feeling comfortable in public, but perhaps putting in hours of training just to get your dog to calmly walk past another dog wasn't what you envisioned.
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