I let my dogs be dogs too by doing all the things dogs do, but that doesn't imply that I think of them as "just dogs." And I don't think it implies that of others either. When I read the OP, it reminded me of showing horses (because that's what I know). Many times show horses were kept all prim and proper in a stall during their show career. We often used the phrase when a horse was retired, or given a pasture break from showing as "letting the horse be a horse." In a pasture, eating grass and getting dirty. Because stall life isn't "natural" for a horse. Since the op came about this while at a competition this is the same thought I got from it. That to not forget that she is a dog and to give her opportunities to do what dogs enjoy doing so they also enjoy their "work" if they show. Just my two cents.
