19
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
this post was submitted on 20 Oct 2023
19 points (100.0% liked)
Chat
7483 readers
9 users here now
Relaxed section for discussion and debate that doesn't fit anywhere else. Whether it's advice, how your week is going, a link that's at the back of your mind, or something like that, it can likely go here.
Subcommunities on Beehaw:
This community's icon was made by Aaron Schneider, under the CC-BY-NC-SA 4.0 license.
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
You've had some lovely advise already which I agree with. Treat the dog kindly, train them with positive reinforcement and love.
But something I think so many new dog owners neglect is to research the breed. Dogs were selectively bred and some traits like energy level, play style, etc are baked in. For example cocker spaniels are retrievers, they were bred to retrieve game, so they want to have something in their mouth, and a lot of new owners will take away everything they try to take (shoes, socks, human toys) and not give them anything they CAN hold (dog toys) so they start aggressively guarding their prizes from owners and suddenly you have a dangerous dog.
If you understand the breed then you'll know what the dogs instincts are telling them and it gives you a head start on making them happy.
The second thing is, a tired dog is a good dog. If you're all having a bad day and the dog isn't listening, then a good long walk followed by a nice sleep will normally sort it out.
Right on about needing to have lots of toys available. Our second day of having him we went out and bought lots of different toys for him.
Good dog ownership, you saw what he needed and sorted it. You're starting strong.
Though I will say, retrievers, you can sometimes give them a literal chest full of toys, and really all they want are your napkins and mail.
I let them shred apart toilet paper tubes though.
Solid advice. Little dude is enamoured by bog rolls.
Oh yes, absolutely