Things That You Used To Do That You Now Don't

[Nic oh lah]

I'm still learning - but in the last 6 months since becoming a dog owner i've been been wrong on so many things, namely

1. Purely positive - pfh - not anymore. If I went purely positive with Sophie she'd destroy me.

2. Crates - hallelujah for the crate. I initially thought they'd be "cruel" for dogs - Chase loves sleeping in his crate all night and it's a godsend

3. Dog Parks - yep - I thought they were the bees knees - i've alot more careful now and if I go to one it's with dogs I know are well balanced.

The biggest truth I had to face is that Sophie is not a zero-issues dog, she can be really rough in her play if I don't intervene occasionally and have stopped myself saying "they'll sort it out". She is 100x better now than what she was, but still, no dog is perfect, so i've stopped deluding myself that if the play gets rough it's never her fault.

[Bubitty]

I used to ask Bubby to do things and when he didn't I'd be all outraged "OMG You don't respect me as your leader."

These days on the rare occasion when he hesitates to do what I ask, I stop, ponder as to whether he has a point and sometimes I change my mind about what I asked him to do.

[Jetty]

yep I am more wary of dog parks these days. I have witnessed a few incidents. One involved my old girl Jessie. A lady had her poodle in the dog park off leash while she was yapping on the phone and her dog came up and humped her! :D Then another time some crossed breed larger dog pinned down her to the mud as soon as I had her offlead. The stupid owner was standing OUTSIDE of the fence so it took him ages to try and get his dog. I always ensure I am close by the the dogs now and call them back when they start to go over to other dogs that I have watched for a bit and realise they are not the best.

Also Crates are the best ever! Jet sleeps in his with silence all night.

[Pollywaffle]

pandering to requests for belly rubs..I've set a precedent now and can't back out..sometimes I don't want to spend half an hour giving dog a belly rub.

[corvus]

I used to ask Bubby to do things and when he didn't I'd be all outraged "OMG You don't respect me as your leader."

These days on the rare occasion when he hesitates to do what I ask, I stop, ponder as to whether he has a point and sometimes I change my mind about what I asked him to do.

Way to go!

I quit on the "uh uh" and I feel very liberated. Haven't missed it at all. I do tell Erik "go away" whenever he thinks he's going to get something and he's not. It has become a bit of a NRM, but I don't use it in training.

I remember thinking that I didn't need clicker training. I thought I was pretty good at making myself understood without it. Now I don't know how I ever lived without clickers.

And I used to think all one needed to stop misbehaviour was "the tone". Kivi doesn't give a rat's about the tone, bless him. Erik does, and now I find it freakily unnatural. I'm like, Erik, why do you care if I sound cross? It doesn't make any sense.

[Bubitty]

And I used to think all one needed to stop misbehaviour was "the tone". Kivi doesn't give a rat's about the tone, bless him. Erik does, and now I find it freakily unnatural. I'm like, Erik, why do you care if I sound cross? It doesn't make any sense.

ohhh I must derail your thread and comment on this!

I must admit I am a HUGE fan of "the tone". It all started when Bubby had these hotspots and I was told to put metho+bleach on the hotspots. It was horrid and he completely freaked out after I touched him with the cotton swab. He fled from me. I didn't know what else to do cuz I was not going to wrestle down my poor sore baby, so I went up to him, gave him a pat and said "Mummy knows this hurts terribly Bubby but someone told me this will make it all better. Please let mummy put this on Bubby?"

He just flopped down on me and didn't move a single muscle while I dabbed both his hotspots with the mix.

I am now a believer and regularly use "the tone" to get favours from him! He even babysits with the right tone

[rastus_froggy]

Using the word stay, I just don't do it anymore because if I ask my dog for a sit then that is what I expect, until I ask for something else. I know there is the flip side there where people want to give their dog as much info/help as they can but this is my new method and it works for me.

