What do you do "wrong"?

Fran101

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#1
I was talking to a few people about dog forums and such and the common thing I get is "..it's so intimidating. Like everyone is like the perfect dog owner"
well.. :rofl1: so what are some things that you do "wrong"/that isn't part of the perfect dog owner handbook

-what the rules say to do: "Do not say no, interrupt and redirect the behavior"
-what actually happens..
*Merlin picks up shoe*
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOoooOOooOoOO!!!!!!"

-what the rules say to do: "Always gradually change a dogs food, first 10% of new food, than 25, then 50, .."
- What actually happens
"Aw **** we are almost out of food." *buys new food, pours the 12 kibbles and the dust of old food into bowl, add the rest of new food*

- what the rules say to do..."Do not use the crate as punishment, it is their den, their safe space"
-What actually happens...
*Merlin starts licking his man parts in front of company* "MERLIN! TO YOUR PENALTY BOX!!"

- "Do not repeat cues more than once"
- What actually happens..
"Merlin down, dooooowwwnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn. WHILE IM STILL YOUNG MERLIN!!"

-"Do not encourage problem behaviors"
- *sees geese at park* "MERLIN GET EM!! GET EM!! KILL EM!! RUUUNNNNNN!!"

:rofl1: share yours not-so-perfect dog owners lol
 

Laurelin

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#2
Not so much on this forum but on the other one I see people saying they never leave their dogs longer than 4-5 hours a day. Uh yeah no... We don't do dog daycare either. My two would hate it and they're fine during the day.

I don't walk the dogs every day let alone for hours every day. That's another not so much this forum but the other one. I have high energy dogs, I must walk them 2 hours a day plus do 2 hours of training and an hour of ball playing. Where do you have the time?! I will be honest in that there are days we only get in a 30 minute ball playing session...

Those are the big two that make me feel inadequate sometimes.

I don't rotate out food. My dogs never have a problem with it.

I feed kibble and raw on the same day sometimes.

I do use mild corrections in day to day life. (Ack I'm still almost afraid to admit it)

I let my dogs beg and encourage it too much.

Oh there are plenty of others too, I'm sure.
 

meepitsmeagan

Meagan & The Cattle Dog Crew
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#4
When Rider licks the couch, he gets a "Noooo. You are weird, dog."

I don't gradually switch kibble, or feed at the same times.

My dogs are crated 8 hours regularly.. Only one would do well in a daycare situation, but honestly, it's not worth it to me. They do just fine.

Like Laurelin, I don't walk them for hours everyday either. They all play with each other, and we will play tug and stuff, but if it is nasty out, I mainly just sit inside and let them burn off energy themselves.

I let them drink out of the lake. I know one of these times, they will get sick. I do it anyways.

Rider is terrible in the car. TERRIBLE. Cries, paces, always wants to stand on the console. "RIDERRRR. IN THE BACK. NOW SIT DOWN. UGH! SIT DOWN! IN THE BACK!: " *shoves back with elbow* (I'm gonna get in trouble for that one..)

I don't practice in between classes. :eek:
 

k9krazee

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#5
We do lots of things wrong like encouraging begging, he gets on the coffee table, drags his blanket around the house & chews on it, we feed 1 kibble, don't walk everyday, etc

But probably the biggest no-no -- we have a dog door. And it's the best thing we've EVER done.
 

skittledoo

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#6
I say no a lot

I used to not use mild leash pop corrections with my dogs, but Omg Joey.

I use a prong collar on Cricket sometimes

I use a starmark collar on Joey for walks and actually like it because he behaves on it.

When I switch foods I don't do the 90-10 split to start off with. Usually it is just half of old kibble plus half new kibble for a couple days and then straight new kibble.

My dogs are crated pretty much 8 hours and I WORK at a dog daycare. They get to play in daycare on slow days though provided the dogs that are there are dogs I trust for the most part.

We don't do long walks every day. I try to take them hiking or to a dog park on a day off, but I'm guilty of taking them out for maybe 5 minutes just so they can do their business.
 
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#8
I frequently reward attention getting behavior. They're all just so adorable. But then later it's annoying when I'm trying to get something done and a polar bear is pawing my head.

Sometimes if they're in the yard and don't recall, I either bribe the crap out of them or just give up. "Fine, I'll be back later." Also, I leave them outside unsupervised except for checking on them periodically.

