Where does she find these dumb dog owners?

Discussion of Victoria's TV show, It's Me or the Dog.

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Re: Where does she find these dumb dog owners?

Post by Username »

Noobs wrote:I brought my dog (Lab/Whippet we suspect) from the shelter when he was 8 months old. By the time he was 10 months old I had him attached by harness to my bike and running to and from the dog park for playtime for a total of 4 miles running, 30-40 minutes of play, about 2 hours all together. My vet said she thought she saw me from her car biking with him and said "Take it easy" but didn't tell me the "5 minutes per month of age" rule specifically. So instead of cutting back, I just pedaled more slowly. I didn't know about that equation until I read it on this board several months after I'd been exercising him in that way. He hasn't been exercised that vigorously with consistency in several months, and he's now nearly 3 years old. So far I haven't seen anything physically wrong with his legs/joints/etc. ::knock wood::

Since you have a BC it's natural to want to give him as much exercise as you can so as to keep him "out of trouble" as it were. And it's possible that you did overwalk him, but I do hope if you observe him that you don't see anything wrong physically. There are vets and vet techs on this forum who are of course more qualified to answer your question. How old is he now, and have you adjusted the amount of exercise he's now getting? I believe it was Nettle who said a while back that the age that you can stop calculating is 18 months.
Thanks.

Yeah, like you say, when you speak to anyone about getting a BC all you hear is "they need loads of exercise", and I was fully prepared for it before I took the plunge and decided to take a Collie on. He is roughly 12/13 months now and I've seen nothing to suggest he has any problems. He's been to the vets before and they've not said anything. I did reduce the amount of walk time to about 1.5-2.0 hours a day off the lead. He's a happy playful dog, is well behaved and gets incredibly excited when he realises we're going for walkies. I've read up about the symptoms and he's not displaying any at the moment so fingers crossed.

It's just strange that I've only heard the 5 mins/month thing on the internet. I asked questions at the vets when he had his jabs regarding walking (admittedly didn't ask about the length of the walks), but they never mentioned about hip dysplasia being bought on by his infant exercise regime. It is hard to know what you should believe on the internet at times. I know loads of people with dogs, even an award winning breeder and I've never heard anyone say anything about it.

I'll be keeping a vigilant eye on him.
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Mattie
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Re: Where does she find these dumb dog owners?

Post by Mattie »

Username wrote:I've never read such tripe in my life. I could sit here all day replying to your previous post, I'm going to try not to.
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First of all, you are incredibly presumptuous about me. Why do you think that the people we are discussing have had a better/worse upbringing than myself? You know nothing of my life, much the same as I know nothing about yours.
Yes I was going by your posts as you seem to think that you are above these other people, in a previous post you said:

I think we have differing views on what defines dumb and ignorant, but I maintain that the examples I have pointed out were 'dumb' (terrible use of the word I know, but I simply meant of lesser intelligence) rather than ignorant (which I perceive to mean somebody that is apathetic to the dog's needs, or someone that has refused to take advice or find alternative ways to rectify their dog's behavior).


I have highlighted were you said of lesser intelligence.
Saying that someone else is dumb on an internet forum is hardly an "attack" now is it? It is an opinion, that is all. You have an opinion on me (founded entirely on 4 posts I might add), whatever that may be you are welcome to it.
That is your opinion, mine is you are attacking people who cannot defend themselves, you have even said which owners you consider dumb, one is a member on here and I asked you to read the posts to get her version of what happened.
That's enough, I've had to slap my own wrist to not reply to the other points.
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Perhaps I might add a general doggy question which may make you see that I am not the 'All Knowing Oracle' you seem to believe I think I am. Hey, you might even think I'm dumb or ignorant :D . I agree with emmabeth that information on care for your pet can be somewhat cryptic and in the case of the internet rather contradictory. It's up to the end user to decide what to believe and what to dismiss.
My question is this: I had my dog at 8 weeks from a farm. He is a Border Collie. As soon as he was allowed to go for walks I started walking him twice a day, every day. At first it was for half an hour each time, by the time he was 6 months old it was between 2-4 hours a day. When he was about 8 months old I read on the internet that for dogs where hip dysplasia is fairly common you should only walk them for 5 mins for every month old they are (i.e half an hour each day @ 6 months.) Is this true? Have I over walked my dog?
A lot depends on the breed, to walk a Mastiff, Rottie etc pup for this time could do quite a lot of damage but for Border Collies they need a lot of exercise both physical and mental. Most owners only exercise them physically and never bother with the mental exercise yet this can make them just as tired. BCs were bred to work all day in the Welsh mountains, these are very rugged and quite steep so they need a lot of energy. Also the type of exercise has to be taken into account, if the pup is just walked on a lead he will need more than a pup who is off lead etc. it would be better to mix the exercise though.