[whippets]

In the late 80's, when I started breeding dogs, I use to spend copious amounts of money on slabs of tinned pal puppy food to raise puppies.

Later, when information technology was more readily available (the internet), I realised how crappy that stuff is.

What a WASTE of money

[Beth.]

Lottie is my first dog, and from day dot she was to be an outside dog most of the time (except sitting on a mat inside for quiet time), but sleep outside etc etc, as I really really didn't want a dog that couldn't be left alone outside, barked, whined, scratched at the door (as i've seen this in a dog and I just couldn't stand it if she was like it...).

Anyway, I was pretty strong for about the first 5 months.... but now she's inside with me, sleeping in my room (and OFTEN jumps on my bed during the night).

I do love it though, that I could put her outside for the night and she doesn't care at all, she's such an easy going dog, i've been very very lucky

So yes, I feel like i'm a hypocrit now, as before I got Lottie I couldn't believe that my friends let their dogs in the house to sleep, but it's very rare that Lottie's not inside with me... I do love her being in my room

[VJB]

I don't know what Heidi did to me. Actually, I don't know what DOL did to me. .... but I've learned so much in the last 2 years, I'm amazed beyond belief. Now I suffer the guilts about my other girl (now PTS), who actually had a wonderful life with our family, BUT..... I was not aware of the complete benefits of plenty of daily exercise, and I feel bad that Heidi gets a good hours walk every day without fail, but my other girl didn't get this. Mind you, my kids are now older, and life is different. She suffered anxiety and we got bark busters out here. They told us to walk her and we took her around the block (about 5 minute walk)..... ... sometimes I do my head in feeling bad about not knowing better because I am actually the type of person who gives things 110%. Hubby reminds me about the fact that her life was really one of luxury compared to most (aside from daily walking), and I guess he's right, but I want to turn back the clock and have given her everything I give Heidi.

I am guilty of opening the front gate for my old girl to go for a morning walk...... by herself in the morning. She would come back after about 10 minutes. I cannot believe that this was a normal daily event here. I'd have been absolutely devastated if anything ever happened.

I remember feeling really proud when the vet asked me what food I feed my dog, and I said "supercoat, the most expensive one" I was not aware back then of 'better' foods.

My dog survived on this for her 13 yrs and never had anything wrong with her ever though. Vet use to comment on how healthy she always looked.

I am panicked about dog parks and do not visit them, but I would have just waltzed in with my other old girl. I will happily play with other dogs, but not in a dog park scenario. I don't cope with chaotic dog situations. Someone will get hurt, or the dogs could harm themselves..... my brain stresses about it and it all feels so uncontrolled.

Thats all I can think of for now.

[W Sibs]

Never believed in the crate but have learnt it's a very handy tool to have around.

I use to be firm with training with the dogs but now, I'm lighten up and start being creative with training my dogs. Started with Charlie, he was praised motivated, so cuddles and kisses was all it was needed to train him most of the time. Then, i realise how important it is to be creative when Emmy came along. Firm tones makes her nervous and she won't listen to me and she has no attention span. So, working with her has to be fun and interesting.

[Agility Dogs]

Not necessarily in this order:

1. Check Chains. I don't believe they are needed to train my dogs the way I want to train them. I used to be a total believer and feel they may still have an application in some instances, but am not convinced that I will need to go there again. This is not a shot at people who do use them, this is my own personal observation and decision - devoid of any judgement.

2. Shaping - it is not a waste of time, luring is not more effective and it is an AWESOME relationship builder between me and my dogs. I advocate it wherever possible.

3. Trialling - 'I'm never going to compete'. Famous last words. It is the most awesome experience to compete as part of a team with your puppies. Now I spend my entire life trekking from one trial/flyball competition/frisbee competition to another.

4. Breeders - are a VERY cool place to get puppies from. Just because they came from pet shops when I was a kid doesn't mean they have to now.

I'm sure there is heaps more. I'm just at that cool point where I'm starting to realise there is more that I don't know than what I do know.