16 Things You Should Stop Doing............

This is a place to gain some understanding of dog behavior and to assist people in training their dogs and dealing with common behavior problems, regardless of the method(s) used. This can cover the spectrum from non-aversive to traditional methods of dog training. There are many ways to train a dog. Please avoid aggressive responses, and counter ideas and opinions with which you don't agree with friendly and helpful advice. Please refrain from submitting posts that promote off-topic discussions. Keep in mind that you may be receiving advice from other dog owners and lovers... not professionals. If you have a major problem, always seek the advice of a trainer or behaviorist!

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Rusty

Champion PPH

Barked: Wed Oct 3, '12 3:52pm PST


	This forum is for our dog's behavior, but what about OUR behavior that makes them nervous, happy, angry,....insert temperment term here.... I came across this article I had bookmarked. Stop Doing This! What do you catch yourself doing that you shouldn't? (Play nice: Marquis De Queensberry rules, folks! )

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Jackson Tan

Lad about town

Barked: Wed Oct 3, '12 7:21pm PST


	No. 6, stop caring about labels! Such great advice ! I think people get way too caught up with lingo and rules. When I see a blog quibbling that if you do X you're not a clicker trainer, you're a trainer who dared to use a clicker, I feel myself cringe. I am very bad with excusing myself. I feel bad I have a fast, intelligent breed and I've never done anything with him! I need to chill out a bit and stop worrying what people think. I bought him for companionship, that's it, and I gotta stop making exuses for that. I enjoyed the blog post very much, Abrantes is a good writer.

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Sanka

The ground is my- newspaper.

Barked: Wed Oct 3, '12 7:25pm PST


	Great find! The only thing I'd mention is that I will often call myself a dog owner, not because I'm degrading my dogs as "slaves" but because it's just the general name for someone having a dog. Same as why we still tell people to roll the windows up or down on their cars, yet we don't literally have to roll them down anymore.

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Dr. Watson

Not a wiener- dawg!

Barked: Thu Oct 4, '12 10:00am PST


	Number 6 is so fantastic I am going to quote it in its entirety: "6. Stop caring about labels—be free We are over swamped by labels because labels sell, but they only sell if you buy them. Should you be a positive, ultra-positive, R+, R++, R+P-, balanced, naturalistic, moralistic, conservative, realistic, progressive, clickerian or authoritarian dog owner? Stop caring about what label you should bear. When you enjoy a great moment with your dog, the label you bear is irrelevant. A label is a burden; it restricts you and takes away your freedom. Labels are for insecure people that need to hide behind an image. Believe in yourself, be the type of dog owner you want to be and you won’t need labels." I think that labels are one of the things that cause the most heated "discussions" here. I'm eclectic, myself, I like to do what works for my dogs and myself. And each of my dogs is different. One has little drive, one has SA, one has TOO much drive (the cattle dog mix, of course), and one, a rescue just coming out of his shell, was timid without being overreactive to dogs or people. Just quite noise and movement sensitive as he is blind in one eye. And iffy only about thin men, but getting over that now. I too think labels are limiting. Do what works for one's dog -- avoiding cruelty of course -- and be happy with your dog. In addition, I find #3 "Stop your desire to control everything—take it as it comes" a great idea with much resonance in my life. I'm the kind to want a perfect heel at all times, lol. And get so frustrated when I don't get it. I am working on "all dogs calmly sitting at the door." Well there are 5 of them and 2 are fairly new. Plus not all householders are on board completely. I have more calmness, less barking, less jockeying for position, and calm standing, plus 2 that sit after a month of work. I shouldn't be so uptight that I don't have perfection yet, when they are actually much better, and just basically through ignoring them (negative punishment) and asking for calmer behaviors and rewarding them.

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Squ'mey

too old to eat- any more KD

Barked: Thu Oct 4, '12 11:32am PST


	I like #9: "9. Stop excusing yourself—be yourself You don’t have to excuse yourself or your dog for the way you are. As long as you don’t bother anyone, you are both entitled to do what you like and be the way you are. You don’t need to be good at anything, whether it be Obedience, Agility, Musical Free Style, Heel Work to Music, Flyball, Frisbee Dog, Earth Dog, Ski-Joring, Bike-Joring, Earthdog, Rally-O, Weight Pulling, Carting, Schutzhund, Herding, Nose Work, Therapy, Field Trials, Dock Dogs, Dog Diving, Disc Dogs, Ultimate Air Dogs, Super Retriever, Splash Dogs, Hang Time, Lure Course Racing, Sled Dog Racing or Treibball; and you don’t need excuses as to why not. You don’t even need to excuse the fact that your dog can’t sit properly. Change what you want to change and can change; and don’t waste time and energy thinking about what you don’t want to, don’t need to or can’t change. Do whatever you and your dog enjoy, however you like, so that both you and your dog are happy. It’s as simple as that!" I find myself getting a bit wistful when I read about others doing so much with their dogs & wonder if I should do more But then I remember.."I'm lazy" My dogs are trained to be good ambassadors of their breed, and that is good enough for me. I do refresher stuff all the time, and look for new ways to occupy their sharp minds, but they are first & foremost my pets and companions. That is good enough for the three of us, so I need to accept that and not keep looking at the *greener grass on the other side of the fence.

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Rusty

Champion PPH

Barked: Thu Oct 4, '12 1:30pm PST


	I'm bouncing around on the topics: #13 Stop Turning Your Dog Into a Substitute The dog is not your child or your reason for living. If your main claim to fame is your dog, you're not living life right, and that puts a lot of pressure on the dog. My dog doesn't have to be anything other than a well(ish) mannered companion. My self worth is not tied into owning him or having him perform. #15 Stop Wanting What You Can't Have I'd like Rusty to be like The Stepford Dog a friend has. But, I don't have the time to invest some days and I didn't start on him as a puppy. He came pre-flawed, and some of those flaws make him the character that he is. It seems like #6 has struck a chord with several of you. I'm not a fan of labels; for myself, as well as my dog or my training style. I've often posted that there is not one way & one way only to train your dog. I don't want to use Alphabet soup to pinpoint how I achieve success with an aspect of Rusty's behavior. It worked, he's happy, and sometimes he does what I command! Keep going, folks. I'd like to hit all these points as time allows.

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Rusty

Champion PPH

Barked: Thu Oct 4, '12 1:33pm PST


	Munches extra post....... Edited by author Thu Oct 4, '12 1:39pm PST

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Rusty

Champion PPH

Barked: Thu Oct 4, '12 1:34pm PST


	another tasty repeat??? Edited by author Thu Oct 4, '12 1:40pm PST

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Rusty

Champion PPH

Barked: Thu Oct 4, '12 1:34pm PST


	Either we've got fleas or Dogster thinks a post should be like an aria....repeat three times...... Edited by author Thu Oct 4, '12 1:41pm PST

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Milton

Im just a little- guy

Barked: Thu Oct 4, '12 7:57pm PST


	In regards to number 11, I like to use the term "dog handler" over "dog owner". Sometimes I still use dog owner. I don't like to think of my dog as a piece of property like my bicycle or my truck. He is a living breathing being with a soul. He has plenty of opportunities to leave, so I don't own him. He chooses to be with me. I totally agree with number 11. 6 is important, it seems on this site only one type of training is acceptable. I like the idea of not having a label as a trainer, this gives you more flexibility. Trainers with labels seem to tell other people training methods outside of their beliefs don't work. I don't like that.

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