13/09/2026
Sweeping statements, generalisations and 'always' and 'never' are words and statements I'm super aware of now when they appear in my language about my dog or any other being in fact.
Just back from a walk with Darcy our pointer, to a place we don't normally frequent as it feels a little like the Wild West to me. Lots of dogs and people and bikes and and and......fun every so often.
We spot another pointer, big boy and he comes over to Darcy and is super interested in her smells as she's having a false pregnancy.
The guy spots we have her on a harness and a long line and asks if we let her off lead. I say yes but not here. He says "they need it, they're athletic dogs".
And he's not wrong, pointers are bred for long distance hunting. But she's also a 'Darcy', an individual who is different every day. Some days she likes to use her legs and have a run. Other days, she wants to sit and just watch things. Other days, she wants to stay home and snuggle with just a bit of a potter around the garden.
She's different every day.
If I accepted the label of 'pointers are athletic', I might feel a pressure to 'run' her for 2 hours every day. I might try to fit in with what other pointer people do. It would be subtle, the pressure, but it would be there. I might then not listen when she's sitting down more on a walk. Or when she appears to be 'stubborn' about getting in the car. Or I might send her off with a dog walker who can 'run her' as she's a Pointer and 'they are athletic.'
This guy didn't say anything wrong. That's his impression of the breed. It's like say 'she's northern', she doesn't need a coat. Or 'she's a woman, she belongs in the kitchen'. Ok I went a bit more extreme with the last example but it gets the message home.
Acceptance of labels stops us listening to the ever changing being that is in front of us.
"Who are you today?"
"How do you feel today?"
"I'm listening"
That's where I am now with my girl Darcy. I'm learning about her as a individual. What does she like and need and same for me too?
Generalisations aren't inherently a bad thing. We use them. We're human.
BUT they can be a lazy way of talking. They dull our percepetion and listening skills and they close our mind to what else might be true and what else is possible.
So, I'm not a fan!
If you hear them or hear yourself using any of these words, stop for a moment and witness the dog in front of you and ask... 'yeah but is it true for my dog today?"
What do you think?
