# Unsolicited Advice!



## denparkin (Aug 29, 2011)

Why is it everywhere I go someone seems to have advice on how to better to raise my puppy? It seems to be every week I have someone telling me I'm cruel, or I'm doing it wrong!
I just got back from a walk where I was using the technique where you don't move forward until the dog stops pulling (thus it was very slow going at times), and some crazy lady starting yelling at me that she "can't stand people like me who expect puppies to behave like well mannered dogs" (I'm not sure how she expects them to become that way?). Obviously I know I'm in the right, but it just bugs the petunia out of me! 

On a good note though, the four times Brooklyn picked up a rock on our walk she dropped them every time I told her to (I was having a really bad time with her gulping them and was almost to the point of muzzling her for her own safety). The countless time spent in the evening on "drop it" in the living room has paid off! Now I just have to get the "leave it" perfected for the countless amounts of goose poo in the park!

Thanks for lettting me vent.


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## redrover (Mar 17, 2011)

People do that all the time. It's particularly fun when the person doesn't own a dog themselves.

I've gotten dirty looks for not moving forward when Jasper pulls. Sometimes it's because he's acting like a diva about it, but sometimes it's because the person actually thinks I'm expecting too much from a puppy. Sometimes I feel energetic enough to explain that I _don't_ expect him to walk perfectly as a puppy. That's kinda what the training is for. But other times I just give them a nice, cold stare and they awkwardly walk away. 

It's like having kids, I imagine. Everyone knows a better way to raise your kids, and everyone knows your kids better than you do. It's obnoxious and annoying, but harmless, I suppose. Just stick to your guns!

And congrats on the "Drop it!" command! Jasper's still learning that one--I waited a little too long to teach it to him, and now he's at a stubborn age.


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## Crazy Kian (Aug 10, 2009)

There is an older lady who I see a few times a week on our walks in the morning. She will always ask me why I insist on using the "torture" collar on Kian (his prong) and she usually asks how much I feed him.
"You can see his ribs and all his muscles" :

Once I told her to please mind her own business. I told her I never made comments about her out of shape dog so she should just keep quiet about my dog.

Some people need to be reminded to keep their opinions to themselves sometimes.


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## laurita (Jun 12, 2011)

I totally agree with you guys. When I first got my pup, the thing I'd tell people is that the worst thing about having a dog is having a bunch of strangers wanting to chime in all the time about how you should do it.

denparkin, if brooklyn doesn't leave the goose poo, try not to lose your cool like I did constantly. I wish I had known how big of a request I was making for a puppy who hadn't developed that sort of impulse control yet! I don't know that this is true, but I now wonder if I was attaching a much larger value to the poo in my pup's eyes because I was getting so frustrated over it. Keep doing what you're doing and it'll come with time. Great job on the drop it


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## Mischa (Feb 17, 2010)

The best one I got was while Mischa was wearing a cone after her spay.
A lady told me that she absolutely hated it when dog owners dominated their dogs with those stupid cones!!!

She was really pissed at me, and I was in stitches laughing at her. ;D

I explained what the cone was for, so hopefully I'm the last person she screams at, regarding dogs + cones at least...


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## denparkin (Aug 29, 2011)

Thanks everyone, I knew you'd make me feel better! ;D


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## Macaroni (Jan 19, 2011)

When Mac was around 4 months old he ran out of the back yard across the street (have since put up a fence). I was yelling for him to stop. Some older lady started giving it to me about how I shouldn't yell at him, "imagine if it was a child". Despite telling her I yelled so he would stop as I was afraid of him getting hit by a car, not out of anger, she kept giving it to me, telling me I should watch these dog shows on TV, and Cesar Milan etc, that it would do me some good. She kept at it, I eventually got annoyed and walked away and then she called me a dog abuser....I gotta admit I f**kin lost it on her at that point. 

You can't get through to crazy people, but yelling at them does make you feel better....at least my neighbour found it hilarious.


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## 1notenough (Sep 6, 2008)

everybody is a pro at teaching dogs.thats why they all have television shows just like Cesar Milan.No wait thats wrong their just jelous they dont own a Vizsla ....Yes thats it .....Its dog envy.i am no pro dog trainer but my boys will sit on the front lawn with me and wait for the icecream man to come down the street in his truck..Maybe i should have a tv show....hahahahaaaa.They prob.feed their dog kibbles and bits, maybee some cesar wet food dummies .good luck with your young pup their smart dogs and in no time you to will be the envy.


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## born36 (Jun 28, 2011)

I had an instance where with Mac off lead early one morning a man decided to walk across the park and Mac being mister social as always had to go and say hello and of course put his paws on the man's Khaki trousers. The man then hit Mac with his brief case and told me to control my dog! I replied 'he is a puppy not a dog and you are a d*[email protected] and not a man' He then turned to me to which I replied what are you now going to hit me!!
He then shouted again that I need to control my 'dog' I again stated that he is a 'puppy not a dog.' He then said 'what if I had my 3 year old daughter with me.' To which my response was ' Yes that would be horrible as she would see you hit a puppy!' followed by what do you do when you daughter does something wrong, do you hit her!' Needless to say I am now looking forward to seeing him in the park with his daughter so that I can tell her that her daddy beats puppies!!' I know Mac shouldn't jump on strangers but he's not a threat. You walk through a do park you gotta deal with dogs simple as!


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## gunnr (Aug 14, 2009)

You'll always get unsolicited advice. Sometimes it's easier to just nod your head and say thank you than try to educate people.

Many years ago I was out in the woods with my dogs. I would ride my Mtn. Bike and they'd run along and do what ever they wanted too. These boyz were in seriously good shape and could run for hours, and we had been doing this for years. They were lungs on legs.
Anyways, I had stopped at a small pond to let them drink and recover a bit when a person asked me how long I'd been out with my dogs. I answered we had been out about 2-3 hours and had probably covered 25 miles or so. This person threatened to report me to the SPCA for torturing my dogs and making them run so far.
I looked over at my dogs, who had now jumped into the pond to chase ducks on the water and just kind of laughed. Oh yeah, they looked really "tortured".

Most folks have very little understanding of the requirements and physical attributes of a hunting dog, and V's are different type of hunting dog altogether. These dogs are trained differently than a typical "pet" breed.


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## redbirddog (Apr 23, 2010)

As a "Southern" friend of mine told me once on how to handle this type of stuff.

Just smile and respond "God Bless." Then move on. 

They won't understand anyway.

Rod


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## denparkin (Aug 29, 2011)

I love that redbirddog! 
I find when you are extremely nice to rude people it irritates them to no end.


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## sarahaf (Aug 17, 2009)

Thanks, redbirddog. Yeah, I'm a little late on this thread, but we had the same experiences. Even repeated referrals to a trainer that people in the neighborhood like (whose methodology is characterized as "he just goes on intuition"). It's one thing to give the name of the trainer once, but repeatedly, it gets a little intrusive. I've noticed that people seem to really get moralistic and superior about dog training. I've fallen into the trap myself, so I guess I'm not one to talk, but I try not to do it--least of all with random strangers.


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