Eighty-five percent of people with dogs consider their pets to be part of the family, according to the American Veterinary Medical Association’s U.S. Pet Ownership & Demographics Sourcebook. Only 1 percent of people with dogs in their home, by contrast, consider pets to be their property. Why, then, do people often talk about dog “ownership?”
That’s what one of our subscribers, Joel Fischer of Honolulu, Hawaii, wants to know. In a recent e-mail communication, he commented that in the June issue, we said people should use the word “cue” when referring to dog training rather than “command” because the term command “reflects a very hierarchical relationship” in which we dominate a dog, while “cue” implies learning in a collaborative relationship. Yet in the same issue, he said, we referred to dog owners, undercutting the point that while we are our dogs’ leaders, we want to make our relationship with our pets as mutual and cooperative as possible.
Good point, Dr. Fischer. Sometimes the word “owner” serves as easy shorthand for “people with dogs,” but we will try to use “companion,” “guardian,” and similar terms going forward. We agree with the 85 percent of people with dogs surveyed by the American Veterinary Medical Association. Dogs are not property, and we don’t own them.
