When you are dog obsessive

[eternalstudent]

To be fair, I'm still very new to the world of dog ownership. I've only just recently made up my mind (and finally convinced my hubby too!) to be a raw feeder. I'll be getting my German Shepherd puppy later this year :)

However, have you ever been told:

"You are thinking WAY too much about this. Just go with it and it will be fine. Owning a dog isn't hard." More common in friends and co-workers lol

I can appreciate the reassurance to a degree but I'm a little disappointed that dog ownership is often being brushed off as an impulsive go-with the flow conclusion. I don't like the down-play of responsibility. I kept having it repeated to me that I was WAY over my head and the desire for me to study books about dog nutrition and training/behavior was excessive and abnormal. I don't understand why such a thing is discouraged? I understand different people have different priorities but why label research as a bad thing?

Oh yes I got this!!

Why do you need all those books, people have dogs all the time you don't need them.

This progressed to

Why are you go to classes you have the books what are you wasting your time for.

This progressed and eventually people gave up trying to tell me what to do and let me get on with it.

I agree that its such a shame that most people seam to equate owning a dog with buy a DVD player. ie
1- take out of box
2- put where you want
3- push bits until it does some of what you want it to

[Itty bitty Kitty]

Oh yes I got this!!

Why do you need all those books, people have dogs all the time you don't need them.

This progressed to

Why are you go to classes you have the books what are you wasting your time for.

This progressed and eventually people gave up trying to tell me what to do and let me get on with it.

I agree that its such a shame that most people seam to equate owning a dog with buy a DVD player. ie
1- take out of box
2- put where you want
3- push bits until it does some of what you want it to

Ugh it's so annoying! It's like people don't want to even register pet ownership has anything to do with responsibility, just convenience. I'm sad to admit that that dvd analogy is horribly accurate. Argh, why do people do this!

[bridget246]

To be fair, I'm still very new to the world of dog ownership. I've only just recently made up my mind (and finally convinced my hubby too!) to be a raw feeder. I'll be getting my German Shepherd puppy later this year :)

However, have you ever been told:

"You are thinking WAY too much about this. Just go with it and it will be fine. Owning a dog isn't hard." More common in friends and co-workers lol

I can appreciate the reassurance to a degree but I'm a little disappointed that dog ownership is often being brushed off as an impulsive go-with the flow conclusion. I don't like the down-play of responsibility. I kept having it repeated to me that I was WAY over my head and the desire for me to study books about dog nutrition and training/behavior was excessive and abnormal. I don't understand why such a thing is discouraged? I understand different people have different priorities but why label research as a bad thing?

People need to stop thinking about dogs as something they buy and more as an animal they are attempting to adopt. Getting a puppy is the same as getting a baby. Since the parents probably aren't there to help you your going to have to make sure those needs are all met. Feeding the right diet is only a part of it. They have to be shown what you want to do and you have to be willing to be a little flexible when it comes to this. I think dogs want to look at their owners for leadership but it is important for them to know that they are being heard and understood when they are communicating to you about what they want, because that is equally important. That takes a lot of work.

Not to start another big debate but some people hate the Dog Whisper. I don't. I love the work that he puts into helping others. I have yet to see his magic cure on making dog problems go away just by him walking in. A lot of the major problems I've seen him experience has took him months to correct along with the help of dog behaviorist. I would hope that others watching him work with the dogs realize that it isn't easy to try to get on the same wavelength with them. Ceaser has many different methods and always tells people not to do this at home. I think he just uses the tools he has available to him at the time to try to bridge that gap of understanding with the person and dog relationship. I think he does a lot of good. I just wish he wouldn't keep saying a problem only Ceaser himself could handle. I'm thinking it's just TV related but it gives off an impression that without him your lost if the first few trainers, behaviorist or whatever that happen to not work out for you.

I've actually got into a big of a argument with a friend for a comment that she has made. She said, I know my girl is smarter than a dog. This same friend thought I was evil for crate training Bridget. I believe that when we make comments like that it lowers the potential that dogs come possible reach because it lowers are beliefs in them overall. My friend also went a little further with this and asked how we could tell who was smarter. That isn't the point. I don't believe in limitations on intelligence. Saying one dog, kid, bird, fish, or anything else is smarter than the other puts in a limitation that prohibits growth. I had the chance to work with 5th graders who were at risk of not making it through school. The teacher I was working for told me one of the worst possible things I've ever heard. "Some of these kids can't make it, a few of them are evil and some are not going to be able to learn much." The school sent these kids to him for help when they were already at risk? Why! I enjoyed proving him wrong. I didn't get through to everyone. But I did managed to get through to everyone that was willing to meet me half way. I only had some much time as to which to work with these students and I wish I could have made a even larger difference but I did what I could. A contraindication I have within myself is I strongly believe that only a idiot puts limitations on others and it is due to their on lack of understanding since they can not truly grasp the intelligence that lies within a living being and are foolish enough to attempt to measure it with a human created test without any real benefit.

Edit add: After owning a dog I could possible get through to even more kids than I could before. I think Bridget purposely goes out of her way to challenge me more and more every day. "Oh what am I trying to say to you now? Good human you got it! Oh.. didn't get that one? Maybe later". She is always trying to communicate with me 99% of the time without barking with shows a strong non verbal forum of communication. I will never understand everything but I will understand enough that we can have conversations on some levels. Most dogs will probably spend their entire life attempting to understanding their owners so is it really all that hard to spend some time getting to know them in return. They will thank for it as it makes it even easier for them to understand you. Reading books, youtube, and other methods only make this process a lot easier.