ETA: Read alice’s post, and we seem to be on the same page.
Basically, the Collie’s exercise needs aren’t being met without the walk. Walking a dog on leash & letting it roam are two different activities, which is why the dog needs to be walked. This is also why you can;t assume a dog’s needs are being met by just putting it in the back yard. A lot of them will just lay around all day, but some will go nuts.
I assume you’re placing that assertion on me, since I casually said dogs need several walks a day. I also later said that not all dogs need several walks a day, but if PapSett’s dogs are acting the damn fool, they- much like mine, who eats walls if she doesn’t get walks- need more exercise. I’ve certainly had dogs who don’t give a rat’s ass about walks, but the key is that certain dogs will act up if they are not exercised. I originally said what I said because I was looking at the behavior of Pap’s dogs and comparing it to mine.
She admits that she only walks her dogs a few times a week and works long hours. She also says she is unable to walk them much because of her health conditions. So, she’s got dogs who are acting out badly, to the point of causing her tremendous stress and exacerbating her mental illness to the point of her lashing out and beating the dogs. Now, they might be acting out for other reasons, but it’s pretty likely that the dogs are bored or have pent up energy. Instead of providing the healthy, balanced environment her 4 dogs need, she goes and gets another large dog, which she can’t exercise as it may need, and adds it to the pack. That makes no sense and I know you have to agree with me there (we’re both on the same page as animal lovers who see the value of exercise where it’s needed, I mean).
Not at all. I knew what you meant.
This is exactly what I was trying to say, so I’m not sure why you were acting like it was stupid when I said it. I didn’t bring up all the stuff about working dogs and whatnot, I was disagreeing with curlcoats blanket statement that a dog with a yard doesn’t need walked, period, and that the only benefit to leash walking is the opportunity to crap in someone else’s yard. I also find it hard to believe that over 40 years of dog ownership she’s never had a dog who’s needs weren’t being met in her yard.
That’s all. I’m not trying to say that there is no such thing as a dog that doesn’t need to be walked. But I stand by my assertion that for the vast majority of dogs, especially in cities, it is a basic part of the dog ownership package.
**PapSett **lives in a house with five dogs, and yet there’s only *one *crazy bitch. Go figure.
Pretty much. Most of the vets I’ve known over the years don’t leash walk their dogs, ffs, and I’m certainly not going to entertain the notion that people who have devoted their whole lives to improving the lives of companion animals are neglectful assholes who shouldn’t be allowed to have dogs. None of their dogs are underexercised or have behavioral issues, they just get their exercise, attention, and socialization in a different way, some by running on farms, some by playing ball in the house or yard, some by going hiking.
And all of them have, at some point, yelled at a dog or given one a pop on the ass. Dogs are not, as someone previously pointed out, capable of rational discourse; it is pointless to reason with them and explain why they should stop a certain behavior. Some of them will respond to gentle scolding and shame, and others will look you right in the eye, wag their tails, and keep right on doing whatever you’ve scolded them for until either the volume goes up or they get (or think they’re going to get) a swat.
Just for the record, I think there’s a huge amount of mischaracterization of PatSett’s actions going on here. Yes, people do indeed say they beat the hell out of child or animal when they give it four or five pops on the ass–just the other day my mom and I were talking about someone’s kid and I remarked she’d have beaten me black and blue if I’d acted like that, and she agreed. Would she have literally struck me hard enough to leave bruises? Fuck no. I’d have gotten a spanking, and it would have been a damn good one, but she wouldn’t have beaten me. Also, I’ve seen people claiming that she’s hitting the dogs and yelling at them because she’s stressed, implying that she’s just randomly coming home and mistreating them to relieve her nerves, and there’s nothing in that other thread to indicate anything of the sort. She’s been overreacting to various misbehaviors, which is a very, very different thing. Anyone who says they wouldn’t have been royally pissed if a dog came inside from several hours outdoors and pissed on a towel is full of shit. Did she react badly, maybe even unacceptably? Yeah, and she fully acknowledged that fact. But let’s not pretend that she came home and was just yelling and hitting a perfectly well-behaved animal for no reason whatsoever.
Slightly off topic, but how do people who just let their dogs loose in the yard know where to pick up after them? Do their yards just accumulate with shit?
You walk the yard with a shovel, and look for poop piles. At least, that’s how we did it when I was a kid and we owned dogs.
Because you continued to argue with curlcoat & call him a bad pet owner even after he told you that his dogs get a great deal of exercise. Anyone who does field work with their dogs on a regular basis is way ahead of the game.
Then you aren’t paying attention. He does field trials. Often. That means his dogs get an exceptional amount of stimulation & attention.
From the OP ofthis thread:
Train them to go in one particular area. It’s not that hard.
And clean up regularly. Hubby picks up our backyard every other day at the least.
Curlcoat was saying that no dog with a yard needs to be walked, and that the only purpose for walking is to poop on someone else’s property. Seeing as she said this about the OPs dogs, who are exhibiting signs of boredom, I’d say that’s pretty dumb. She also yells at her dogs and tacitly approves of beating them, or at least approves of other people beating theirs. I’m pretty comfortable calling that a bad pet owner giving bad advice, regardless of the dog shows she wins. Seriously, go back and read her post #112 - does that sound like someone you want to side with? It sounds like the ranting of a raving loony to me.
If napkin sandwiches are good enough for curlcoat, by god, then turning in circles in the front hall is good enough for her dogs.
Okay, will somebody link to the napkin sandwiches thing? Because I love making fun of curlcoat and I’d hate to think I missed an opportunity.
I think this was the first reference. It was definitely somewhere in that thread.
And yes, **curly **did eventually clarify that she ate the napkin, too.
I don’t think he was ‘siding’ with curlcoat. It looked like he was specifically correcting a particular inaccuracy, probably in the interest of fighting ignorance.
And here’s where she first explained what she meant.
Um, are napkins even providing you any caloric content? What’s the point of eating them–to just fill your stomach, or is it more to make the upper classes gasp at how the other half lives and all that?