Raising your dog, your way. Finding what is right for you and your dog…

Just over a month ago I started a facebook group called Dog Lovers Melbourne!! Now with almost 470 members there is constant activity and discussions about everything and anything to do with your dog. Along with this group, and my desire to read and research, it has confirmed how many different ways there are of doing everything when it comes to raising your dog. 

Everywhere you read there is advice about the best and worst foods, treats, training methods, grooming requirements, sleeping areas, dental treatment, etc. And honestly, it is all very overwhelming and confusing. But from all of this I have learnt to just step back, do your research and test things out for yourself. Because in the end owning a dog is just like having a child. It is all about finding what is right for you, your dog and your family.

Training Cooper has been an amazing learning curve for me with all of this. I think back to some of my earlier blog posts, for example, Training your Pup to Walk on the Lead was about teaching puppies the basics and getting them used to the lead.  A Great Method to Stop Your Dog Pulling on the Lead was all about using the Gentle Leader and how great a tool it is. And my latest blog post Are you the Leader of Your Pack was all about not needing gadgets at all and more about the importance of being the pack leader. All of these blog posts explain different techniques and training methods you can use when training your dog to walk nicely on the lead. Reflecting back on these, I don’t think that one method is right or wrong. In our instance we know that Cooper is still not 100% there yet with walking perfectly on the lead. He does walk really nicely around the quiet streets without any distractions. But around other dogs and small children, he is still very excitable. So we are building him up to get better at this but it is a slow process and we need to be patient and persistent. We will just keep testing different methods until we find the best method that works for us. And when we find that method, it doesn’t mean that it is the best and only method, it just means that it works for us. 

If you’re ever unsure of what you are doing, with anything, not just training please make sure to do your research. Ask your dog trainer or your vet or friends and family who have had healthy, long living dogs. Personally, I trust the opinions of both my trainer and my vet. Our vet has a golden retriever who he adores and brings into work with him so I really do value his opinion. If I am unsure on something I will ask him and see what he does for his girl, because I know that he would only do the best for her. The nurses at our vet are also amazing and just love animals and will help us with anything we need. I really think it is about finding someone you trust, like I have my vet, the nurses and our dog trainer. Every time I see any of them, we always get stuck into long conversations about all the different ways you can do things with your dogs – I love picking their brains because I really value their knowledge and opinions. 
     

The idea behind this blog post is just to remind you all that it really is all about finding what's right for you and not getting too overwhelmed and confused by everyone else. There doesn’t need to be a right and wrong but rather about finding what works for you 
and your dog.

Good luck on your journey and as always, I am more than happy to help if anyone has any questions…