•We provide shelter, veterinary care, love, education, and play to our pets. From the moment we choose their food to who they meet, we manage almost every aspect of their lives. We love our pets and want them to be safe; but there is a dark side to this care: It often comes with restrictions, limited freedom of movement, limited social choices, and constant surveillance.
Separation anxiety has become a growing problem. The number of diagnoses of dog behavior disorders in the United States increased tenfold between 2010 and 2020. Dog behavior specialists and organizations have emerged to help pets cope with the challenges of modern pet life.
It is often assumed that the long history of domestication has made dogs dependent on us. But this is not true. The majority of dogs in the world do not live as pets; they roam freely without being owned or confined.
Watching free-roaming street dogs in India, we can learn a lot about what a dog’s life means. In our new research, we examine what 45 dog behaviour experts who were trained to observe free-roaming street dogs in India saw. What they saw reflects the tension at the heart of owning a dog: we love them, but we control them.
There is no universal template
There is no universal template
It would be easy to reduce this research to a simple comparison: street cats are free, domestic cats are in prison. But that’s not the issue. The issue is that there is no universal template for a good cat life.
Free-living cats face serious risks, from illness and injury to hunger and hostility toward humans. We cannot give free-living cats the life that domestic cats enjoy.
Most domestic cats spend most of their lives indoors, behind fences, in cages, in cars, or in cages. They are often taught what to do and have fairly planned routines. When a problem arises, such as anxiety or poor impulse control, the owner may interpret it as a problem caused by the cat. But cat behavior is relational – it arises from interactions between the cat and the human.
Is confinement the cure?
As cat behavior experts have moved from city to city, they have begun to question their internal models of what constitutes well-being for most cats. Is good care confined and obedient?
As one put it: When we tell our cats, “You can only walk on your feet,” are we stressing them out by limiting their behavioral diversity?
Many have wondered whether their efforts to provide safe and loving lives for their beloved pets are hindering their development of confidence, adaptability, and social skills. The result may be cats that become anxious when left alone or hiss at strangers. They may also react aggressively to others or panic in crowded places. These behaviors are real and often disturbing. But people often resort to even more confinement and control.
Better questions to ask
For participants, the experience of interpreting street dogs competently and independently led them to think about giving more autonomy to domestic dogs.
Some participants had a dramatic shift in their thinking. They came to India wondering how free-living dogs survive without constant human protection. They wondered whether some of the common behavioural problems of dogs might not be a reflection of the conditions we create for them, rather than failures within the pet itself.
Most participants said that by the end of the tour, the guide’s questions had shifted from “how do street dogs survive?” to “how do domestic dogs survive for us?” This did not mean that free-living dogs necessarily had a better life. But they use a wide range of skills to survive in the street – from social navigation to finding food – that pet owners do for their pets. If domestic dogs are too restricted, they become frustrated and develop behavioural problems.
As one participant wondered: What happens when you don’t control every aspect of their lives? When dogs are free to make their own decisions, they learn to cope with things.
