Why does the doghouse have to be so critical and judgemental?

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My day is generally spent with dog ignorant people educating them on what is best for their dog.

When people post a thread on here showing their ignorance of dog issues they get slated, told they are lying and that the OP who is usually on the ground with the dog does not know what they are talking about. Moral and cruelty issues are banded about as if the OP has no idea that rehoming or PTS a dog is a horrendous situation - that is why they are asking for help after all.

I have been forceful on here (probably when I am in a bad mood and have regretted it) however it is necessary at times to make people see the importance of an issue but to personally slate the poster is not necessary.

I come on here as I can "do" dogs - I am able to help with training and behaviour so when people are struggling it is no issues to just pop on some advice.

Does the general tone of The doghouse have to be so unwelcoming and critical?

Hmm, re-read that and opposing opinions is the wrong word. It's not like it's breeders versus rescuers warfare. It's more that if you're searching for good advice you can tie yourself in knots trying to follow everyone's, because there are different perspectives represented.
Tired, not making much sense, sorry!

However I will start off the confessional by admitting to thinking my dog was watching me because his eyes were open yesterday, and only when I patted him on the head did I realise he was still fast asleep. I now know a dog can physically jump 3ft in the air from a lying-down start!

Thinderbolt, you've probably tried but in case not have you spoken to the Labradoodle Trust? I'd suggest non breed rescue too, you may find a LD or who knows you may find a dog which suits just what you want but which isn't a LD and which you wouldn't have considered.

Cat, we all can say what we want. If you don't want to listen or disagree, that's fine, there's no problem here.

FAR, FAR more important is the thread here about a 15 year old young lady suffering terminal cancer whose dying wishes include taking part in a regional (Ulverstone) dog show with her Labrador. Please go and look at it and at her blog, the link is on the thread, and spread the word amongst your dog owning/rescue/training/breeder contacts. I notice that some here have gundogs and so I hope that they in particular will have contacts in Labrador shows or that they can pass the word on. Even if you can't help you may know someone who knows someone who can so please pass the word on via your forums, friends/family, FB etc.

Doods, "maybe we need a kind of dog confessional where novices and experts alike can safely and non-judgementally confide the daft things we've mistakenly done with our dogs!"

Thats a great idea, I have loads of examples!

I can advise on the dog eating husband's dinner dilemma.

Get rid of the husband! :o

No? Oh, well, it was just an idea!

AllTheYoungDoods - re the daft things we have all mistakenly done with our dogs. how long do you have? ive done lots

K9999

Oh trust me Doods, if you met my dog you wouldn't feel guilty. You'd wonder what the hell I have spent so long training . The newest 'Devil Dogism' is his complete and utter belief that if I am not looking directly at him then I do not know he is sleeping on/stealing food off the dining table . Oh well, at least he is no longer trying to eat the postman

chick - we accidentially trained Whippy to walk on three legs. It was amusing, but slightly embarrassing in public

do tell. how did he manage to accidentally on three legs?

one of mine doesnt like postman. will have to tell you a story about that sometime when i am drunk less tired

• accidentally walk, i mean

Dooinmecleaning, I demand that you tell. Now! :o

She hurt her leg and so had to walk on only three legs. I guess she just realised that she got much more chicken and much more attention when only three legs worked and so carried on walking on only three legs for months after her leg had healed

wierd dog or maybe super clever dog

And you trained it out of her?!?! Surely that is the best party trick ever!

You have one clever dog there Dooinmecleaning!

She should be on BGT .
Oh and thank you for that link Dooin , I'm ready to go to war with Oscar in the morning now

doods

I have got 2 dogs Fifi 5 and Lola 9 months

Fifi is a black and white staffie, i got her from a bloke who worked with EXP. He was a backstreet breeder i think. He had a litter of puppies sold them and kept one. Fifis mam then ended up pregnant by her brother. There were 4 puppies. I got one, his brother got one, a neighbour got one and EXP manager at work took the one born with a deformed leg. She spent a fortune on surgery and still has her.
She eats knickers and i love seeing people faces when you shout Fifi Fifi and a staffie hutles out the bushes. Shock horror expecting a Chow

Lolas a PatterdalexMong

A man approached me on my estate and said your the one whos always walking the dog (fifi) i went yes and thought nothing of it. About a month later i was coming back from school with 3 dd's and he shouted oi lasses come and pick a puppy for your mam NNNNOOOOO dont say that.

2 days later still screaming for a puppy. Thats how Lola come about
I thought her sister had gone to the pound. I have since found out he must have pulled the same trick on another 2 people.

