Would you change, or add anything?

[Elizabeth77]

If you look back to when your dogs were puppies is there anything you regret not having done in the way of training.?

Are you sorry you did not teach them something when they were younger?

Did you teach them anything that you regret?

[bc4ever]

I think we would have done more socialization with other dogs when Scooter was a pup. Husband's aneurysm surgery and recovery period came at a crucial time in his training. I think that made a difference. He does okay with most dogs, but not his favorite thing. Prefers humans to dogs.

[Bo Peep]

Very much so with Usher- none with the rest of my older, long gone dogs.

 

I got Usher in November. Cold. I was working through a depression. I did not work much with him- it shows to this day. Although he could pass an obedience test in a loud room, he is easily distracted in clinics. I'm afraid to be too rough with him around groups of people - maybe appearing as the "mean, abusive, dog lady- He deserved a better start. I'm sorry Ush.

[desertranger]

There are many things I would have liked to teach a puppy. However being border collies I can always teach them.

[Amelia]

"If you look back to when your dogs were puppies is there anything you regret not having done in the way of training.?

Are you sorry you did not teach them something when they were younger?

Did you teach them anything that you regret?"

 

Yes to all, too numerous to mention. I doubt there's many of us who wouldn't dearly love to have our first dog back again.

[JaderBug]

There's a lot of things I would like to have changed- but I've learned from my mistakes and will try my best not to make them with any more dogs.

 

With Jade, I for sure would never have allowed her to 'play' with the cat- I have video evidence of this, I'm quite disappointed with myself when I watch it. I would have tried not to use so many treats in the training process as well, hopefully with my next dog I can go few to no treats. Not sure though. I also would have socialized her with children as well- she was around a bunch this weekend and did fairly well, but if any are running or making a lot of noise she's pretty scatter-brained about them. More socialization in general though- can never have too much.

 

Rocko and Sasha are wonderful dogs, but they are very timid. I can't remember what exactly went wrong there as I didn't know much about training or anything like that, but I would fix that if I could.

[Shetlander]

I wish I had stuck with making Quinn sit as a default when meeting people. We were making good headway, but I got too lax, especially when people actually seemed to encourage him to jump up. He isn't the worst jumper by any imagination. He actually has a pretty good sense of which people don't mind/like being jumped on as a greeting. But I find the behavior rude unless specifically invited. I also wish I had a better recall on him. It's good but not outstanding like my other dogs.

 

On the plus side, I love the stay I taught him and making him wait to be released before getting out of the car.

[Root Beer]

Yes, there is a lot I would have done different if I knew then what I know now.

 

With Speedy, I would have done desensitization and counter conditioning right from the start. I never would have done Agility with him and I would not have pushed him beyond his comfort zone as much as I did before I knew better. I would have done clicker training with him right from the start (someday I am going to raise a puppy from the beginning with clicker training!)

 

I would have started Freestyle with him much sooner.

 

There is a lot I wouldn't do different, though. I still would have used all reinforcement based training methods with him. I still would have done Rally. I still would have taught him most of the same behaviors that he knows now. Most of what I would do different would be behavior stuff.

 

With Maddie, I would have started training, and Agility, with her much, much sooner. I didn't realize her potential until very late in her life. I also would have done much more clicker work with her, much earlier, if I had known more about it when I started with her.

 

I wish I had known about Premack when I did some training with Sammie, and I wish I had done some serious training with him when he was young. He could have been my best dog, but I really let that one get away.

 

I don't regret a lot with Dean. I did push him too fast, too soon, so if I had it to do over, I would have taken things much slower with him. But CU came along right at the perfect time for Dean and I am happy with his training as it is right now. But I don't have the same kind of regrets with him that I have with the others. I wish he had Speedy's natural passion for training and performing, but that's not Dean and it's not because of anything I did, so I don't really "regret" it.

[Ooky]

I regret ever letting Odin think chewing cardboard boxes was ok. It morphed into a (mild but annoying) obsession with chewing cardboard and stiff paper.

 

I regret not limiting his repetitive exercise more as a pup. He fetched perfectly from about 4 months on - I wouldn't even try to teach this to the extent we did until much later in life with another pup. And this is not a training thing, but I regret not giving him a less slippery environment to live and play on. We have very slick wood floors in most of our house and I removed rugs when we got a puppy rather than adding them.

[Genie]

I wish I had started flyball training with Zeb much earlier. I wish I had worked him on the wall in his box training. He would be better at kicking off the box now if I had. He's got a good turn, but he hangs a bit on the box.

I'm so glad that I taught and reinforced a recall as early as I did. I'm also glad I encouraged the game of fetch. I love dogs who fetch.

[sandra s.]

Oh, tons of stuff.

 

One specific thing does come to mind - I regret all periods in which I was influenced by "dominance"-minded people. By now I'm convinced that most of that is utter b*ll*cks, at least in the way humans tend to apply it. Who cares about who eats first, as long as I can eat a piece of cake in the dogs' company without having to fear for it .

 

I think there were times when, influenced by that mentality, I got angry with Kessie in ways that made no sense whatsoever. Kyla already had it much easier there, although she only arrived two years later.

 

By now, we can even have our little hug fest when I come home to them. And yes, they'd calm down if I wanted them to. Thanks for that, Root Beer - I think it was you who pointed out that enthusiastic greetings are just normal dog behaviour. Wonder how I didn't sense that all along - duh. I think that was the last one of those "golden rules" that needed to be kicked out of my window.