This morning when I walked my dogs a lady hid her little dog behind an object because the dog tends to bark when she sees other dogs. When I passed by she smiled at me and said, “she is old, she is a rescue dog, she can’t get change.” When she said, “she is a rescue dog I stopped in my track and asked, “what do you mean when you say she is a rescue dog?” She couldn’t give me a correct answer and rather than ranting on her, I moved on.

Here is how I translate “she is a rescue” in combination with annoying behavior by the dog.

1. You give your dog and others the impression that the dog is broken. Here is my take on that. We are rescues. We all have our hang-ups, issues. And that doesn’t mean that we can’t live a happy and healthy life.

2. You make an excuse for your lazy behavior to not train the dog. Too often people bring dogs in their lives and they just think that the dog has to adjust to them without any training and guidance. And that is a recipe for disaster. That’s why so many dogs bought from breeders end up in shelters and become a rescue because humans didn’t honor their responsibility in the relationship of teaching the dogs. That is the same if you had a child and never taught your child to walk and speak; it will figure it out on its own.

Being labeled a broken dog is never positive energy to transform a dog’s behavior and well-being. So stop calling your dog a rescue and see your dog as whole and healthy. And make the time and honor your responsibility to train your dog good manners. And then you can walk proudly through the neighborhood and tell everyone “this is my dog and she is happy.”