What's the best thing your dog has taught you

mrose_s

BusterLove
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#1
Kinda inspired by the other thread.

Buster I am ever grateful for teaching me how important dogs are in my life - if not for him I would have never found out so early how much of a dog nerd I am. He also started teaching me to watch my own body language and how it effected him.

Quinn is ever teaching me to watch body language, think faster and react faster to her. Raising her without any unfair force has created a dog that doesn't understand that a raised voice is indicative to getting punished therefore has made me a much better trainer by not falling back on "or else" to make her listen.

And overall. I am grateful for them teaching me patience more than anything. I do think learning to be a better trainer has helped me have overall better control on my emotions and I rarely get frustrated with them anymore when we're working.


So... what is the thing you most appreciate learning from your dog/s?
 

CaliTerp07

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#3
Patience was my first thought too.

I think Lucy has taught me to be proud of improvement over perfection. I adopted a dog so full of reactivity that we couldn't walk down the sidewalk, go to training class, or be off leash. I do not have a perfectly well behaved dog now, but I have a dog who (if I have cheese in my pocket) can do all three of those things wonderfully now. I doubt we'll ever be titled in agility, but we have made such amazing strides together. I was such a perfectionist before getting her, and now I've learned to be grateful for what we have, instead of constantly wanting more.
 

MericoX

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#5
To love unconditional. Patience (try out-waiting a schnauzer).
Live everyday like it's your last. That laughter fixes everything.
Getting angry isn't going to fix anything, move on.
Tsuki and Charlie have taught me my "inner girl".. they make me Squeee.
 

TahlzK

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#7
Serenity has taught me more then I could imagine, this dog has turned my life around. She's taught me mature, to be more careful, to be kinder/softer with my training, to open my mind to different experiences/training methods. I've learnt how to have more patience.

Most importantly, she has taught me I need to stop being lazy, step up and actually put effort in to something to help her (I am bad with putting continues effort in to things).

Sunny has taught me the values of accepting you don't always get the dogs you want but you get the ones you need. He's taught me to smile when I'm down, to try and embrace the moment and hold on to it.

Serenity and him have taught me what a true joy dogs are and what real friends are like.

I look forward to learning more but without my dogs, I would not be as far as I am now. I've never been the greatest owner, I'm still not and it will take me a long while to improve but I am happy with how things are going.
 

stafinois

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#9
Humility. Just when you think you have various training scenarios mastered, along comes a dog to shatter everything you thought was correct.
 

RD

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#11
So much.

Eve in particular has taught me about partnership, respect and flexibility.

Before Eve, I never had such a profound level of respect for my dogs and their own personal comfort zone. There isn't much about her that demands respect, she isn't especially large or intimidating, but she has a sharp personality and a low tolerance for certain brands of bullshit. Unlike the far more patient, persistent dogs I've had in the past, Eve is very much like me - she's impatient and hates beating her head against a wall. If something isn't working, or she even THINKS it might not work, she drops it immediately and tries a different tactic.

She is flexible when it comes to my issues, and over the years I've learned to be flexible when it comes to hers. I have a feeling a lot of people who talk to me think I'm a terrible trainer because I bend to her strongest quirks rather than stay rigid and insist on perfection. I can't dispute that, all I have for them is the fact that she bends to my strongest quirks, too, without complaint or hesitation.
 
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#12
I don't think I could even count all the things dogs have taught me over the years. So many important things.

But the best thing is how to be silly.
 

JacksonsMom

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#13
Oh god sooo much. Jackson is MY first dog. I grew up with dogs all of my life and always loved them greatly but there is something so special about a first dog.

He's taught me responsibility, patience, partnership, friendship, and unconditional love.

He's also the reason I got so involved with dogs in the first place - petsitting, and training, etc, and made me pretty sure I want to do SOMETHING with dogs in my life.
 

CharlieDog

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#14
To work through things that slow me down vs just quitting.

And to turn around three times before I go to sleep :p
 

Kayota

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#15
I really just can't pick one thing... I was born a dog person so my whole life has revolved around dogs and I just would not be the same person without that.

But Padfoot taught me that dogs love. Unconditionally. And that was wonderful.
 

jenv101

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#17
Patience by far is the biggest thing I've learned. And the little things like a chewed up sock or shoe don't matter. I have also learned a ton about dog training, nutrition and overall care etc in the past two years.
 

Assamiea

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#18
I think this sums up pretty well what my dogs have taught me:



And also, if you happen to fart while in company, walk away like nothing happened.
 

HayleyMarie

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#19
Oh gosh, so many things. Especially when it comes to Teagan. We just compliment each other so well.

Mitsu is teaching me patients and how to deal with thing differently. To put it nicely Mitsu is not my kind of dog and we clash alot. Or more like i clash with her. I find her annoying, needy and too soft for my taste, but she is teaching me to learn how to deal with and accept her. She is a great dog and a loving dog. I'm learning to value her as who she is. Remember you don't always get the dog you want, but the dog you need.
 

Lyzelle

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#20
Zander is my heart dog. For the last 7 years, he has taught me so much about myself, dogs, and life. He is my complete world, and I'm not really ashamed to say I revolve around him. He isn't just my dog, he's my partner, my companion, and my other half. I am his just as much as he is mine. We've been through so much together, ups and downs, and he's always been my inspiration to keep on going. I can't imagine what my life would be without him. Every day is something new, it's hard to narrow down the "best" things.

Love, Laugh, Live has never seemed more appropriate. And when in doubt, run to your nearest source of comfort. Or just run. There's nothing more fun in life than just running.
 

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