I used to get criticized by a certain someone when it came to training and health maintenance, like toenail clipping, ear cleaning, expressing anal glands etc. all of which the dogs despised and was a big point of stress and above all to be stern about training to obey the"come" command 'why don't you let them do this or that if they want?' It's as if she imagined we were in a competition to be the dog's best friend.
My response was always 'because when it comes to health or possibly saving a life by making sure the come command was obeyed no exception, someone has to be the bad guy, are you suggesting I leave it up to them?' Other than that my dogs were always my constant companions to the point of skipping some social functions my dogs couldn't tag along to.
In the end it all came out, "you love those dogs more than me!" Well yes, quite possibly.
