Are Puppies Afraid of Their Mothers?

Are Puppies Afraid of Their Mothers?

Once while living in Montenegro I saw what happened when our neighbors put a small puppy on a chain for the first time. In Montenegro they don't have strict laws about dogs being chained up and on a leash, so I asked my neighbors why they put the puppy on a chain. They said, "So it won't run away." I thought, "Why would it run away if its needs are being met?"

I was thinking about this more today when I was doing some writing about children, boundaries and people using children for their own needs, as we use puppies for our own needs.

I don't believe it serves any of a dog's needs to be put on a chain or a leash. These are tools for us to control the animals so they will meet our needs, in one way or another.

Here is what I was writing when I was considering whether a relationship is abusive.

Are we needed in an abusive way? As a rapist needs his victim? Or as someone who needs love or needs to be in control or needs to feel respected or powerful keeps someone around just for their own use?

Maybe the worst is to be kept somewhere that you are being used to fill someone else's needs when that person or those people don't care about your needs.

Like tying up the puppie so you can keep it around for your needs. It doesn't meet any of the puppies needs to tie it up. You are not protecting it. It it were free it would run home if it were in danger. It would find its own limits. You don't need to set boundaries for a puppie or a child. Not many at least. Maybe a puppy would get hit by a car.. or maybe not. I havent seen many dead puppies on the streets in my travels.

I did see a lot of little puppies in the park in Bulgaria once but the mother was smart enough to make their home in the middle of the big park, where there were no cars. The puppies would not wander so far away that they would get hit by a car. So she didn't need to put them on a leash. If a mother puppy doesn't need to use a leash, why do humans?

Why do we put children "on a leash"? The answer is so we can keep them under our control to serve our needs. When people say "Children need boundaries" - do they really? Or are the boundaries actually more like a leash on a puppy? The park had its boundaries, but the puppies didn't feel a need to go outside of the park when they were young. So their insincts served as a self-control mechanism. Their natural fears kept them close to their mother. Puppies are not afraid of their mothers.

After I wrote that I did some searches to see if anyone was writing about puppies being afraid of their mothers. From what I could tell, it seems that my guess was confirmed. Or at least I believe it is safe to say that most puppies are less afraid of their own mothers than most children are. If this is true, it is a very, very sad commentary on our society.

Yet I found this quote

A mother dog may hold her puppies or growl at them to teach them good behavior. A mother may stare at puppies or even growl at them in order to reprimand them for undesirable behaviors. Puppies may respond by whining or cringing. The puppies are not afraid of their mother. They are learning proper dog etiquette.

I don't agree with how the writer uses the terms "good behavior," "undesirable behaviors" and "proper dog etiquette". These are words adults use with children and teenagers. They are too subjective. And I don't agre that the puppies are not afraid of their mothers when the mother growls at them. Still I believe that most puppies are less afraid of their mothers than most children are.

In my searching I also found this which I hope to look at more when I have time about Cesar Milan - the famous dog trainer in the USA.

http://www.elephantjournal.com/2010/04/do-the-dog-whisperer-cesar-millans-techniques-advocate-hurting-dogs/

and this which is about canine aggression

http://www.nlol.net/id134.html

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