I'm not what you would consider a fanatic about animal rights; however, I have to admit that I have devoted so much of my life to working with animals that are in danger of being discarded that I have begun to obsess on what they must feel and how they act when their owners begin to consider getting rid of them.

How would I (if I were the animal) notice a difference in my human’s behavior when the thought first crossed their minds that they didn't like me as much as they did when they first carried me into their home? (Although my thoughts are rambling, I'm assuming dogs don't think in perfect, short, literate sentences.) They react to our actions, and we do telegraph our emotions through our actions (i.e., body language, tone of voice, facial expressions). Dogs don't need to understand human language to know when someone is unhappy with them.

The puppy has just undergone the most traumatic experience that any creature can have. It has been taken from its mother and all its siblings, never to see them again. It has been carried into a new and unfamiliar place and has been told, "We will make you part of our family now and give you love, food, warmth, comfort, and happiness if you don't exhibit too many of those horrible dog behaviors. We know that dogs jump, chew, bark, dig, mark territory, hunt, and whine, but if you want to stay in this home, you must stop doing all these things in about a month or we won't love you or like you or keep you."

Compare the length of time it takes to teach a child to behave like an adult with how long it takes you to teach a puppy to behave like an adult dog:

Child––18 years (at least)

Dog––12 months (at most)