The 20 Biggest Mistakes Dog Owners Make

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The biggest mistakes dog owners make can do a lot of damage, or cause minor inconveniences for everyone involved. What to remember when purchasing, rescuing, or accepting care of a dog is that they’re living, breathing beings with their own needs. This means that they require a lot of responsibility on the owner’s part.

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Avoiding exercise

Some dogs are built for a sedentary lifestyle, but the truth is that every dog requires exercise from time to time, if not daily. Some dogs can exercise a little and then lay about the rest of the day and maintain their health, but then again, some dogs are high-energy and need to run, walk, or at least play a few times out of the day.

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Not recognizing a dog’s emotions

One of the biggest mistakes dog owners make is not recognizing what their dog is feeling at any given moment. Aggression, depression, anxiety, and many other emotions are easy to see in your dog if you pay attention. Those who know their dog well can also tell what triggers these emotions.

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Avoiding socialization

It’s important to socialize your dog, since without knowing how to respond around other dogs, people, or other animals, their reactions are unpredictable at best. Much like human beings, dogs need to socialize with others to learn how to react to stimuli that are provided by the world around them.

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No regular trip to the vet

You don’t hold off going to the doctor, or the dentist, do you? Granted, it’s not necessary to go in for every sniffle or minor injury, but dogs do need regular visits to the vet to ensure that they’re healthy and up to date on their shots. Much like a medical doctor, a veterinarian is there to ensure that your dog is healthy and has no major issues with their health.

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Rewarding bad behavior

It’s up to the owner to curb bad behavior in the first place, which is what training and obedience classes are for. But rewarding a puppy or a grown dog by giving them something to replace the bad behavior is a horrible idea since it instills the thought that if they perform the unwanted behavior, they’ll receive something they like. This is a similar mistake made when raising kids.

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Not training as a puppy

What happens with a young child if they’re not instructed how to behave? They go wild, much like a dog will if they’re not trained in various ways. It’s not required to have a dog trained to such a degree that they’ll wait on their owner to perform any action, but it is wise to train a dog to behave and pay attention to commands in public and within the home.

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Bad oral hygiene 

One of the biggest mistakes dog owners make, and one of the most irritating, is the lack of proper oral hygiene that some owners practice. Dogs need their teeth cleaned just like us, and they occasionally need help keeping their breath fresh. Dogs that aren’t given this type of care suffer unduly when their teeth rot due to lack of care.

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Too much lecturing

It’s not bad to get after a dog for poor behavior, since correcting such behaviors is necessary. But lecturing a dog over and over to ensure that they won’t repeat that behavior is not just overkill, it’s bound to make a lot of dogs anxious as they await and anticipate a stern voice berating them without warning.

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Not maintaining a healthy diet

Dogs do need a balanced diet to stay healthy, and various foods aren’t wise to give to them. For instance, a large amount of chocolate isn’t conducive to their health, though some foods in moderation are just fine. Learning what type of food keeps your dog healthy without any ill effects though is very important.

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Not spaying or neutering

This is still a debate among many people, but the truth is that spaying or neutering your dog tends to improve your dog’s health. Not only that, it keeps down the number of dogs that are placed in the pound and possibly euthanized.

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Feeding the dog from the table

Plenty of kids have heard their parents not to feed the dog from the table. as this is a bad habit to get into. Not only that, the wrong foods can make a dog sick, since they don’t always refuse things that will upset their digestive system.

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Giving treats without a reason

You need a reason to give a dog a treat, such as the successful completion of a command or a special time when treats are allowed. The former is quite normal, while the latter can lead to abuses in treat-giving that lead to bad habits. Dogs love treats, it’s true, but the need for discipline, on the part of the owner as much as the dog, is important.

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Letting the dog call the shots

Animals will attempt to assert dominance in their comfort zone, much as people will. Unfortunately, allowing this to happen breeds bad habits. Letting your dog dictate how you act and how things will go in the house can invite chaos that’s not good for you or them.

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Having too many dogs

Unless a person needs a lot of dogs for a specific purpose, one or two dogs are enough. Some might disagree with this, but the truth is that one dog has a lot of responsibility and takes a great deal of work. The more a person takes on, the less time they’ll have to spend with just one of them.

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Not vetting a dog-sitter

You don’t let just anyone watch your kids, do you? The same applies to letting someone walk and/or sit your dog. Your furry friends require the right care from everyone, not just you. The upside is that a lot of dog sitters do take their jobs seriously.

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Not puppy-proofing your home

As one of the absolutely biggest mistakes dog owners make, puppy-proofing your home is a must. This is all a part of getting ready for a new addition to your home, and it’s for your dog’s safety as much as the preservation of your home.

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Not minding your budget

Straight and to the point, if you can’t afford your expenses and are barely keeping a roof over your head, you can’t afford a dog. True, they don’t eat as much as a human, but they need the same type of care and security.

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Not leash-training

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Trying to over-socialize

It’s important to socialize your dog, but it’s also wise to keep them from being overwhelmed. Sensory overload can happen to dogs just as easily as it can happen to humans. There is a balance to socialization and the owner needs to remain aware of how their dog is reacting to their surroundings.

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Skipping shots/treatments

There are a lot of different diseases that can affect dogs and it’s important to get them into the vet to make sure that they’re current on their shots. Also, when traveling your dog could need something extra for the destination.