Are you satified with how you raised your dog?

Dizzy

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#21
Bodhi, I'd have socialised a lot more. She is socially awkward with other dogs, sometimes reactive, sometimes playful, but mostly uninterested. Although, she was like that from a tiny puppy (more interested in people) so maybe its just her makeup. I'd have introduced her to more small children too, as they freak her out.

Fred's a puppy, so we're just trying to do the best we can! I'm slightly paranoid about the socialisation, which is difficult here as I live in a village with nothing. The nearest supermarket is an 18 mile round trip, and its not busy there.... I'll have to drive him an hour to get to a busy town. Lucky I know more people with other dogs and children that he can meet, but only now and then.

In terms of training, we're actually seeing a trainer, which I never did with Bodhi, so...
 

Catsi

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#22
Yes and no.

There are many things I did right, and there are many things I feel I could have done better. Same with the last dog and the one before that. Live and learn, I'll correct many of the 'mistakes' I made with the next dog.........and I know I'll make a bucket of new ones *shrugs* it's an endless cycle because I'm always learning and I hope that never changes :)
This is exactly how I feel. I will admit that I have felt in the past very upset with how things have turned out with Abby. She is reactive to strangers and quite a nervous dog in some settings. There have been a lot of tears... but, she in a lot of ways she is a really awesome dog. With her family her temperament is just gorgeous, she does have lovely house manners and is lively and gregarious with us. I try not to feel so bad about everything because, although I think some of her behaviour could've been modified or even prevented at a very young age, I think at the core I'd always have a dog predisposed to these things. I'm not absolving myself of responsibility as there are many things I would've done differently... for example I would've swapped out of the puppy school I went to and I would've asked for professional help sooner.

But there's lots of stuff I have done right and I continue to do right for this dog every, single day. I did seek professional help, I did socialise (although I fluffed it up) and I have always ensured that she has an enriched life, even if I can't take her offlead or we can't always participate in class in the same ways as others. I try to make sure her needs are met - physically and mentally. She is such a clever little dog (yeah, I know - I'm her mum - of course she is) and so much fun to have around and to learn new things with.

I couldn't possibly keep beating myself up about what could've been because that would sap my positive energy and leave me fretting about the past instead of enjoying the time I have with Abby now.

She's certainly taught me a lot, an absolutely ridiculous amount actually for a single being lol.

Grace made me do things differently with Abby as well. For example, Abby has a lovely loose-lead walk and impeccable manners around food (and boy does she love her food!). I was pretty determined to improve in that area and we did, but obviously those issues compared to the issues we ended up with are fairly minor.

I'm sure my next dog will offer up a completely different set of challenges, whatever they may be, but I'd like to start by aiming for a confident and soundly tempered dog. with a nice loose lead walk, impeccable manners around food and loves getting their nails clipped :D
 

elegy

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#23
The most important thing to remember, I think, is that we and our dogs are all individuals. So you can't look at what someone else did with their dogs in a certain period of time, and feel like you've failed because you didn't accomplish the same. Maybe that wasn't right for your dog, maybe it wasn't right for you. Maybe you just didn't have the same amount of time to put into it that they did. Just enjoy the dog you have, and the next one will be a whole new learning experience.
Gah, I need to make this my mantra.

Steve's litterbrother trials at a national level in Switzerland. I haven't even managed to trial Steve at ALL. But he is my first agility dog and he has taught me so so much.

Did I screw some stuff up with him? Absolutely. Did I learn from it? Some things. Have I enjoyed the journey. Oh yes. So much yes.
 

TahlzK

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#24
Not really.

I raised Sunny and I taught him the basic commands but he's just naturally a pretty mellow, all around good dog. I think he did more for himself then I did. I wish I had worked with him a lot more but I am making up for it now and we are currently working on training every day.

Serenity. I'm happy I've worked with her enough that she listens to me, I've never had a dog that listens so well to me. I hate how reactive she is, I know it's my fault she got to how she is but I was new to having a dog like her. So, I'm happy in the sense of what we can do now and how I've raised her so far with the best of my ability, I've given it my best shot and I'm still learning, we are working hard every day and she's improving slowly.

