04/02/2026
The best advice ever.
To the self-proclaimed animal lover with a dog in a cage all day long - a little real talk.
You say you love dogs.
Your dog says otherwise, mostly by spinning in circles because that’s all the space available.
Calling yourself an animal lover while keeping a dog caged or on a short chain isn’t love - it’s control, not care.
Dogs are active, social animals. This isn’t sentiment; it’s biology. Long-term confinement raises stress hormones, weakens immunity, and often leads to anxiety, nonstop barking, or aggression. That “mean” or “crazy” behavior? It’s usually stress talking. When a dog barks all day, growls easily, or seems “naturally aggressive,” that’s usually not its personality. That’s a stressed animal trying to cope with boredom, frustration, and lack of movement.
You might believe confinement is responsible.
But responsibility doesn’t mean removing everything that makes a dog a dog.
Food and water keep an animal alive. Congratulations. That’s survival, not care. Dogs also need space, exercise, mental stimulation, and social interaction. Without those, they don’t become good guards - they become frustrated, unpredictable, and exhausted.
Using a dog as a living alarm means keeping it in a permanent state of alert. That’s not protection training; that’s chronic stress. And yes, science links that stress to shorter lifespans and behavioral problems.
If what you really need is security, there are alarms for that.
If what you want is a dog, it deserves more than a cage and a label.
Being an animal lover isn’t about what you call yourself.
It’s about whether your animal gets to live - or just exist.
