3 Reasons Why You Shouldn’t Compare Your Dog to Other Dogs

Do you ever wonder why your neighbor’s dog takes commands much better than your dog? Or why your sister’s dog is so good on a leash? All such questions lure you into a trap of comparing your dog to another. You should avoid this at all costs. 

There is a high probability that you will have negative feelings about your dog due to all the comparisons. We are going to discuss the reasons why you should NEVER compare your adorable fur baby to other dogs.

1. YOU DON’T KNOW THAT DOG

When you look at a dog, you don’t become aware of everything about them. You might be making untrue assumptions. 

For example, they might be a former police dogs with lots of training, which is why it appears that they are better trained than your dog. How do you know that a dog that may be good on a leash does not chew their owner’s shoes?

You cannot make sudden judgments about a dog while comparing them to your own because that’s just not fair. Every dog is unique and very different in many ways. There is no point of comparison.

2. YOU’RE ONLY SEEING A MOMENT IN TIME

When you make a comparison about your dog to another dog, you are basing that on a few judgments. This stands even truer in the world of social media that we live in. 

No matter the number of followers of a dog account on Instagram, they might have even more behavioral problems than your dog. You shouldn’t let the perfected moments that make it to the gram be a benchmark for what your dog should be like. That’s unrealistic.

Don’t be fooled by what you see in a moment. You don’t know what goes around the rest of the time.

3. YOU SHOULD COMPARE YOUR DOG TO THEIR “PAST SELF”

The only healthy comparison is the one that you make about your dog’s behavior to their past behavior. Rather than being upset about how your dog doesn’t behave on a leash for an hour-long walk, you should look at the fact that they do well on a 30-minute walk when previously, they didn’t even use to bear the leash for a few minutes

You will see lots of progress and huge growth when you keep a record of your dog’s behavior and skill level over time.

In a nutshell, don’t go down the unhealthy way of comparing your precious dog to other dogs. It’s unfair to all. Just monitor your dog’s progress in terms of behavior, training, etc., and you will be happy to see how far your dog has come.