Are Owners Too Precious

[*Jay*]

My boys are well and truly spoilt but I don't think I'm too precious  My dogs can lie on the sofa if they wish, sleep on my bed(heck, Vegas gets under the covers - but, in all fairness, the weather is colder now   ) have the entire contents of Pets at Home in their toybox(they do actually have a toybox!) but they do still act like dogs. They don't get carried about outdoors, they can get as wet and muddy as they like and I let them interact with other dogs without my interference(unless I foresee a problem).  Mine don't wear coats when outdoors but they do have some fab xmas outfits for wearing next month - complete with fur trim round the hood / There is a Lhasa Apso that is in Disney's training class that has the pink diamante collar and lead and gets her very posh coat put on for taking her from the car to the training hall(about 2 minute walk ). The dog is obviously much loved but that too me is how I would define being too precious  

[Becky]

I know that this is a contraversial one, but as long as a dog is allowed to display normal dog behaviour (I know there will be issues of definition here) then what's the problem?  I don't think I am precious, I don't rush to the vet, but will gladly go , and sell my soul to pay for it, if I feel there is a need.  Dan and Ollie don't wear clothes (hubbie would string me up!    ), but they do have a Christmas stocking full of pressies, and have a roast dinner every Sunday, cooked by thier Nanny (Grandmother, not Mary Poppins type).  We also refer to ourselves as Mum and Dad, and they recognise this, the same with my parents, Nanny and Popsy (don't ask ).   Lastly, they don't have fancy collars, but clever as they are, they wouldn't know the difference between the metal studs that they do have and diamante crystals, so what harm can it do?    

[Magic Star]

in their toybox(they do actually have a toybox!)

  That did make me chuckle Gill, your little guys are so luck to have a mummy who lets them have their very own toy box   As a matter of interest, do the boys share their toys, or do they have their own toy and know the difference??

[*Jay*]

As a matter of interest, do the boys share their toys, or do they have their own toy and know the difference??

Its pretty much a free-for-all  They all get individual presents for birthdays and Christmas......and easter.....oh and Halloween  but they just play with whatever takes their fancy I bought them all squeaky doughnuts last week - Vegas got one with chocolate icing, Dallas got the pink icing with sprinkles and Disney got the white icing with sprinkles. I put a lot of thought into who got which colour ::  Needless to say after about an hour they all ended up with different ones and after two hours, Vegas had them all in his bed  The only toy that is exclusive is Vegas' monkey - he's had that since he was 7 weeks. He knows its his and so do the other two   They don't play with that one - its out of bounds.

[cbabe]

Having read posts on here for over 6 months I have never seen any posts along the lines of  

''oh my little doggy woggy can't eat the horrid doggie din dins he likes mommys yummy steak don't you doggy woggy

I have seen lots of  posts from concerned and loving owners who want to do the best for the dogs which they have chosen to be  totally responsible for.

Hence my misunderstanding of your origional question, sorry  

I was exaggerating the kind of 'precious' i mean...not quoting a forum entry!


The question is ' are some owners too precious'

not 'are dogs precious'    

- because we all know the answer to that one already!!

[Woody's Mum]

Congrats Cbabe on starting such an emotive post - I've had fun reading this one!!

   

Nothing to add on this one, Daisy only has to look at me with her big brown eyes and I would give her the clothes off my back!!!      

[Magic Star]

The question is ' are some owners too precious'

not 'are dogs precious'    

- because we all know the answer to that one already!!

  It depends what people class as precious, one mans precious is another mans cruel I guess   Horses for courses maybe  

[padfoot]

I know people who give their dogs a cup of tea every morning or feed them warm drinks .it doesn't really offend me what other people choose to do with their dogs..but it's not the way I would choose to treat my own dogs.