I'm somewhat inconsistent with house rules, and they know it. Oh well.

And sometimes they have some pretty long days home alone or have some exercise dry spells.

And sometimes I just need to get the h*ll away from them for awhile. I love them dearly but there is such a thing as too much togetherness.
 

AdrianneIsabel

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#9
I let Backup pace and spin unless during a training session, in theory I should downstay or redirect. I also put it on command (the spins) which reinforces the behavior.

Sloan is allowed to jump and punch us, we also laugh when she steals because she's so dang clever.

Basically we laugh a lot and it allows my dogs to continue being naughty.
 

SaraB

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#10
Use NILIF to instill impulse control in your dogs. HAHAHAHHAHA

More like get everyone super excited to go outside, open the door as they are all catapulting off of each other, me and the door. Close your eyes and pray that nobody runs into each other or slips and falls on their way out.
 

AdrianneIsabel

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#11
Use NILIF to instill impulse control in your dogs. HAHAHAHHAHA

More like get everyone super excited to go outside, open the door as they are all catapulting off of each other, me and the door. Close your eyes and pray that nobody runs into each other or slips and falls on their way out.
Ohmergahd yes. lol practice what you preach to your clients, unless you're lazy.
 

SaraB

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#12
Ohmergahd yes. lol practice what you preach to your clients, unless you're lazy.
Wouldn't be so bad, except my husband is the king of NILIF. Seriously, every single time, he makes them sit and wait. No matter where they are, what he has to do, if he's in a rush or lazy. Always. Without question. And then there's me. I might do it once every couple of days? :rofl1: He said he was going to trade me in for a better live-in dog trainer.
 

*blackrose

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#14
Although I don't use the crate as punishment per say, that is where Gracie and Cooper (but mainly Cooper...) go when I have HAD ENOUGH. And they know I'm mad at them when they go into the crate. But they are still alive because of it, and the definitely view their crate as their safe haven. LOL

They don't get walked. Ever. (Although I am going to start walking Cynder, it is only because I need to start exercising. And although I really enjoy going for walks, if their energy is burnt in other ways I just don't do it.)

They are crated 6-8 hours a day, sometimes as much as 10.

I have no qualms about using a shock collar to proof an off leash recall. And I use a prong to teach leash manners.

Although when I train tricks and commands I don't use punishment (lure/reward or shape), I do enforce house rules and general "manners" by implementing corrections.

I feed kibble, and a "cheap" brand at that (good quality, but I'm not dropping $75 for a 30lb bag - more like $40 for a 35lb bag). It isn't rotated out. The dogs eat once a day. They don't get many treats. I keep them on the thin side.

They each only have one collar, and currently they don't all even have leashes. :p

I chain them when they are outside and I can't supervise.

I shave my long haired dogs because I don't want to brush them to keep them free of mats (and yet I will brush to decrease shedding...go figure).

I am obviously a horrible person.
 

FG167

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#15
We rotate every bag of food and NEVER introduce it slowly. We have 8-9 dogs always eating at our house so we plow through food like crazy and we usually forget until we go to feed a meal and we can only feed half of the dogs. Oops.

I feed table scraps. I eat pizza, I don't like the crust, I split it and feed to my dogs.

They're all allowed to beg as long as it's quietly, on the floor, or beside me without getting in my way.

I not only allow, but encourage, my dogs to jump and punch me.

We have 8-9 dogs at our house. The majority are intact males. Most of them interact on a daily basis. They are not "get along" type of breeds.

I believe in being the leader of my pack. I don't do alpha rolls or any such thing - but my dogs know who is in charge, they know when they're in trouble (and *who* is in trouble), and they know I do not allow "spats" when they are together.

I use an e-collar, a pinch collar, a choke chain, basically every tool that is available. Not for every little thing, but I do believe in variety and making things black/white for a dog so I use what's available and will help them learn the quickest. I also muzzle train my dogs.

I smack my dogs around like crazy. They love it :) BUT, most people are a little thrown off when they initially see me play with Kastle or Limit - lots of thunking on ribs, hitting with my feet etc

We feed raw and kibble whenever we have it. We don't watch which meals, we don't calculate it out. If chicken quarters on sale - everyone is getting chicken quarters!

We don't feed at specified/regular times.

I love when my puppies tug on my leash :) I encourage it, play fight with them, growl and think it's a ball.