What has happened is past, nothing you can do about it now apart from watch your pup for any signs of lameness etc.

No I don't think you are dumb or ignorant, nobody is born knowing how to train or look after dogs or anything else, we all learnt through our experiences, in my case with rescue dogs that came with many problems. Each dog was a new challenge and many times I have sat and cried thinking I would never turn the dog round but I did. Anyone who asks for help and/or advice is not dumb, what is is those that think they know it all and refuse to seek help. The only dumb question is the one not asked.
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Re: Where does she find these dumb dog owners?

Post by Username »

First of all, you are incredibly presumptuous about me. Why do you think that the people we are discussing have had a better/worse upbringing than myself? You know nothing of my life, much the same as I know nothing about yours.
"Yes I was going by your posts as you seem to think that you are above these other people, in a previous post you said:"

I think we have differing views on what defines dumb and ignorant, but I maintain that the examples I have pointed out were 'dumb' (terrible use of the word I know, but I simply meant of lesser intelligence) rather than ignorant (which I perceive to mean somebody that is apathetic to the dog's needs, or someone that has refused to take advice or find alternative ways to rectify their dog's behavior).


"I have highlighted were you said of lesser intelligence."

Yes, fair cop I did say the lady with 6 dogs was of lesser intelligence than myself, and to be honest I would stand by that as I still believe it to be true (I'd say the majority of the population are more intelligent than her). I also (like to)believe that when she sees that episode she cringes at her own actions . I've had a quick look through some of the other topics on this board, and that particular episode crops up on a number of occasions. I also notice another user that found your comments offensive and decided she would not post on the board again due to them, referring to it as fairly clique-y.

Anyway, the fact I may have referred to somebody else being of lesser intelligence gives you literally no insight in to my upbringing, which you described as more privileged than the participants of the show. There is no correlation between intelligence and upbringing IMO. I'd love to know how you decided (from 4 anonymous posts on an internet message board) that I have had a more privileged upbringing than somebody on a TV show that you also know nothing about. Just because I can spell and construct a sentence it does not mean I was born with a silver spoon in my mouth, far from it in fact. You might do well to remember that should you disagree with new members in the future.

Yes, we all need help sometimes. That's what places like this should be about rather than mild to and fro bickering, so I'm willing to drop it. It's hard enough for new members to join in an established community as it is.

Thanks for your comments regarding the exercise question. He gets plenty of mental exercise and is usually off lead for about 80% of his walks, so hopefully he should be OK. Coming from a farm, I'd imagine that his genes will be from generations of actual working dogs, which I'd imagine start to be trained before 18 months.
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Noobs
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Re: Where does she find these dumb dog owners?

Post by Noobs »

That whole thread about the board being clique-y was a very difficult hump we all had to get over. It was mostly due to misunderstandings, and it's over by now. We still have squabbles here and there but I think by and large this board is a far friendlier and not to mention way more helpful than other boards.
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Re: Where does she find these dumb dog owners?

Post by emmabeth »

The owners who appear in the shows do from time to time come across this forum and post here - please treat them with the decency you would expect to be treated with yourself.

It is easy to 'throw stones' at others if you believe you know more, it isnt so easy to get in there and help people who are asking for help and keep negative and unhelpful opinions to yourself. If you would like to stick around and offer the users of the board the benefit of your wisdom, that'd be grand and we would welcome you.

If you do just want to have a pop at people who possibly are not members, then that isnt welcome and you run the risk of posts being removed, and your username/ip being banned.
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Dixies momma
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Re: Where does she find these dumb dog owners?

Post by Dixies momma »

ok so from the viewpoint of a "dumb" person. and b4 ANYONE says diff, i am the first to admit i was dumb in regards to pets.despite growing up with dogs as a child i never really paid much attention on the walking, exercising, etc. we lived in the country so they had free reign to run and exercised and slept when it suited them.when i got married and ended up with several pets thru the years i admit i had no knowledge and would lose patience esp since i had kids at home. it was not until i saw an episode of its me or the dog couple years back that i actually learned something and paid attention. watching each episode i could when i was home, i learned where i went wrong and what i did wrong. the biggest key is persistence and patience. knowing that training of any kind takes time as well. and i also noticed that like one person said various people with various methods of training is not always correct. i hear some say show them who is boss, rub their noses in it, etc. doesnt always work for everyone. one of my finest examples is dixie(my choc pit) she is now 7 months old. let me tell u toilet training was not easy with her. it was getting to the point that yes she went out did her business when i took her out but was very frustrated when she would not let me know she needed to go out and toileted somewhere in the house. what surprised me was when we moved almost 3 months ago to a house that already has a doggy door, she did not mess in the house one time. she would go out and do her business or play what not...that shocked me to the core and was thinking 'shoot maybe i should have invested in a doggy door b4?' who knows, i am just glad she goes outside.oh by the way the whole yard is fenced in so it helps.