I know by the time I own another dog (won't be for a loooooong time) I'll actually be extremely happy with how I've raised my next dog. I want to learn what I can while owning these two and I want to make sure the next dog that enters my life can have the best possible start to life.
 
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#25
So far so good. By no means is Katalin perfect nor has her upbringing been. A few difficulties here and there, more than a few fumbles - but it's been an experience and there's something new learned everyday =)

Overall I'm happy - there are a few things I would have changed if I could step back in time but, yeah. We're still in the process anyways lol.
 

BostonBanker

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#26
For the most part, yes. There are a few things I really dropped the ball on (I swore I was going to have a dog who walked well on leash...whoops), but for the most part, Gusto has become exactly what I was aiming for.

Sports wise - he's phenomenal. Meg did such a good job teaching me how to train, and Gusto is reaping the benefits. Oh, it isn't perfect, of course, but I'm completely pleased with where he is. I had such good help all along the way, and it is really paying off. I look forward to the future with such anticipation I can't sleep some nights.

Companion wise - he's a very different dog than Meg, and the "don't compare" thing rings true as well. He's more easily distracted than she ever was, by movement, other dogs, air particles colliding, etc. I need to force myself to go back and heavily reinforce behaviors that I'd gotten lazy about with Meg because she no longer needed it. But he's getting there. My mother pointed out the other day that we can actually keep magazines in the magazine rack now. Talk about improvement!
 

JacksonsMom

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#27
Overall? Yes, I'm extremely happy with how I raised him. And quite shocked how good he came out, as I was very clueless about training and raising a dog (on my own). It kind of came... naturally to me. Like, the instant he came home, something clicked in my head and we just had that bond. I was very lucky in that I was off school on a long winter break when I got him so we had over a month to bond, work on the little things (like potty training) and we had a great routine/schedule we started. But really, he's got no major issues (no dog aggression, or human aggression, no real reactivity, no guarding, etc). He's trustworthy anywhere we go. He's always been ready for whatever I've thrown at him, and takes things in stride. Always been a fantastic trick dog -- loves to learn. He's got a few little quirks I could do without (scared of thunder/fireworks, and weird little things will freak him out) but I'm not so sure I could've done anything differently anyways. That's just his quirky self.

There's a few little things I'd certainly do different -- I probably would have actually worked on recall from the moment I brought him home. He started off just following our older dog around outside and never ran away so I always let him out, then when she died and he got a bit older, he became less trustworthy and I didn't truly start working until he was over one. Maybe work on building a toy drive earlier on. But really, wouldn't change a lot.
 

Whisper

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#28
With Millie? No. I got her when I was 10 years old and poor Millie was the one who was trained with Milan-ish methods. It didn't even occur to me that there were other ways to train a dog. She was the first dog who was mine, so unfortunately she was also the one I made all the mistakes with. I've learned from them, but I'm sad Millie had to be that dog. However, am I proud of and way more than satisfied with who she is? Hell yes! She's the nearest to "perfect" I've ever lived with. She learned to take things in stride and as I became educated we took lots of steps back to start over with a relationship, not obedience, in mind.

With Fable I already have made some big mistakes, too. She was very sick during the time she needed to be socialized the most, and even once she was better I was so overprotective of her I was wary of taking her places. I'm fortunate that Fable has a pretty fantastic innate temperament and she's pretty easy to work with. Sometimes. ;) I also wish I had separated her from Millie more. At the beginning I loved how much they were bonding, but I've been realized she way too attached. Fable is an amazing pup, though.

To sum up, no, I'm not satisfied with the way I raised my dogs. There are thousands of things I could have done better and I could spend all day listing major and minor mistakes. That being said, I love my dogs the way they are. Not in spite of x, y, and z, but because of z, y, and z.
 
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Lizmo

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#29
With Lizzie, no. I made huge mistakes.

