Were Dogs Better Behaved in the 1980s?

Growing up in a small village in the 1980s, it certainly felt like dogs had life figured out.

Every dog seemed to walk happily on the end of a ratty old piece of rope before being let off and left to explore the fields. If they weren't pet dogs, they were working dogs that probably didn't know what a lead looked like.

Dogs were definitely part of the family, but perhaps not in quite the same way they are today. Our dog slept in a lean-to attached to the house—although only after we'd evicted the barn cats from his bed.

Nobody talked about reactivity.

Nobody discussed trigger stacking or cortisol levels.

Nobody debated force-free versus balanced training.

As far as I can remember, dogs just seemed... easier.

But were they?

Or has our memory edited out the difficult bits?

A Smaller World

One thing that has undoubtedly changed is the size of a dog's world.

The average village dog I grew up with had a remarkably predictable life. It walked the same routes, met the same people, recognised the same dogs and spent most of its time in familiar surroundings.

Its world was relatively small.

That isn't a criticism. Predictability is comforting. Dogs thrive on routine, familiar environments and knowing what to expect.

Today's dogs often live very different lives.

A typical weekend might involve a car journey, a busy country park, dozens of unfamiliar dogs, cyclists, runners, children on scooters, a stop at a café and a visit to relatives before finally heading home.

None of those things are bad.

In fact, it's wonderful that dogs are welcomed into so much of our lives.

But it does raise an interesting question.

Are today's dogs struggling more?

Or are we simply asking much more of them?

Exposure Isn't Always Socialisation

One of the biggest misconceptions I come across is the idea that taking a dog everywhere automatically makes them well socialised.

It doesn't.

Socialisation isn't about collecting experiences like stamps in a passport.

It's about helping a dog feel safe and confident within those experiences.

A dog can visit twenty cafés and still find cafés stressful.

A dog can meet hundreds of people and still feel uncomfortable around strangers.

Simply exposing a dog to more situations isn't the same as teaching them how to cope with those situations.

Our Expectations Have Changed

Think about what many owners expect from their dogs today.

We'd like them to walk politely on a loose lead.

Ignore passing dogs.

Welcome visitors.

Relax in cafés.

Travel happily in the car.

Stay home alone without barking.

Come back immediately when called.

Ignore squirrels.

Be gentle with children.

Remain calm at the vets.

Sleep peacefully while we work from home.

That's a long job description.

Many dogs manage it remarkably well.

Others find parts of that list incredibly difficult.

Forty years ago, some of those expectations simply didn't exist.

Dogs weren't taken into cafés.

They didn't accompany us on shopping trips.

They weren't expected to meet dozens of unfamiliar dogs every week.

Their social world was much smaller.

The Dogs We Didn't See

There's another possibility worth considering.

Perhaps difficult dogs have always existed.

We just didn't notice them.

The dog that barked at visitors might have been shut in the kitchen.

The dog that couldn't cope with other dogs may never have been walked at busy times.

Some stayed on farms.

Some stayed in gardens.

Some were quietly managed in ways we never questioned.

Today, those same dogs are more visible because owners are actively looking for help, sharing their experiences online and seeking advice rather than simply accepting that "that's just how the dog is."

That's progress.

It also creates the impression that behavioural problems are everywhere.

Maybe Dogs Haven't Changed

It's easy to look back and conclude that dogs were better behaved in the 1980s.

Maybe they were.

What has definitely changed is the world we ask them to live in.

Modern dogs are expected to navigate an increasingly busy, noisy and social world while remaining calm, polite and emotionally resilient.

That's no small task.

Perhaps the real question isn't whether dogs were better behaved forty years ago.

Perhaps it's whether we're asking them to succeed in a world that has become far more demanding than the one their grandparents knew.

What do you think?

Have dogs changed?

Or have our expectations of them?