i have also discovered that each breed have diff needs, be it training, types of exercise, etc. i noticed this when i type a breed name in the google bar. so my opinion and advice for someone who gets a dog to research that breed and learn all u can on that breed. it actually tells of their history as well as the overall health and health problems if any, care, etc... border collie if i remember correctly on the history they were suited for herding and such. i have 2 mini dashchunds(sp?) and read that they were hunting dogs for small game. jack russells i know are hyper dogs, not only do they need regular exercise but also mental exercise more so. when i researched pits, i was shocked to discover one of the reasons y some morons like to fight them. they have aprox 80/90 lbs of jaw pressure. that itself blew my mind. they are loyal and like any other breed, they live and thrive to want to please their owner. no matter the neg or positive all they want to do is please. it helps if they are properly trained. i noticed that it was not overly difficult to get dixie to sit, stay, wait, touch and five. but let me tell u the mini dashchunds i got(ages 1 & 2) arent so easy. theres that call for patience....and persistence...and time.....

just had to add the 2 cents worth from a once dumb person. tho there are things i still dont know and as i have heard "u learn something new everyday" and its very true whether u realize it or not everyone does learn something new everyday. but all i got to say is i am forever grateful for victoria for sharing her knowledge , expertise and wisdom on national television. i will be honest and admit if it were not for her and her show i would still be ignorant on the proper training etc.
thank u victoria. and thank u to the regulars(seeing as i am still new to the forum and not sure who all are regs) and ayone else who shares their knowledge and wisdom AND success stories.
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Mattie
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Re: Where does she find these dumb dog owners?

Post by Mattie »

Thanks Dixie'smomma, I needed that, it has really cheered me up as I have been feeling very down.

This is why we say that the people who ask for help because they realise they don't know the answers are not dumb, people like you that suddenly realised that there was another way to do things. No only did you realise, you also done something about it and tried to learn as much as you can, nothing dumb with you :lol:

You have seen enough to realise that we don't pull any punches if it is needed, sometimes owners do need that, I bet everyone of us on here has needed it at some time or other because their brain couldn't work round things.

I consider you a regular, once you have posted once you are part of the forum, in fact, if you read the posts you are still part of the forum :lol:

We love all the different stories of how people get their dogs to do what they want without using punishment, there are so many ways to do this I doubt anyone will ever know them all.
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***Melissa***
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Re: Where does she find these dumb dog owners?

Post by ***Melissa*** »

I also only realised that I'm off track in the beginning of this year.

Though I never punished my dogs, I didn't understand their needs, be it food, exercise, body language, why they do or don't do certain things.

I also learned by asking lots of questions (questions that may seem dumb for some people, but I honestly didn't know the answers to).

Now that I have a better understanding of my dogs I can give them what they want and need. I also understand now what to expect or not to expect from them. I'm still learning though, but at least I know I'm on the right track now. :D

If I didn't ask, I still wouldn't know. :lol:
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Re: Where does she find these dumb dog owners?

Post by Newfiesmum »

I remember a UK episode where the owner had a Jack Russell (I think) that was messing everywhere and she couldn't understand why. She had never toilet trained this dog and thought he would "figure it out for himself".

Is this dumb or uneducated? (I don't like the word ignorant, although it means the same) How many times have you heard of someone who buys a young puppy then gets rid or takes it back the next day because it crapped everywhere. There are lots of people who think that dogs come ready housetrained.

I know someone (who I try to avoid) who had the most beautiful 8 week old golden retriever puppy. Two weeks later, he was gone, sold over the net. Why? Because he was too vicious! Nobody told these idiots that puppies bite, obviously. They then went out and bought a border collie puppy, which is likely to be even more trouble. That didn't last long either. I doubt it will ever occur to them that these puppies' behaviour was down to them and them alone.

People see someone walking with a beautiful, well behaved dog, and they think "that's a good dog; I'll get one like that". It never even occurs to them that the dog didn't come like that, he was trained.

I only wish people would watch Victoria's show BEFORE getting a puppy.
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Re: Where does she find these dumb dog owners?

Post by sj96skittles »

Yupp. After our dogs died like 7 years ago we got 2 border collie puppies outside of the walmart parking lot. A man was selling em. So I wish I had heard of Victorias show b4 we got em. We learned the hard way. We keep them in da laundry room and when they were pups they chewed up EVERYTHING !! The flooring, the bottom of the door and the walls. But now they're all grown up! So my dad then put tiles on tue floor and the bottom of the wall to cover up the destruction.
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