Dog Steps - Why They Are A Bad Idea

Dog steps have been very popular among pet owners and animal lovers. The dog steps are very useful for both pets and owners as small dogs will be able to reach higher places and owners will not need to carry larger dogs onto the bed or sofa.

Dominance in Dogs
Allowing your pet dog to stay on the furniture will proliferate bad habits and can lead to dominance in dogs. Dominance in dogs will lead dogs to growl at you when you go near their food bowl, their toys or even when you wake the dog up. For dogs, growling is basically a threat in the pack, when a pack member moves out of line, the leader of the pack has to enforce leadership in maintain control of the pack and the movements of all its members. This is because in the wild, the pack leader is responsible for the safety and well being of the entire pack. The pack members obey the leader under any circumstances while the pack leader maintains order and ensures the pack's survival.

If your dog growls at you, it sees you as a lower rank within the pack structure. Your household is the pack of your dog and the pack structure is the only way a dog understand the hierocracy of the members. It is genetically engineered in dogs to pursue pack hierarchy. A dog growling at you is challenging your leaderships and rank. This should not be tolerated under any circumstance. All the news headlines you have read about owners or children getting mauled or killed by dogs is due to the dominance problem.

A pack leader has the right to force a lower pack member to do what the leader deems is either correct or necessary. Dogs can even fight to the death for a higher rank in the pack. Human bodies cannot take as much abuse and tear as dogs can. This is why the dominance problem should be treated seriously and eradicated as soon as potential of this issue becomes known.
Dominance can be Caused by Dog Steps
In the pack, the pack leader gets the best place to sleep and is the only member who is allowed to sit in a higher place than all the other members do. Although the implications of this may be small to humans, to dogs it is a way of determining the pack hierarchy. For dogs who have not been properly training or dogs that have a bad temper and will often challenge the pack hierarchy, it is best not to allow your dog to sit on the sofa with you or lie on your bed. It is a sign of retaliation and a form of challenging the pack leader.

Dogs should only be placed on the sofa or bed when the owner decides, and should be taken off furniture when the owner decides as well. Giving them the freedom to do this will undermine your position in their eyes as pack leader.
There have been stories of dogs that are gentle in nature on a day-to-day basis and often sleep with the owner on the bed. Until one day, the dog bites the owner in the face causing the need for stitches and sometimes permanent scaring or disfigurement. Before buying a dog steps, make sure that your pet is well trained and that no harm will come of your pet climbing onto the sofa or bed.