The dog musing/vent thread
- Thread starter Laurelin
- Start date
. I miss him like crazy. 
LOL poor Pepper. We took her to the lake.
She fell in.
Three times.
People keep asking if I'm going to train Pepper in agility. I could - it would take a while... maybe a long time... and the end result would be... what? A dog who probably wouldn't even enjoy competing. A dog who would be susceptible to being spooked in the ring by just about anything. A teeter that moves in a slightly unexpected way. A judge wearing a weird hat, or sunglasses, or just whatever Pepper decides is scary that day. Couldn't show her under any male judges, that's for sure. And God forbid a guy shows up and is, say, in the ring bar-setting. And what about all the other people and dogs around?
I don't take Pepper out very much because I can't control the environment I take her out into. And she is a faaaaar different beast than Payton, who can immediately shift from "What's THAT weird thing?" into "IT'S SOMETHING TO TRAIN WITH YAY!!!"
I want to train her, but I don't, because I don't think she'll enjoy it, and I don't want to selfishly put her into a situation she won't enjoy just because *I* want to play agility with her. I kept her knowing she would probably be better off in a quiet, one-dog home, possibly with a nice older lady. But *I* wanted Pepper. And sometimes I have a hard time believing she would legitimately be better off with anybody else anyway, because as much as she is MY girl, so too am I HER girl. So that selfish move, well, I've obviously decided that was the right choice.
But basically forcing her into sports? I just don't think I can make that move and pass it off under any kind of lies about how it's truthfully better this way.
She fell in.
Three times.
People keep asking if I'm going to train Pepper in agility. I could - it would take a while... maybe a long time... and the end result would be... what? A dog who probably wouldn't even enjoy competing. A dog who would be susceptible to being spooked in the ring by just about anything. A teeter that moves in a slightly unexpected way. A judge wearing a weird hat, or sunglasses, or just whatever Pepper decides is scary that day. Couldn't show her under any male judges, that's for sure. And God forbid a guy shows up and is, say, in the ring bar-setting. And what about all the other people and dogs around?
I don't take Pepper out very much because I can't control the environment I take her out into. And she is a faaaaar different beast than Payton, who can immediately shift from "What's THAT weird thing?" into "IT'S SOMETHING TO TRAIN WITH YAY!!!"
I want to train her, but I don't, because I don't think she'll enjoy it, and I don't want to selfishly put her into a situation she won't enjoy just because *I* want to play agility with her. I kept her knowing she would probably be better off in a quiet, one-dog home, possibly with a nice older lady. But *I* wanted Pepper. And sometimes I have a hard time believing she would legitimately be better off with anybody else anyway, because as much as she is MY girl, so too am I HER girl. So that selfish move, well, I've obviously decided that was the right choice.
But basically forcing her into sports? I just don't think I can make that move and pass it off under any kind of lies about how it's truthfully better this way.
Do you ever do any work with her at home? I've done some very simple things with Rose here and there and she enjoys it. I have to cheerlead the entire way and be super careful. There would be no way she'd ever come close to competing. But she does like to jump (verrry slowly). It's kind of cute.
She sounds so much like Trey sometimes. We got to the point where he just hung out at home most the time and he was fine and happy. You do what you know is best for your dog and other people can suck it imo.
My random thought: Mia FINALLY realized that things other than tennis balls can be caught. I do not know why this took so long to realize considering she loves playing ball but now she is catching treats out of the air!
She sounds so much like Trey sometimes. We got to the point where he just hung out at home most the time and he was fine and happy. You do what you know is best for your dog and other people can suck it imo.
My random thought: Mia FINALLY realized that things other than tennis balls can be caught. I do not know why this took so long to realize considering she loves playing ball but now she is catching treats out of the air!
Yes. X100. Cynder has dug another beginnings of a hot spot on her back. *sigh* Luckily I caught it early and have medication on hand now, so she's been sprayed, benadryl-ed, and prednisone-d, and I have oral antibiotics on hand if I need them...but I really wish I didn't have the need to just have all of these medications on hand. :/
This is very similar to Limit. I am training him in agility (VERY slowly), and my goal is to do the NADAC video titles or the valor titles. Then if we go from there and he's still having fun (right now he very much enjoys agility, but I rent a field so it's just us, not a class), I might enter him in a few trials, at very specific locations. I am constantly waffling back and forth between how much he enjoys training, and some moments when he totally freaks out somewhere new...
I'm of two minds on that; obviously she doesn't know or care what she's 'missing' by not doing agility.
But I had that dog who freaked out and worried about everything when we started, so I hate hearing "oh it would be selfish" because...then I was selfish. I was in a different spot than you, in that she was my only dog and that wasn't going to change for a long time. If I wanted to do agility, it had to be her (does that make me even more selfish?).
Yes, it was hard and complicated and sometimes stressful for me. Did it work? **** right. Her confidence, her drive, her ability to rebound from stuff that scared her - or just ignore it all together - all blossomed. People come up to us at trials just to say how incredibly happy she looks on course. I don't regret training her in agility for a moment, but for obvious reasons, it feels hurtful when people say how selfish or unfair it is to train a dog like her for agility.
But I had that dog who freaked out and worried about everything when we started, so I hate hearing "oh it would be selfish" because...then I was selfish. I was in a different spot than you, in that she was my only dog and that wasn't going to change for a long time. If I wanted to do agility, it had to be her (does that make me even more selfish?).
Yes, it was hard and complicated and sometimes stressful for me. Did it work? **** right. Her confidence, her drive, her ability to rebound from stuff that scared her - or just ignore it all together - all blossomed. People come up to us at trials just to say how incredibly happy she looks on course. I don't regret training her in agility for a moment, but for obvious reasons, it feels hurtful when people say how selfish or unfair it is to train a dog like her for agility.
Uh, well, I also called myself selfish since I kept her when I truthfully think her ideal home is different than mine. We are humans. Sometimes we do selfish things. As it happens we are genetically programmed to be selfish.
Regardless, don't project. You've never met Pepper. Not every scaredy dog is Meg.
It is a mistake to ever post about Pepper because everybody wants to chime in about how much I'm doing everything wrong with her every **** time I post anything about her. Thanks for the reminder.
Regardless, don't project. You've never met Pepper. Not every scaredy dog is Meg.
It is a mistake to ever post about Pepper because everybody wants to chime in about how much I'm doing everything wrong with her every **** time I post anything about her. Thanks for the reminder.