Ummmm...rant..yes

I have a lot of opinions and a LOT of rant ideas, so uhh...here ya go!

I think calling a pet "bad" is pointless and cruel, and here is my reasoning behind it. 

(This is a made-up scenario)

Let's say Alan has a dog; his dog is named Fife. Now Alan leaves his comic books out on a chair when he goes out with friends, and Fife, being a dog, takes them and chews them up. Alan comes back and he sees the chewed-up comic books on the floor, and he is furious and screams at Fife, calling him a bad dog.

Calling an animal "bad" does not teach them anything, it just shames them. Not all animals will understand words, but many understand tone. Horses were noted to calm down when spoken to in a calming, soothing tone, and dogs react noticeably to both positive and negative tones. Alan calling Fife bad just shames him for being, well, a dog. 

Another thing is that dogs do not require the proper thinking process to do something out of pure spite or malice. It has been said dogs most likely chew things up due to anxiety or stress disorders, or not being properly exercised or stimulated (as stated by Dr. Valerie V. Tynes) 

So, Fife did not chew up Alan's comics out of spite, he was likely bored, stressed out, or not properly stimulated. 

Now keep in mind, you are allowed to be upset. It is normal, my cats mess up my things all the time, but yelling and screaming fixes nothing. 

Pet owners need to understand, animals are ANIMALS. They follow their own biology, instinct, and animalistic thought process. 

If you do not want your things messed up, hide them, put them in a place they will be safe, or do not own an animal that could possibly mess it up.

My final note is I am not calling anyone who yells or calls their animals bad, abusive, but I don't agree with it, find it ethical, and it seems utterly pointless. There are better ways to teach an animal not to do something, through positive reinforcement and repetition.

Thank you for taking a look, bye bye for now!

-Spider