Post Puppy Depression

[Souff]

I write this after not having read many of the posts in this thread and it is not directed at any one individual or instance. It is written without bias and it is based on observations. Please do not be offended if it hits a bit close to home.

I have had the feeling for some time that we are going to see more and more of this 'I am failing the puppy' syndrome and I feel it is directly linked to two things:

1. owners having busy lives, with not enough time to relax and truly unwind (and no, 20 minutes in a herbal with oils and candles once a week is not enough);

2. a lot more advertising and hype about what owners should be buying and doing for your puppy. Pressure.

I think those of us (ahem) who can contrast puppy owners of 20 years ago to puppy owners of today have seen more of this syndrome developing. There was a lot less advertising and hype re pups stuff and training, and stay-at-home mums were often the owners of the new pups.

If puppy owners had the time to think like a pup and just spend hours in the sun with a good book (and not feel guilty) while the washing dried on the line, while the pup spent hours gnawing on a large juicy bone and having the occasional cuddle with you, yes, I know they even sit on the darned book, I believe we would have less of this syndrome.

We cannot turn back the clock, but I do think we can all learn to chill out a bit more and stop believing everything we read from the "experts". (Always remember the definition of expert)

Lower our expectations a bit and try to think like a dog.

New owners often learn a lot about the characteristics of a breed and we listen carefully at puppy school, and then our darned pup does it all differently, and even sometimes looks a bit different as he/she grows into huge ears and lanky legs. Many of the characteristics of a breed are not around until the dog is mature, but the books often dont tell you this.

Did the pup read the same internet articles or books?

Is the pup worried that he/sbe does things a bit differently?

Not one bit.

Is the pup stressed out by all of this?

No, but it will become stressed after the owner becomes stressed out.

It is us, the humans, that have the problem, 9 times out of 10.

And I believe it is all tied back to our high expectations, both of ourselves and of the little pup.

Souff has friends (believe it or not) who are not dog owners. This category of friends are all cat owners or bird owners and it suits their lifestyle and the way they think. They are all teachers and executives. They can be a cat's slave for as long as they like and Souff will never want them to own a puppy, even if they begged for it. Another acquaintance falls into the same category. This one has high expectations of everything and once owned a dog (for the children y'know) and it was the dog that barked constantly day and night whenever they were not at home. And this was the same person who would leave notes in letterboxes should anyone else's dog be guilty of barking, and now all in the neighbourhood know this and make other arrangements in case their dogs bark. Let's call her Sue ( because that is not her name). A funny thing happened a few weeks back; one of Sue's offspring came home with his young working dog pup and Sue enjoyed the interactinon with this pup in play. Then somebody at the property started up the whipper snipper and yes, the young dog went ballistic, barking and yelping. Whipper snipper got shut down real quick and we heard Sue say to hubby, "And you are the first to complain about barking dogs" and laughed! Both are high fliers with high expectations and all doggy people in that neighbourhood have been ticked off by Sue (not hubby) at some time over dog issues. Comes time to carry some of the blame for this barking dog and it gets dropped on to hubby! Highly educated executives sometimes lose sight of the obvious and the practical, and any dog person with half a brain would have removed a working dog pup from an area before starting up a whipper snipper. Fortunately for all, the young dog and owner were gone the next day.

Please do not take it personally, but there are some people who are brilliant in their careers ... and should never own a dog. They have high expectations and they cannot realistically relate to the way many dog breeds think.

That does not mean you need to be a non-achiever to be a good puppy owner. But you need to be able to relax and learn from the puppy and the experience. Be humble. Be practical.

Thinking of getting a puppy?

CHILL OUT, PUT ALL THE COMPARATIVE THINKING AWAY AND LEAVE YOUR MIND OPEN TO SURPRISES ... AND SAVE ALL YOUR NEWSPAPERS and SHREDDED PAPER!

Let the puppy be a puppy and just sit back and watch. And you will learn. And you will almost certainly enjoy the experience of having a puppy a lot more

Training?

You will get a better result with the dog long term if you are cool about things.

Bonding?

It will happen and you probably wont even notice.

If you can't chill out, or you can't unwind, then please don't buy a puppy.

The time is not right for you to have that puppy.

jmho, for what it's worth.

Souff

[OSoSwift]

Souff

[Patters]

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