DS: What kind of dog owner did you used to be?

I have admitted before I was a bad dog owner. We were one of "those" little dog owners. You know, the ones who think it is cute when fluffy barks at people. It was even cuter when he barked at bigger dogs and chased them. We walked him off leash and he was allowed in our yard off leash. He didn't leave the yard but would run to the end of the driveway to instigate. He also barked at anyone coming in the yard, but I guess we figured he was so small, who would be nervous.

Being a large dog owner now, I see why was so wrong with that whole mentality back then.

I was in my early teens, he was a 7 year old Pomeranian. Lucky for us the previous owners had trained him very well, but he was not good around small children. Their daughter was moving home with her new baby and was afraid he would bite her (he was never anything but good for us).

We fed Kibbles and Bits, not that he ate dog food. The other owners had fed him people food and that is all he would eat. We tried letting him go until he ate, but he would go a long time, so we fed him people food. I never even looked into other alternatives.

My first puppy came from a BYB. When I got him home, I had so many questions I joined a dog forum. Only then I started learning about different training theories, BYBs, food, etc. I became so interested, I started getting books on anything dog related. I have come a LONG way, but still have a long way to go.

My parents and sister are still clueless. My sister has an adorable shelter rescue that is severly overweight, poorly trained and under exercised. She is coming around though.

My first dog was at the age of 5 so I would say I have learned a little bit in the ____years since.

We weren't a bad owner my Border Collie which we bought from a family friend that had working dogs.

Looking back we did not have the land for the BC to run and we had no idea what a working breed was or needed. She was always properly vetted, but her food was lousy Kennel Rations{shudder} although she live to be 16 years old. I remember always trimming her hair around her haunches and trimming the hair on her stomach so it looked neat, that must have been my future groomer instincts coming out. I also spent hours of reading to learn how to train her that was the future trainer comming out.

Now I know how to properly feed, train, and socialize a dog. I know how to pick out a dog for the right living conditions and that I am responsible for making the best dogs out of the ones that I have owned.

Growing up I learned everything I know from my Mom. She would not have an untrained dog. We had three...2 mutts and one German Shepherd and they were all trained. My Mom took them all to obedience school.

As an adult I have had one Dalmatian that was trained professionally and a Rat Terrier that is still in training. My Rat Terrier has not responded to to treat training...she gets over excited so the trainer has recommended calm and assertive training. A lot like Cesar Milan but without the choking with the leash, the simulated bite, yanking the leash to the side or the alpha roll over. I believe those will result in negative responses. So far she is responding well to the calm assertive training.

I am a firm believer of having a trained dog.

It wasn't til I started thinking of getting a second dog (about a year ago) that I've really considered myself knowledgeable. The dog that I have now is 6, very well behaved and obedient, but she is fear aggressive towards other dogs because I had NO idea that I had to socialize her as a pup. I'm currently trying to rectify that mistake and I will not make it with the pup I'm getting in a few weeks.

I have much more to learn. It will take me a while to get on the level of some of the people I consider experts on this site.

I had ambitions of becoming a back yard breeder, I'm not going to lie about it!

Obviously I didn't think I'd be doing anything wrong by randomly breeding dogs and the minute I knew what I wanted to do was ridiculous, I dropped the plan.

Like many I also thought mutts were healthier than purebreds.

My dog is the first dog I've had and I reckon I've done okay with him. He's no worse than he was anyway.

The first puppy my family got was definitely from a puppy mill. I was only a year old though so I don't consider myself at fault. When we got her, she was from a "farm". She was a puppy in one of the four litters they had there, and when we took her home she had ear mites. Her whole life, she was very skittish, so we think she was also abused as a small puppy. She was actually the greatest dog I've ever had though, and that just goes to show that even though puppy mills are AWFUL places, sometimes the dogs that come from them can be great pets. She died when I was 12...

We also didn't realize how bad Purina was until my dog almost died because of food allergies. We are now on a better food.

I knew nothing about nutrition and responsible breeding.

I grew up with dogs, so I knew fairly well how to handle them, as well as what to expect. I had a love for dogs early on, and a thirst for knowledge.

Since coming here, I learned a lot--and evolved my opinions. At first, it was easy to thrust out with "all dogs were mutts once"; then to read and learn from other answerers, and finally to step back, take all that I knew and the different viewpoints that I'd received, and form my own opinion about the dog-world.

I think that's great about this section--so many great people, so many different opinions. There are some here who think they have nothing new to learn, and that's the mark of true ignorance. You ALWAYS have something to learn, from someone. I, for one, hope I never stop.

My mother and father were both animal lovers, so it's in the blood! After my father passed away and my mom remarried to a not so nice man, But anyway, we had a dog and the one year around Christmas he lifted his leg on our Christmas tree. Well, that was the end of our dog being inside, he was thrown outside in a pen. My stepfather was cruel to my dog. I hate even thinking about it . My dog lived to be 16 years old. And for as much as he treated animals poorly ,he would bring them home to us. But he always got rid of them and not to other people. Let's put it that way. So, I think that is why I am the way I am with animals. I hate seeing dogs tied up or penned up. And I don't get rid of animals I always take them in. My sisters are the same way, my one sister works at the local SPCA. We all have pets! So, my stepfather was definitely a bad dog owner. And it definitely had an effect on me.

I used to live in the country and we did two years of research before we got our dogs and in all we have had 31 dogs and the most at the same time is 6 we had dogs before i was born .. cats too 34 cats in all and now we only have 1 dog and hes a golden retriever nicest dog ever and i consider you get one because they are so easy to train and they love to please you our golden is very well behaved and labs are very hyper goldens are not hyper but they are playful so i hope you like my story :)

GREAT question!!

In the early years, my family wasn't such great dog owners. My parents were old school, and the dogs rarely went to the vet, ate cheap dog food, and 'little dogs' stayed in the house, 'big dogs' stayed outside. They knew NOTHINHG about training.

As I got older, I began reading about proper dog care, and figured out my parents were doin' it wrong. I began using my allowance to buy better quality food for my dogs and to help with vet care. I began learning how to train, and my Collies were the victims of my early efforts. >grin<

By the time I was in high school, my training was getting better and I got a job, being able to beter care for my dogs. My parents took notice and their dogs benefited as well. I bought my first dog all on my own when I was 19, a wonderful Doberman named Penny. She was the first 'big dog' that was allowed to be a full time house dog.

In 1982, I bought my first show dog, a Gordon Setter named Holly. She was ranked second in the nation for her breed in obedience. My parents were bitten by the show bug as well and got show Shelties and Keeshonden. (I was still the one to do the training tho!)%0