Whats so bad about giving a dog a cup of tea?  My vet reccomends this for a healthy coat, also tea is very high in anti-oxidents (cancer fighting) so surely, providing your not putting milk and two sugars in it, this can be of benefit to the dog?  I believe tea is used in the showing world too  

 

I didn't say there was anything bad about it   I just don't give my dogs tea. It was an example, not an attack on anyone!
As I said, it doesn't offend me what other people do with their dogs, why should it? I don't care if people mollycoddle their dogs or not, what does it matter? As long as people love their dogs that's the only important thing.

I don't understand why people are so bothered by this topic...it's clear everyone here loves their dogs...who cares if they are "precious" with them or not?

[Magic Star]

Kelly I wasn't suggesting you thought it was bad, you said it didn't offend you   Its just you then went on to say its not the way you would treat your own dogs, so I was curious as to why "generally" giving tea to dogs seems to be perceived as spoiling them by some!  It wasn't an attack on you Kelly , I am not sure why you always think I am personally jibing at you?  I am not like that Kelly, I don't go on forums to jibe and critisise people  

Yes, you are right this topic does slightly bother me and also others, in fact I find it a bit insulting , like you have said Kelly, each one of us is entiteld to treat our dogs as we choose, providing they are loved and cared for   Why should it bother anyone if we are precious to our dogs?  I have been around dogs all of my life, Indie is my first cocker, but is not my first dog, all of my dogs have been treated with care love and respect, I have no problem with people being precious to their animals, in fact, wouldn't it be lovely if everyone cared so much about their dogs, then perhaps we wouldn't have so many dogs mainly mongrels in homes and then sadly getting PTS cos noone wants them   Now that does bother me!

[Cob-Web]

I didn't understand it at first either; but have begun to understand at bit I think, although I'm not sure I agree with it!

If I understand correctly, the question is; if we 'mollycoddle' our dogs, and prevent them expressing their doggy ways, are we in danger of creating future generations of dogs with few natural doggie instincts left?

The reason I am not sure I agree (if indeed, I have understood correctly) is that this is fundamentally the 'nature' vs 'nuture' debate; we have docked tails for generations, but dogs are still born with tails. Similarly, if a bitch which has never eaten anything other than steak has a litter, it doesn't mean that the pups will only be able to eat steak; however, if those pups are fed steak in their formative months; they may well develop intolerance or dislike of other foods.

I have enjoyed reading the different views on here; it is amazing to see how differently people treat their dogs; yet all are without doubt well cared for and loved.

[Magic Star]

I didn't understand it at first either; but have begun to understand at bit I think, although I'm not sure I agree with it!

If I understand correctly, the question is; if we 'mollycoddle' our dogs, and prevent them expressing their doggy ways, are we in danger of creating future generations of dogs with few natural doggie instincts left?

The reason I am not sure I agree (if indeed, I have understood correctly) is that this is fundamentally the 'nature' vs 'nuture' debate; we have docked tails for generations, but dogs are still born with tails. Similarly, if a bitch which has never eaten anything other than steak has a litter, it doesn't mean that the pups will only be able to eat steak; however, if those pups are fed steak in their formative months; they may well develop intolerance or dislike of other foods.

I have enjoyed reading the different views on here; it is amazing to see how differently people treat their dogs; yet all are without doubt well cared for and loved.

  Here here Rachel!

[shonajoy]

If an owner were chewing their dog's food, then yes I'd agree that's too much. I think you have to ask why does it matter though - cockers like people have pointed out are bred to our ideals of health/example of the breed.

If someone has a working cocker I'm sure they are treated differently than a show cocker who spends his time being prepared for the ring.
My point is, neither is better or worse, just different.

Why should it bother us if someone hand feeds Bobolampchopkins steak tartare for breakfast every morning, if it's not harming the dog?

People have hugely different standards of what they consider acceptable - personally I wouldn't feed raw, for example, but that's my business, and I'm not harming my dog by feeding a good quality food anyway.

So my question is, if someone DOES pamper their dog, why does it bother you?

