Training dogs, by Nikki Gosselin

I have always been a dog person all my life, and coming to Spain I was super excited to be living with a family that had a 10 month old puppy. Once I got here I realized dogs as pets were treated much differently than they are back at home. First of all, there are so many dogs that I see in the streets, and I think it might even be more than in the United States. One thing I thought was a little different than how dogs are in the United States is that some people walking their dogs on the side of the road in the city don’t use leashes. I noticed this a lot in Barcelona, and even sometimes in Sevilla. This seemed a little unusual for me because I’m from a very small town in Connecticut, and everyone there still uses leashes to walk their dogs even on roads that aren’t busy at all. I do not recall any time back home where I would see a dog following obediently behind its owner on a busy road without a leash. When I first noticed that they didn’t wear leashes, I thought it was extremely dangerous. This is because there are consequences that can arise from this, such as your dog getting injured by a car, especially in a busy city, or even injuring a person or another dog. However, I soon came to realize that dogs from here are very obedient. Even with no leash, dogs of all breeds and sizes follow their owner wherever they go and are well-behaved. They aren’t as distracted by things they see, or other dogs. I wondered how they got to be so obedient. My host family’s dog, Helga, is only 10 months old, and is in the process of being trained. For instance, she is still being potty-trained. Whenever they take her on walks, she uses a leash because she is still learning. I noticed that whenever their puppy misbehaves or won’t stop its loud whining, the family will smack the dog, as if giving a child a spanking. I was shocked when I saw this happen because back in the United States I have never seen a person smack a dog as frequently to behave. I have since come to realize that this is just their way of life and their culture of how to train their dogs and get them to be so well-behaved. Once their dogs are trained, they have a lot of trust in them to follow their orders and be compliant.