Our lad (part whippet) had knee surgery recently - for a few weeks he had a special 'sausage limp' when he remembered, with a hopeful expression . A lot of our walkies friends are rescue dogs, as is ddog, and they are great. We also know assorted 'purchased' dogs, including a labradoodle who looks extremely non- labra . They are a great bunch of dogs too. BUT - avoiding puppy farms seems to be beyond the wit of many people, we are in Ireland where puppy farming is rife. That makes me cross.

Only pop on here now and again. I like to read about dog stuff and training advice, but has always seemed abit cliquey to me. Not saying thats how it is but the impression I've gotten.

I can understand why those involved in rescue get so exasperated on here.
When people ask which breeds of dog are good with children or post about normal puppy behaviour as if they had taken on the hound from hell it isvery taxing. This year we adopted a 9 year old Staffie who had been in rescue for months. He had been rescued from the pound the day before he was due to be PTS ( another animal charity having cherry picked the pretty young dogs from his cohort, and left him to die) He is the most lovely, kind well behaved dog we have ever owned - no beauty, but very beautiful to us. Every day dogs like mine are not so lucky, and get killed because thereare too many of them, and inexperienced dog owners think a fluffy puppy is what they need/want - whereas in reality a dog like mine would be no trouble at all.

REcently I have been quite upset about the numbers of puppies that people I know have either negligently or intentionaly bred - for every dog that is saved and rehomed ignorant people are creating 4 or 5 more. Some of these willl go to homes where the new owners can't cope through not understanding juvenile doggy behaviour and before long another lot of sad dogs will be in the pound.

When I sit on the sofa and cuddle my dear dog each evening, and stroke his lovely silky head and ears ( and try not to look at his threadbare rather warty tummy) I quite often shed a tear about what might have been the outcome for him. Just imagine how this situation affects those who are dealing with it day in, day out.

I agree, Higgle, totally understandable stress.

That said, I used to get very stressed dealing with (nearly, they hadn't been threatened with pts but...) similarly badly treated people every day.

One of the dangers of being a helper/rescuer of any hurt or needy creature, human or canine, is that we can burn out. And then, someone who is merely being a tad ignorant may cop the hurt and anger that really belongs somewhere else.

Understandable, and still important to try to become aware of and do something about, IMO.

tbh, though, its probably easier for rescuers of human creatures, because we tend to be offered supervision/support/places to off-load.

I think the point though is that it's really hard to judge what 'normal puppy behaviour' is if it's your first puppy.

If you're used to dogs you've probably seen it all, but when everyone is telling you you have this tiny window of time to get everything right, and everything seems to be going wrong (no matter how minor, trust me I wept during the toilet training stage as I seemed to be making so many mistakes!) then it's very hard to maintain a sense of perspective!

So, yes I'm sure it's frustrating to the old-timers. But no-one says please don't post 'my newborn likes to be held', 'my toddler is stubborn', 'my husband won't do the washing up', just because it's been done before (unless it involves P&C parking spaces or disabled toilets!).

ATYD - Puppies are like babies, you think it is important to "get it right" but basically if you are consistent it will all work out - these days it seems that we all feel there is a mysterious expertise we need to develop to deal with quite nomal things in life. Dogs have learned since the first woolfie type thing to share the hearth of our ancestors that you have to go outside to poo, and human disaproval results if you don't. Those of us who knew no better than to feed our children turkey twizzlers etc. still manage to have produced nice slender teenagers that get into university. We need t trust ourselves and our natural resources more, and stop thining you need to be an expert tobe a human being. ( And stop breeding puppies too)

Normal puppy behaviour is chewing, not being house trained, being noisy, bouncing about a lot and nipping until you realise it hurts, and eating shoes.

I'm pretty sure people don't get frustrated with anyone asking about toilet training, Doods. As I see it it's more the situations where the dog will be harmed in some way, emotionally or physically where people can get frustrated/animated.

If it's any consolation, I wept when house training my dog.... she was (and still is) 9!!! I thought I had found my limit when I was stripping my bed where she had emptied her bladder and stepped back into the poo she had left. I can laugh about it now

Good post from Elibean.

Higgle, the frustration felt and voiced by some posters might be reasonable but look at it from the other pov.

Random mner is thinking about getting a dog or has just got a puppy, comes over here to get some advice, and in amongst some good posts gets the sarcastic, lecturey, oh fgs responses. Random mner thinks 'blimey' and doesn't post again or hides the dog house.

Random lurking mner also reads thread, thinks and hides the dog house.

Best result for the happiness of mner or dog?

OK, cheer yourselves with :

Thank you so much for the support and advice - what a great forum.
(from OP of the Fearful Puppy thread)

and mourn with Orm's Dad's sad loss.

The doghouse doing what it should.

(though I think the Fearful Pup might benefit from some of the really knowledgeable types)