If you could make your pet understand one thing, what would it be?
Leo is a great dog. He is family and fiercely loyal to his pack. He is also fairly easy to train. There is just one thing I desperately wish he would understand: stop chewing everything — especially his harness and leash.
Leo is a super chewer. One of his favorite targets is our clothes, which is incredibly annoying, particularly when the item is brand new. So far, we have not found a leash or harness that can withstand Leo’s impressive chewing skills.
I suspect part of the problem is that Leo hates the restrictiveness of the harness. What he doesn’t understand is that the harness is for his protection. The leash and harness are not meant to limit his joy; they actually open up a whole world of adventure. They allow him to explore new places while keeping him safe from his natural instinct to run.
Leo loves to run. What he cannot distinguish is the difference between safe places to run and dangerous ones. Cars, busy streets, and unfamiliar surroundings do not register as threats to him.
In a lot of ways, we are not that different from Leo. We all need guardrails that keep us safe. We often push back against restrictions because they feel limiting or uncomfortable. Sometimes pushing back against the status quo is necessary to bring positive change. Other times, those boundaries exist for our protection.
The challenge — for Leo and for us — is discernment. Knowing the difference between limits that hold us back and guardrails that keep us safe is not always easy, but it matters.
The Dee Zone 