*Disclaimer - No, I'm not perfect. I fully own that I wasn't keen on some important things in raising a dog for the first year and a half I had Jewell. I learned from my mistakes. I willingly researched how to be better.

These rants are for the people who don't get it...

**Disclaimer #2 - I took a long time to post this: several hours, to be exact. I saved it and read it over and over again. Finally, I decided I was satisfied with the tone of it, added a 10th rant, and hit Publish...

10 Things That Bother Me About Other Dog Owners And People I Know

- "My dog is perfect, but..."
But what? He pees in my bed; She chews everything in the house; She doesn't like my family; He'll only eats fresh chicken with a pinch of spice... Last I checked, perfection meant no flaws. You can't say I did a perfect job, except I made a mistake or two or ten...

- Not picking up your dog's feces (I can say it here!)
Bag it. It's not difficult. Use two bags if you're squeamish. Someone had to clean up after you when you were an infant. They dealt with it. If you have kids yourself, you deal with it. Getting a dog isn't much different, except you have to deal with it for the life of the dog.

- People who cannot look in the mirror and accept THEY are the problem
Not sure why this is the case, but it takes some people a great deal of convincing to see that THEY are the reason their dog has behavioral issues. Some will deny it for a long time. Maybe because they had success in the past doing whatever they do. Maybe they don't see how their behavior is connected to their dog's behavior. Maybe people just find it too hard to change themselves. Life is about evolution. Evolve as a person.

- Avoiding the problem instead of confronting it
If the immediate concern is for the safety of you or your dog, or it's a dangerous situation, then, of course, do what you have to do to get around it. But don't begin to adjust your life to avoid the situation. Same goes for the people who are afraid of a dog, especially one they see frequently on a jogging path or next door, etc. This world is getting smaller every day. Pretty soon we're gonna be living on top of each other if the rich guys don't move to the moon or mars first. In the meantime, figure out your problems, work toward a solution, and let's try to enjoy each other's energy...

- Owners of yip-yap dogs
Everyone knows of someone with a dog like this: when you walk by the house, they relentlessly bark running along the fence or from the front window. You can't have a conversation with an owner of this type of dog because of the non-stop yapping. You may not even be able to get close to a person who owns this dog when they are carrying said yip-yapper in their arms or a purse. They'll protect their owners from anything from their boyfriend to that candy wrapper blowing in the wind. And it's SO CUTE! But if my dog behaved the same way, she would be vicious!

- People who don't respect my rules about approaching my dog/entering my house
PLEASE STOP WITH THE BABY TALK! I ask people to just ignore Jewell and not give eye contact during the initial greeting. Don't pet her. She can definitely greet people with her nose first, without sound. It's respectful. She doesn't need to hear how big she is or how beautiful she is and get her butt scratched just because she gives it to you. It's so much more pleasant to have a dog that respects your space when you enter a home instead of a dog that doesn't consider her weight when she tackles you to hug you. Once she starts with the excitement, it's really hard to make her stop.

- Stereotypes
I can go a couple different directions with this, but this is supposed to be a dog-related blog, so I'll stick with that. The thing about stereotypes is that they come from somewhere. People didn't just one day wake up and assume that most Hispanics drive Honda cars (yep I did it, even though I said I wouldn't). At one point last year, there were 4 or 5 Hondas owned by 2 out of the 14 units on my street. But there isn't anything wrong with that, as long as it doesn't lead to negative pre-judgment of a person. Same thing rings true, to me, regarding dog breed stereotypes. The yip-yap dog I mentioned earlier is usually regarded as friendly and playful, just protective or standing its ground because its small. You may even hear "It's his way of saying hello." They can't really hurt anybody or anything, especially a bigger dog, I'm told. But those are nice things to say about little dogs. What about the negative things people say about big dogs - mean, aggressive, they'll turn on their owners, can't be around other dogs, can't be trusted with children, etc. Of course, as I mentioned, these beliefs come from somewhere, and it's from the actions (or lack of actions) of irresponsible owners. Subsequently, an incident occurs that is physically harmful to a dog or person and emotionally scarring, and the stereotype is set. People have a hard time accepting otherwise, especially if they've witnessed it.

- Dog Parks
...More so the people that go to dog parks. Many of them go and let their dogs run free (because they haven't let them run around all day) and then chat it up with the other owners. Meanwhile, their dogs may be causing a ruckus and initiating conflict. Those dog owners are irresponsible as well and have the wrong idea about the use of a dog park...

- Professionals who don't understand dog behavior
It should be your responsibility to evolve as a professional in any industry and learn as much as you can until you retire. Whether you're a veterinary doctor, certified and licensed dog trainer, groomer, or dog walker, research your clientele - the dog - so you can be prepared to handle as many situations as you can.

- Bashing other philosophies of dog training, behavior modification
This used to be me. It isn't worth it anymore. I make no secret of being an avid follower of Cesar Millan's techniques. I watch the tv show The Dog Whisperer regularly and I'm a top 10 contributor to the Cesar Millan Dog Community and Forum. I own that. But I'm definitely no longer interested in criticizing people who go off the deep end with their opinions and beliefs one way or the other. There is almost never an absolute as there are many different roads to take to get where you want to go in life. But some people think there is an absolute to raising a dog. You're entitled to your opinion (even if it's wrong). But if I'm successful doing it my way, and you're successful doing it your way, let's move forward. Cesar has some very nasty critics. And to his credit, he never addresses them directly. If you research the entire body of work and take some time to learn and understand his methods, you'd find that many of the criticism is unwarranted (asking a lot, I know). But if he is strong enough to resist firing back at his harshest detractors, I can do the same.