Are we all just 'irresponsible owners'?

[NeNe]

I am loving this thread! I feel so much less intimidated now.

I feed my dog kibble
I have a dog door
She rides loose in the back seat
I use Pet Correct (canned air) if she alert barks to long ( I was majorally
raked over the coals for that on another forum).
Grace gets on any piece of furniture she wants.
She begs and it is usually successful

Ahh, breathing a sigh of relief as I am apparently not alone in being less than obsessive about every aspect of my dogs care.

 

[*blackrose]

We all are, just about different things.

Yup. Too true.

 

[ruffiangirl]

....if there was a person that did NONE of the things listed...would the dog live?

 

[StillandSilent]

Gimmick has the evil balls even though he's a rescue and will never be bred
Gambit is child aggressive and has other ha issues
I own a hybrid
Gambit has eaten small woodland creatures while out and about and I don't care
Sometimes I'm tempted to shake both of them and tell them to stop being assholes
They are loose together all the time
I let Gambit go o daycare without telling them he's a coydog
I have let them both eat really nasty raw.

 

[Muttkip]

Let's see

I own two intact dogs one male and one female! (Le-Gasp!!!)
I feed kibble and both aren't top of the line! One is Purnia Little Bites, the other is Diamond Naturals!
I give out Milk Bones and other garbage treats!
My dogs get rawhides from time to time so I don't kill them!
Outlaw is almost NEVER on a leash
I let him jump on people, because well what's the point if they encourage it anyways?
I don't bother holding his leash in PetSmart or TSC since we're there almost every week and everyone knows him and he walks beside me.
I don't do much with Takoda because of her issues.
I play favorites
The breeder I got Outlaw from some would consider a BYB, some would not.
I perfer breeder dogs over rescues
I bathe Outlaw weekly and allow Takoda to get disgusting
Takoda lives outside
Outlaw wears a choke chain almost 24/7 because he's a knucklehead and I feel it gives me better control over his 60 lbs of powerhouse!
Outlaw is loose in the car always and barks his head off
I've popped him on the butt when I caught him doing something naughty
I slack in training on Takoda but keep up with Outlaw's training
In his entire 6 months of life he's only been on like 3 walks EVER

 

[meepitsmeagan]

My dogs both have small amounts of anxiety and SA. I owned a docked breed and don't mind. I don't train or run my dogs endlessly every day. We rarely go on structured walks. Harlow has less than perfect recall and is let offleash. I vaccinate for rabies, distemper and bordatella.

 

[Julee]

I am pretty sure now that I am one of those judgemental people....

Yeah...

 

[Greenmagick]

There is a difference between making a decision based on pros and cons of your particular situation and just doing outright dangerous or irresponsible things.

And for the others, yes, count me in the judgmental camp.

 

[Laurelin]

This is more of 'I'm a bad Srs Dog Person' but I love love love love the toy aussies I know.

*ducks and hides*

 

[ruffiangirl]

This is more of 'I'm a bad Srs Dog Person' but I love love love love the toy aussies I know.

*ducks and hides*

Don't they have their own breed name now? American shepherd or something?

Eta, and FSS in akc as well. http://www.akc.org/breeds/miniature_american_shepherd/index.cfm

 

[Julee]

Don't they have their own breed name now? American shepherd or something?

I think the minis are miniature American shepherds and the toys are still just... toys?

 

[Southpaw]

Oh, I forgot the worst, most horrible thing. I let children hug and climb on my dog. And I even take pictures of it and think it's cute. Horror of all horrors.

 

[Laurelin]

Don't they have their own breed name now? American shepherd or something?

Eta, and FSS in akc as well. http://www.akc.org/breeds/miniature_american_shepherd/index.cfm

The dogs formerly known as mini aussies do- miniature american shepherd. THe toys are smaller than the minis. Minis are 14-18" and toys are under 14".

Idk how it all works. I just know a couple friends have them and they're super fun little dogs despite all the breed name controversy. Small, moderately built, and lots of energy!

 

[sassafras]

This is more of 'I'm a bad Srs Dog Person' but I love love love love the toy aussies I know.

*ducks and hides*

I love doodles. The mob will come for me first.

 

[miasmom123]

-I have 3 altered dogs and 10 month old female who isn't fixed and I'm not sure if I'm going too.

-my dogs except Mae are rarely leashed. Tank is sometimes as his hearing is slowly going.

-I hate picking up dog poop and pay my little sister 3$ each day to do it.

- I sometimes leave my dogs loose together

-I feed kibble

- I let my 9 year old sister walk my 80lb dog.

-I miss Maes 6 week grooming app. All the time or just don't schedule one. I never let her get bad though. I do brush and trim if needed.

-I used to feed pedigree and still buy the cans for the dogs as treats.

-I give them milkbones

- I play favorites and its bad. Mia goes everywhere with me and Bentley is with me if she isn't.

-if I go to the store I usually bring Mia and leave her in my truck if its not too hot. I usually leave the sunroof up and windows cracked.

I give them all human food.

 

[Laurelin]

I love doodles. The mob will come for me first.

But I like those too.......

And puggles.

Uh oh.

 

[Torch]

I don't think that choosing behavior that some would frown upon is a bad thing if it's only affecting you and your dog. My dogs don't wear tags all the time; if they get loose and cannot be reunited with me it really only affects me and my dogs. My puppy jumps on me and I let him get crazy excited. Doesn't really impact anyone else's life.

Same thing with certain problem behaviors, playing favorites, and other little things.

The only actions I take issue with is when others' behavior can adversely affect me and my dogs' quality of life. Like letting their dogs offleash in areas where dogs must be on leashes and blatantly breaking the rule; abuse of certain rules by some can adversely affect all. Or if someone doesn't follow BSL where they live, it can negatively impact me and my legal bull breed. I get it, it's shitty legislation and unfair, but not following the law doesn't make you look like a more responsible owner and certainly doesn't create positive image for the cause.

 

[BostonBanker]

There is a difference between making a decision based on pros and cons of your particular situation and just doing outright dangerous or irresponsible things.

And for the others, yes, count me in the judgmental camp.

That's a better way to put it; I've actually been thinking about the thread a lot of the day (hey, I work in a quiet lab, I need something to think about!). I can't think of anything "confession" like to admit. I do things that some people may think are the wrong choice (my dogs eat high quality kibble, I hike them off leash, I do limited vaccines etc), but they are decisions I made after looking at all the facts I could find and knowing my dogs. I'm happy to explain my reasons to anyone who questions them, and there is nothing I do with my dogs that I wouldn't do in front of a cop, my grandmother, the trainers I respect, or anyone in the world. I'm certainly not perfect - but nobody needs to be.

I don't know, I'm probably over-thinking this whole discussion!

(and I love sport bred mixes - does that count?)

 

[Laurelin]

Oh I was just looking at it as a silly confessional. I know I do what I can to be a good owner for my dogs but yeah, I've seen things posted or had people say things about some of the things I do. I still think I'm a darn good dog owner.

There's no way anyone can follow all the 'rules' out there.

 

[Oko]

Oh I was just looking at it as a silly confessional. I know I do what I can to be a good owner for my dogs but yeah, I've seen things posted or had people say things about some of the things I do. I still think I'm a darn good dog owner.

There's no way anyone can follow all the 'rules' out there.

Yep, this. I was just thinking of things I often see deemed irresponsible/bad, obviously I don't have an issue with doing them if I'm posting them on the interwebs.