I recently heard a story on the news about Rage Rooms. These rooms, populated with discarded pieces of furniture, electronics and appliances are ‘rented’ to people at $3/minute. Folks use a baseball bat to take their hostility out on inanimate objects.

As an individual who lives in the Rocky Mountains, in a town the size of a small suburb I can’t imagine something like a Rage Room being popular (or even needed) here. The reasons why include plenty of outdoor activities, similar-minded people that were drawn to the area, but most importantly – for a good portion of the year there’s just not a lot of people.

Let’s face it, Rage Rooms are needed because there’s a lot of people living in very small spaces…which makes me circle around to dogs. We may not have a lot of people in our small southwestern town but we have dogs, lots and lots of dogs. For someone like me, it was part of the reason I moved here; dogs were welcomed and expected in a way I didn’t find anywhere else.

But with the growth of our dog population comes many challenges; not the least of which is the struggles these dogs face on a daily basis. For so many of us, Durango and the surrounding area was a respite from the onslaught of people and chaos that marks life in many cities across America. But not for our dogs. Here, dogs populate the river trail, the river, main street and are seen in virtually every store in town.

But are the dogs happy? As a dog-centric individual, I love having my dogs with me. Dogs are my coping mechanism and being able to focus on them makes me a better person. But I don’t bring my dogs to many dog activities because I know they dislike them. Two of my dogs had less than stellar beginnings and are cordial to other dogs, but have no desire to play or interact – so why would I bring them somewhere they don’t like?

With the high population of dogs in this and so many other cities and towns across the country it’s important to know your dog’s threshold; what he or she likes and doesn’t like and what drives them crazy. For example, I get many calls from folks explaining to me how great their dog is but that they growl or snap when a puppy comes around. Let them growl, is typically my reply. If you take away their ability to communicate with the puppy you’re going to force them to escalate their response and actually bite.

Good communication between dogs is key to keeping the peace but so is knowing your dog and not bringing them someplace that stresses them out or causes them to behave in a way that makes them defensive; we definitely don’t want to get to the point of needing Rage Rooms for dogs….