Comments on: The Puppiness Project – Some Dogs Let You Make Mistakes, Some Dogs Don’t

By: Houndmom

Houndmom — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 15:32:39 +0000

Oh, lord! Mary Lou was the “one”! There were no mistakes allowed with her. George is just the same. Must be a “fawn” thing. If I leave anything out on the counter for even a second, it’s gone. Even Sonic stole egg rolls one time when I had him. Padfoot will stick his nose in my plate, but if I have my eye on him, he’ll be good. I’m not quite sure “how” good though. 🙂 He’s not really a counter surfer, though, for which I am eternally grateful. One “bad-boy” in the house is plenty.

By: one person's view

one person's view — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 13:40:33 +0000

Happy belated! 29 again, eh? 🙂

I’d have to say that Our Best Friend is middle of the road. He’s great indoors and naughty outdoors. No off-leash walking, but no trash-eating or counter-surfing. I do still worry, though, of him reacting badly to accidental things, like if a baby learning to walk to should trip on him. I want a dog like Honey next time! (But I still love OBF.)

By: houndstooth

houndstooth — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 01:18:11 +0000

Boy can I relate to this one! I’ve had dogs of both categories, and I can say that both made me a better person and a better dog owner. I’ve learned something from every dog I’ve known, but some definitely taught me bigger lessons than others!

By: Molly Mednikow

Molly Mednikow — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 20:18:19 +0000

Happy Birthday! My dog Marilyn is extremely patient with me. I am one of the lucky ones!

By: Pup Fan

Pup Fan — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 17:41:27 +0000

Oh, and happy belated birthday! 🙂

By: Pup Fan

Pup Fan — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 17:41:11 +0000

Bella lets me make mistakes around the house – she never gets into anything (although her storm phobia has increased and we’ve had to make adjustments), so our puppy-proofing is very lax (something I have to correct when we dog sit and will need to really focus on when we get another dog!). She’s just so easy when it comes to that sort of thing.

In contrast, she does not let me make other types of mistakes – my little escape artist has taught me more about how to keep a dog from running away than I care to admit. After a few times frantically chasing her through my neighborhood, down a mountain, etc., I have learned much. The gate in our backyard is even dog park style – it’s a double gate so that there’s never a need for both to be open at once. We enter and exit our house solely through the laundry room. We call it the airlock – the door to the kitchen and the door to the garage are never open at the same time.

Thinking about other dogs I’ve had, it’s funny how each one had a different set of mistakes that I could or couldn’t make.

By: Kirsten

Kirsten — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 12:53:12 +0000

I just love your title and your philosophy…the reminder that it’s our job to set them up for success. I think I’ve been pretty lucky in that department…the majority of my foster dogs, even ones who came fresh out of a hoarding situation or an abysmal shelter, have been easy creatures. And now even Fozzie, after a year and a half, still surprises us with how well he listens and seems sensitive to our desires.

Remains to be seen how forgiving the new little foster dog bundle of energy is of human error! With a 10-month old pit bull puppy, I’m keeping expectations low and preparing for some destruction!

And happy belated birthday! Hope you had a wonderful day and are still celebrating.

By: melF

melF — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 03:16:21 +0000

Happy Birthday Pamela! I hope you and honey and the hubby had a nice day. 🙂

I am beginning to think Jasper is my Agatha. He never lets me make a mistake. Let him off leash and a runner runs by? Not a chance of getting him back. He has great recall every other time. Leave food or a napkin out? Gone. There is a reason he answers more to Trouble than Jasper. (You have no idea how many people think that’s his real name!)

On the other hand, my dog Indy, was the model citizen. Like Honey, people used to compliment me on her behavior all of the time, but I couldn’t take the credit. That belonged to her former owner. The only thing she ever got into was the bread (I cannot believe a 16 year old dog got all the way up to the fridge!). She loved bread. We always had to leave it up.

So do you think the ones who don’t let us make mistakes teach us more?

By: Julie

Julie — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 02:15:48 +0000

Oh geez – I think I have had too easy of a first dog – since Cali is a golden retriever mix and has NEVER done anything bad. We always talk about how lucky we are that she was our first dog. We have fostered (Goldens!!) and still never had a problem 😉 I had a dog walking business for 5 years and can’t think of any dogs that were too bad . . oh wait – I did walk an Airedale that actually ate anything that she could get her mouth on including a package of antihistamines (that was her parents fault, of course and when I called them they said, “oh, it’s not the first time . she’ll be fine”)!!

It makes me nervous to think about what the future may hold for me 🙂 BTW – Happy Birthday!!!! Hope you had a wonderful day 🙂

By: 24 Paws of Love

24 Paws of Love — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 01:49:09 +0000

In reply to 24 Paws of Love. That should be: trying to lead me to a state of perfection either that or the looney bin!!