Monday, November 08, 2010

10 Foolish Things People Do With Dogs

1.) Foolish Training: Wrong trainer, wrong class, unscientific training, no reasonable goals, no maintenance training, not training at all, method bias, not taking obedience to off leash control.
2.) Foolish Dog Selection: Wrong breed, not considering all the factors of ownership, not enough research, purchase more on looks than traits, wrong pup from litter or shelter or breeder.
3.) Foolish Feeding: table scraps, obesity, fad diets, improper puppy feeding, improper elderly feeding, not using medical diets when prescribed by vet, let dog eat garbage, give chocolate (poisonous) to dog, allowing dog to eat or lick things off the ground.
4.) Foolish Situations: bought a dog, but should own a dog; kids don’t treat dog properly, bought dog as a gift for someone else; don’t have enough time for the dog; got a dog just before having a baby and don’t have time for dog; not physically capable of managing dog; dog doesn’t match your living situation (your apartment doesn’t allow dog ownership); person you live with doesn’t like dogs; marry someone who doesn’t like dogs; dog can’t act mannerly in situation so gets in trouble or bites someone
5.) Foolish Leadership: bought a dog for a kid (kids are not mature enough to manage a dog); “master” isn’t the master; different commands for every person; unfair demands of dog; no set rules for household; dog doesn’t have a master at all
6.) Foolish Supervision: peeing and pooping problems in the home; chewing problems; not on lead in public; not having a fenced yard; not in crate when not supervised as a pup; dog overheats in summer and freezes in winter because of inadequate housing and supervision; not being careful of goofy neighbors.
7.) Foolish Breeder/ Breeding: stupid place to buy your dog (pet store, puppy mill breeder, backyard breeder); breed own dog when you don’t know what you are doing (and produce unwanted, unhealthy or unstable dogs); no reasonable health care of pups and parents; breeding just for looks and not working ability and stability as a pet; no temperament testing of breeding stock; breeding younger dogs instead of older dogs (should collect semen and breed dogs if still healthy after 10 years old to eliminate many genetic diseases)
8.) Foolish Safety: dog in back of pickup truck; play with children unsupervised; tied out to pole; not vaccinated; let run loose in neighborhood; rough play; letting strangers hurt your dog; tying dog outside of store unsupervised; not knowing natural hazards around you
9.) Foolish Aggression: no proper training and supervision; not knowing what causes dogs to bite; not knowing the law; not knowing enough about the breed you own; not knowing enough about other dogs you meet; teasing a dog; messing with a dog you don’t know; rough play; rough treatment; bad breeding.
10.) Foolish Politics: animal rights folks want to ban domesticated dog ownership; “claw and bite” laws; unfair “menacing” laws; opposing tail docking and ear cropping in some breeds; breed bans; pit bull and other breed biases; poorly written “vicious dog” ordinances and insurance prohibitions; hiking bans; travel bans; unfair self protection laws for humans and dogs; overly restrictive leash laws; uninformed candidates running for office or in office; unreasonable animal control policies; not caring when you see an injustice concerning dogs; reactionary laws and actions after dog biting incidents that don’t relate to the average dog owner; being uninvolved in dog issues

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