ETA: My Corgis are skinny - that is often times a HUGE NO NO and we regularly get told how terrible they look. We like our dogs fit and thin.
 

Laurelin

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#16
Taking Summer to training or on a walk means I have a papillon bouncing off my butt the entire time I'm gathering up my stuff. When she gets excited she just catapults herself off the nearest person. I am a pro at getting stuff done while a papillon is bouncing off of me.
 

AllieMackie

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#17
Finn gets away with alert barking to the point that's annoying to others, but not to me.

He's often left crated for 8-9 hours at a time while I go to work. Some days when I need to go out in the evening as well, he's crated then too (though I always go home and give him a pee break, backyard playtime/walk/whatever, so it's not all bad). I have a really busy life sometimes, and am his sole provider, so. Thankfully he takes all of this in stride and never really goes shack wacky.

I feed raw and kibble all over the place. It makes my co-worker cringe, but Finn is fine.

He's allowed to chase the cat, because the cat usually chases him back. This is going to bite me in the a$$ when I need to introduce him to new cats.

I'm... a pretty lazy border collie owner. Finn's adapted just fine. He gets his exercise (mentally and physically) but not a ton every day like I feel pressured to. Some days we barely do anything but in-house playtime, and some days we spend 2+ hours at the park. It just depends. He's happy, healthy and in good shape, so I try not to stress myself over it.
 

tucksmom

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#18
I don't transition food like you're 'suppose' to.

I let them jump all over me when I get home and don't stop them when they get excited and jump up to bite me on the rear cause I just think it's so darn cute.

I use the leash correction too, just a light tug.

I feed bits of food when I'm cooking something :(

My dogs are crated 8.5ish hours a day. When they were pups it was 4.5 hours at a time (had a longer lunch and came home for it) and even admitting that had some people chastising me because it was too long for a puppy. The average responsible person works for a living, I have no problem with dogs being crated-but boy can this one spark some debates. :rolleyes:

When one of them does something super bad (like a potty on the floor which doesn't happen often) I tell them to 'Get in your box!' which is their crate...
 

frostfell

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#19
I feed table scraps. I eat pizza, I don't like the crust, I split it and feed to my dogs.
Iv never known anyone else who gives their pizza crusts to the dogs :rofl1: I HATE crust!

I pretty much do everything wrong. Im the worst trainer ever. I just shout a lot and wave and gesticulate and flail and its basically a cross-species game of hot-cold or marco polo, but they always "get it" and then I "get them" and we get a nice two way communication going of pidgin Dog-Human, right around the 2 year mark, and then its perfectly peachy from there. My dogs dont know any "commands" per se, except for a recall, which is the only thing Im Wrath Of God about.

I feed them a bite of everything I eat

I laugh when theyre naughty

Tori is trapped on the landing upstairs, and cant figure out how to DO stairs, and Im not helping her. She has seen how it works, watched other dogs do it, and she can just sit there and sulk and pout until she figures it out. Shes a smart cookie, she needs to solve this problem herself.

Im completely unreliable and inconsistant, part time tyrant, part time anarchist. Oddly I never have any problem with stopping a behavior I allowed 5 minutes ago with a "WHAT do you think youre doing, young lady"

I ramble to my dogs, no command or direction is ever a single word.

I switch foods on the fly, and feed them whatever.

I forget them in public places > >

I use corrections, and prong collars. Will be buying an e collar here soon, just to have in my dog bag.

My dogs never have collars or tags on. Theyre not licensed
 

MandyPug

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#20
This stuff mostly pertains to pug forums than overall dog forums...

- Iz is skinny. You can see ribs when she runs and a defined waist always and feel her spine but not see it. What you can also see is her rippling muscles.

- I train her and compete in agility and I train her to be her fastest. We train and compete in all kinds of weather, even hot hot days. Her life doesn't stop when the temps reach 20C, in fact she's more inclined to work for me in hotter weather than colder.

- I don't furminate her.

- She begs and I give in (and all my friends give in too) so she begs more because it works. She's polite about it but has some very soulful eyes.

- I don't do yearlies let alone massive complete work ups on her. If something is wrong she'll see a vet, until then I watch her every day and put my hands on her too.

- She bites me. All the time, and I let her.

- She humps my foot frequently, and I let her and laugh at her.

- She smacks me and punches me all the time. I also allow this and laugh at it.

That's all I can think of.
 

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