Shona

 

[padfoot]

Kelly I wasn't suggesting you thought it was bad, you said it didn't offend you   Its just you then went on to say its not the way you would treat your own dogs, so I was curious as to why "generally" giving tea to dogs seems to be perceived as spoiling them by some!  It wasn't an attack on you Kelly , I am not sure why you always think I am personally jibing at you?  I am not like that Kelly, I don't go on forums to jibe and critisise people  

Yes, you are right this topic does slightly bother me and also others, in fact I find it a bit insulting , like you have said Kelly, each one of us is entiteld to treat our dogs as we choose, providing they are loved and cared for   Why should it bother anyone if we are precious to our dogs?  I have been around dogs all of my life, Indie is my first cocker, but is not my first dog, all of my dogs have been treated with care love and respect, I have no problem with people being precious to their animals, in fact, wouldn't it be lovely if everyone cared so much about their dogs, then perhaps we wouldn't have so many dogs mainly mongrels in homes and then sadly getting PTS cos noone wants them   Now that does bother me!

So then we agree.
The only reason I don't give my dogs tea or buy them clothes is because a)with four of them, I would never get the kids to school if I had to make them tea   and I always think dogs in clothes look silly...but that doesn't mean I care if other people do it, like you I'd rather see someone pampering their dog than not caring about it at all.
I can understand childless people who baby their dogs as well, because I was one of them before I had kids...I think my dog was secretly a child substitute and I hold my hands up and admit than when my daughter arrived my atttitude to her changed a bit and she had to start learning to "be the dog" more. Maybe people who don't want children enjoy nurturing their dogs more sometimes?

I also agree it depends on a person's own idea of being "precious". Some people think I spoil my dogs because they sit on the furniture and I buy far too many toys for them and feed them premium food and so on...but I don't see that as spoiling them, just as treating them as part of the family and caring about their health etc.  

[Shirley]

I can understand childless people who baby their dogs as well, because I was one of them before I had kids...

My dogs aren't child substitutes.........they're much more important than that!!!        

[cbabe]

I didn't understand it at first either; but have begun to understand at bit I think, although I'm not sure I agree with it!

If I understand correctly, the question is; if we 'mollycoddle' our dogs, and prevent them expressing their doggy ways, are we in danger of creating future generations of dogs with few natural doggie instincts left?

 

As i said before - this has NOTHING to do with caring for, spoiling or mollycoddling (as in the context you are useing it) dogs.

I'm useing 'being too precious' to describe the almost obsessional behaviour of some owners.

Some people seem to panik if their dogs poo changes consistancey on one  poop! -they then jump straight in with the worse case senario and are off to forcefeed the poor pooch water - just incase they have an upset tummy - shock horror. Let us put this into perspective, have you ever had a different consistancy poo one morning, did you feel and worse for it? CHances are you didn't pay any attention and got on with it. Why should your dogs 'different' passing's seriousness be any different. Now if it is squitting all day like a hose - then that would be a concern, as it would in a human.

Puppy and dogs get scared - their immediate reaction is to scream like they are being murderd but within an hour they will be back to normal They cope perfectly well with this response and don't need a trip to the vet or sedatives to help them sleep after.

Some owners seem set on runing their dogs life for them - they are dogs for goodness sake - they are killing machines build to hunt prey and digest the meat. Our insistance on feeding them cooked meats have resulted in them requiring a less rich diet (cat's who have not been domesticated as long - can't survive on dog food as it is not rich enough).

incidently if our intevention will have no affect on doggie instincts then why do we have working and show cocker strains? Working cockers have very honed instincts compared to their show counterparts.

Speaking to a someone off the forum it maybe that new owners are taking the advice far too litterally - instead of hearing ' this makes SOME dogs sick' they are hearing 'This will make your dog sick' and so dog never gets a sniff of it to find out if they are sensitive or not.

THE QUESTION is are some owners too precious (as in overprotective and obsessional) about their dogs?