Username, will you please stop firing up threads? I read the other thread and managed to turn my back on it because I really can do without arguing right now, but it is very frustrating to read a reasonable discussion and then come across a post from you that is either having a go at Mattie or just downright rude about people you know nothing about. As Mattie has said in the past, people who go on the show take a big risk, its not easy opening yourself up for the whole world to see what you are doing wrong, but they do it because they recognise something isn't right and want to change.
I was very upset when you used the word "dumb" before as "simply meaning someone of lesser intelligence" - that is just wrong, we are not all born equal and if you recognise that people are maybe not as bright as you then how can you then go on to attack them for being stupid? We all make mistakes, you have made mistakes with your puppy, yet you still go on attacking other's who make more effort to understand others than you seem to do.
Yes, not giving a dog exercise is not how most of us would keep a dog, and indeed probably not the best for them, but giving them too much exercise can be just as harmful, but you didn't research that did you? To me it is common sense to exercise puppies in small amounts, but that is because I am trained in paediatric development and how it affects the skeleton, so if I didn't know it then I shouldn't be doing my job. Does it make you stupid that you didn't know that? No. It just means you didn't know. And in this day and age when many people don't give THEMSELVES enough exercise, is it really any surprise that there are dogs who don't get out as much as they should? In my village alone there are several dogs I know exist but hardly ever see them out walking, not because their owners are ignorant or of power intelligence, but because that is simply how they see a dog's position in the world - they are very traditional, and dogs are expected to just fit in. It is a strong minority of owners who recognise the benefit or even want to improve their dog's life by walking and training, but by using this forum we can all help to open people's eyes.
And to be honest, I don't think no exercise is really the worst you could do to a dog - those of us who have rescues know that hitting, starving, or mental cruelty can be far worse forms of abuse but not as obvious. And many of us simply can't walk our dogs until we have managed to overcome other issues. I for one didn't walk for a couple of periods, one because the outside world was simply too stressful as that point, and secondly because the walking was damaging my dog physically. Both good reasons, but does that mean I abused my dog? I think not. Many many rescue centres have dogs who get very little walking because they are simply too busy keeping them safe and alive and exercise comes very low down on the priorities.
Try seeing it from other points of view, stop attacking Mattie for the sake of it, and try listening to the underlying message, and just see what else you can learn. If you have no interest in learning and widening your ideas, but only in putting down people who do things differently to you, then maybe you have come to the wrong place.
