Very well said Joan. I applaud you. This is what we do when we love our pets. We are not training them to go out in the world on their own, for the army, or the marines. We are training them gently for love and companionship with us for the duration of their lives. I feel dogs were put on earth for us to love and, yes, to definitely spoil (which in our home is an endearing term) and in turn, they love us back, in a way everyone should experience the joy of. I have never heard a dog described as a 'brat' or even in 'brat mode' before. Their hearts are pure and sweet. They have no hidden agendas. And they are so smart and intuitive, they are able to read what is in our hearts and respond accordingly. Yes, they do need to follow and abide by a few basic rules to have a pleasant and smoothly run household, but that does not in any way translate to or should resemble boot camp. It's amazing how far love, compassion, some great behavior training methods that have been kindly offered here can go to help raise and train a dog into a well-behaved, beloved furry member of the family. In a message dated 5/14/2011 3:25:52 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time, [email protected] writes:
I think that the peeing incident is not ‘brat mode.’ It is caused by you not paying attention to you, so then she does something that will get your attention. I guess I may be accused of spoiling my dogs if it means that they want to spend some time with me…they want to feel some love, me petting them and talking to them calmly. I am not really sure that is what you mean, because if Pia was a wild dog, then it would not be normal for her to want your attention; but Pia is a pet and that means that the owner and the dog have a relationship where they do interact with each other. I do hold my dogs; I do cover them with their blankets at night; when I come home, they turn over so that I can tickle their bellies, then give them a kiss and send them out to go potty. If I only had one dog, there would be nothing else to interact with if they were not to interact with you. Maybe I just didn’t understand what you were writing about being spoiled and being a brat.