With Blaze, yes, I am happy. I learned from the previous mistakes and he has turned out stellar. Of course there are a few things I see later that I should have worked on in the beginning. My one biggie that I should have worked harder on is car obsessing. It's such a hard thing to break. If I can put more time into that earlier, we wouldn't be dealing with it now.

You learn with each dog. Yes, I'm very happy with how I raised Blaze. But that doesn't mean next puppy will be done exactly the same. Each dog is different. Some need more of this, some need less of this, etc.
 

Doberluv

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#30
Yes, I'm happy with how my dogs are. I've made some mistakes and also not done things I could have. But these Chihuahuas are just naturals. They're nice, well mannered, bright dogs and I really think they did most of it themselves or by osmosis. I don't think I really did that much to make them such a joy to live with.
 

Baxter'smybaby

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#31
Traveler is the only one of my crew that we raised from a puppy. I think we really did a decent job--entered into it with lots of research before even deciding on what breed of dog (she was to be a family pet--my kids were very young at the time, but one son was begging for a dog).
We did multiple training classes with a well known breeder of Labs in this area--so much good advice and knowledge based on the individual dogs in the classes--and the owners skills. My boys were a part of the training classes, since I wanted consistency and they were to be involved/responsible for part of her care. We used positive training strategies...she did have lots of "lab energy"--so we worked with her with retrieving, swimming, hiking--no real "sports' but lots of family activity. She was one fabulous dog--and if I could have another like her I'd do it in a heartbeat. I miss that girl.

My hound brothers--they are a different story! Both adults when I got them--but Baxter we did quite well with training, and Traveler was a positive influence on him. So overall, yes--content with his training.
Wilson....oh man, Wilson...he is the dog who has really challenged my thinking. It took a bit to "get" what his vocalizations mean, and then be able to respond appropriately to him. My boys are older now--and Wilson is the opposite of Traveler in his management/training needs. Where you could rile Trav up and she would still be able to calm down easily--Wilson gets charged and then doesn't know what to do with himself. It's a fine line of play to "defense" for him--especially with men. So he is a work in progress, as I remind my adult children to approach him and respond to him in certain ways to get the behavior they are seeking. He is also a dog who once you loose his trust, it takes quite some time for him to come back around to trusting you. Fine line.
That was lengthy--answer--3 dogs, yes, yes, somewhat. :p
 
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#32
I guess I would consider my first dogs Zeus (Dobe) and Pongo (JRT mix) got them around the same time. I was 14 when I got Pongo (5 weeks old) and Zeus was born 2 days after my 15th birthday. I delivered him. First person to hold him, last person to hold him. He was my boy to the end.

Both were super easy to train. Zeus did more than Pongo being a superstar Dobe. He knew all sorts of commands and loved to show off. Both were super social with other dogs, people, horses, cows, goats, whatever. I could take both anywhere and expect good behavior. Zeus did therapy work and everyone who met him just fell in love with him. I remember one Christmas through my work, we sponsored the Santa for the downtown event and took the pictures of kids w/ Santa. Zeus dressed up like a Reindeer and ended up with more pics than Santa.

Pongo has always been a perfect boy too. He has always been perfect with off leash obedience and has never needed a leash anywhere. He will heel like he is an extension of my leg. I turn, he turns. He never learned a lot fancy tricks, but he was a ratter and favorite command was "Go find Mickey" (Mickey Mouse).

Zeus only made it 11 yrs, but Pongo is still going at 15.

The perfect boys

 

*blackrose

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#33
I'm actually really proud of how Chloe turned out. The things that are problems for her (aggression/low threshold, anxiety) is just how she is wired, unfortunately. But she is a good dog otherwise, and that was what I was aiming for.

The one thing I am not happy about is that she isn't off leash reliable and her recall sucks. I wish I had done that differently and started her off leash as a young pup, but oh well. 'Tis okay.
 

yoko

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#34
I wanted to say though despite what I did wrong, which was not work on leash skills Yoshi is perfect and everything is my fault XD


I did want to mention Lady though. Lady was my dog I got from one of my friends at about 1/2 years old. My friends older brother would get trashed and beat her. She was afraid of men, strangers, loud sounds, storms, water. Pretty much anything you could carry she did NOT want you to carry any thing around her. Her and I got close really quick and I was the only one she would come to for a LONG time. She finally got use to my dad, who was the only guy she'd willingly run up to.

