what would you do differently?

[joycenalex]

alex is my first dog. i can still remember the first time i saw him...love at first look. HOWEVER, being a first time dog owner, i made lots of mistakes, some small, some major (thank you st francis, none ever terminal, amen). knowing what i know now, there are things i'd do differently......
1-dog training much sooner. we did the first class at 13 months old, i wish i'd started sooner and gone longer, he needed to socialize with other dogs, i didn't know that, so he's a bit of a dog-nerd when at the park.
2- when he graduated from the crate(which i also see now as a mistake) he slept on the floor, no bed or padding under him. i wish i'd gotten him used to a bed. as he's aged, he's gotta be achy when he first gets up. heck, i'm stiff many mornings.i wish i'd kept a dogbed under him.
so what would you do differently?

[pitc9]

I'm LOL at the Dog Nerd comment!!

First of all...I would move next door to Cesar Milan, the Dog Whisper.

I would have put both of mine into obediance classes for SURE!
Maybe if my huby would have taken Buddy to classes they would be friends now.

[cyber-sibes]

"dog nerd"! You're too funny!
Star is our first dog, but I can't really say I'd do anything different besides having pursuaded the breeder keep her with her family till she was 8 weeks old before sending her off. She was only 5 weeks old when we first saw her, and he insisted she was old enough to leave with us. Now I know better - they get a lot of socialization those last few weeks. OK, I do wish I'd have brushed her more often, maybe she wouldn't be such a pain in the butt to brush now. She's awful - it takes two of us - one to brush & one to keep her still long enough to brush her out.

[Ginger's Mom]

I was lucky, my first dog was already a year old when I got her. She was house-trained, knew sit and stay, and was a very very intelligent dog. I knew absolutely nothing about raising a dog, and Peaches taught me everything she thought I should know about raising a dog. She was a fantastic teacher, and a quick learner. However, having said that if I had known then what I know now, I still would have taken her to obedience classes, mainly because I now know that they would have taught me so much more about dogs and dog behavior than I ever knew before.

[Rachel]

This speaks to the first dog I had as an adult.

I guess I would have realized I should have chosen a different breed. I chose an Airedale and had no clue as to how much exercise and what type of exercise this breed would require. Had I known that, I guess you could say that I would have found a way to provide that type of exercise and mental and physical stimulation that she needed. Had I realized that this was part of *the problem* I also would realize that two years was not sufficient to makes things *work* with her. I should not have taken on the responsibility of a second dog when things were so harried with the first one. (I was looking for the emotional attachment I didn't have with the first one.) I would have gone back to the breeder for more direction and advice and if it still was not feasible for me to keep her, I would have taken her back to the breeder instead of rehoming her myself.

I can't believe how many awful mistakes I made! It makes me cringe to think of them and ever so sad and regretful to this day, thirty years later.

Candy, I did love you. I am ever so sorry for my mistakes You were an amazing dog in your own way. I hope I will meet you at the RB one day and that you will forgive me.

[binka_nugget]

I wish I had socialized Kai more. I thought I had done it enough, but you really can't socialize a dog too much! Had I socialized him more, I would be able to enjoy daily walks with him without having to worry about him fighting the walk and slipping out of his collar.

[Giselle]

I failed miserably with Lucky. He was: 1) a resource guarder 2) severely undersocialized and it's pretty much irreversible now. However, we've dealt with it and he can go to certain quiet dog parks without producing a bucket of drool 3) tortured with food allergies the first two years of his life 4) does not tolerate grooming other than brushing (so no ear cleaning or nail clipping without a nip or two). Prior to Lucky, we knew absolutely nothing. So to look at him and to know how much we've been through and how much he has taught me, I know deep in my heart there will never be another Lucky in my life. I love him more than anything in this world and I hope he forgives me.

[joycenalex]

i didn't bring this topic up to have people feel like failures. our dogs love/loved us. we love/loved our dogs as best as we can. did we forgive them the chewed up kleenex, tennis shoes and muffins snatched from the tabletop? of course we did. the dogs have long since forgiven us our mistakes, we did/are doing the best we can. please don't beat your self up over the fact you're not perfect, your dog loves you and wants to play, so forgive yourself and go play!

[Kfamr]

I certainly would have socialized Simba more. I realized that it was needed more when I got my second dog (Nala) and even more so with my 3rd and 4th.

Simba has always had issues with new people - except for my dad and I. I really didn't know how to correct it at first but as we grew together we learned how to work together. I did pretty good back then for a 10 year old.

[Giselle]

Oh no, I'm not beating myself up about it. I have regrets, of course, but somebody had to teach us, and thank DoG it was Lucky because he is the most special, most loving, most patient being in this world. I owe every success I have with Ivy and Giselle to Lucky. Without him, I'd be as clueless as I was to begin with. Without him, I probably wouldn't have Ivy and we certainly wouldn't be "into" agility/conformation right now =)