I thank God that Lady was the first dog I had. There were times I would be so frustrated with her I wouldn't even know how to handle myself. But she was so trusting with me I had to hold back and act happy for her. She taught me there is ALWAYS another way to train a dog that doesn't require hitting. I think that helped me an insane amount with Yoshi. Lady taught me patience.
 

AliciaD

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#35
I'm most disappointed in how I raised Duncan. Physically I think I pushed him too hard when he was a puppy (and he turned our to be a tall, 90lb dog). I wish I had socialized him more and spent more one on one time with him. He's more bonded to Cameron than he is to me.

Yes, I would have done things differently with Duncan. He's still a great dog, and he's still my boy, but I wonder how he would have turned out if he'd been raised in a house where he was the only dog.
 

monkeys23

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#36
Honestly I'm pretty happy overall. I wish I'd gotten into clicker training sooner because I went back basically redid everything with Lily and we've got a few things we're always working on (like Lily's crooked fronts! lol), but overall they are both just awesome girls. :)

Its not like how I started with Lily was Caesar style or anything either... It was mostly treat training with a little prong collar work. I just didn't know anything about the mechanics of marker training, luring, shaping, capturing, fading, variable rewards, etc., so its really helped me as a trainer to learn more about the actual mechanics of training. :)

I was the only person who ever did any "training" with the Border Collie named Buddy we got when I was like 9. Again, only used treats lol and he learned some awesome tricks like shake, sitting in a lawn chair. and he'd run up the slide and hang with me in the jungle gym. He had kick butt recall to me whistling too. He put up with me directing him over homemade jumps too. I didn't have to leash him or bribe him, we just ran together and I pointed him over them. He never could walk on a leash (he would choke himself out and not care... not like he needed leashed anyway, we lived next to BLM in the forest.), but dang he was awesome. :rofl1:

I trained my friend's Lab/RR mix boy. He was like 5 or 6 when we lived together. I'd love to do some clicker stuff with him now that I know about that. He's easy though, such a good boy for me. He only knew sit before me lol.

And I trained the 6mo old RR pup she adopted (who jumped ship to her mom, little butthead lol)... she didn't do anything with him the first two weeks he was home and I had him doing all kinds stuff like loose leash walking, down, sit, learning sit-stay, etc. Yeah after the first time she walked him he suddenly had all kinds of problem behaviors and I had to use the prong with him. Also neither her or her mom ever used any of the behaviors on his repertoire and acted surprised when I told them he knew down stay for the fiftieth time. Like are ya deaf people?? I had him to where he was perfect doing ob on a flat collar or off leash for me. None of it ever gets used, he's basically just either in his crate or in the backyard. He's so smart, he'd be an awesome agility/lurecoursing/schutz/ob dog... shame his little brain isn't getting worked. :(

Long story short? Dogs are easy, its their owners that are hard to train!
 

Toller_08

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#39
All in all, yes, I am satisfied with how I've raised my dogs. I've definitely made mistakes with each and every one, and probably will with any new dog I have for many years to come, as each dog brings a new learning curve. But that doesn't mean I'm disappointed in how I raised any of them. The only thing I do regret is that I wish I'd approached Dance's aversion to strangers a lot differently when she was still a puppy, as I think we might have made more progress if I had, but I did what I thought was best based on advice I'd received at the time. But I can honestly say that I feel all of my dogs are fantastic in pretty much all the ways that really and truly matter. They might slip up here and there with an off day, but 99% of the time they are extremely well mannered and well behaved and listen really well. They are all wonderful. I love how the dogs they've all grown into and become as adults. :)

ETA: I am not satisfied in the way I raised the first dog I called my own. But I was only 13 and didn't know as much as I do now. There are lots of things I'd have done differently with her. But she still turned out to be a good dog and I learned a lot from her as far as what to do and what not to do with future dogs.
 
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