What "bad" owner traits will you admit to?

anniehoo

Ok, well although we all love our pets, just like being a parent we're not perfect. So, if you had to what "bad" pet owner traits would you admit to. Mine would be

• giving too many treats
• badly training my dog when she was a pup so now wont walk on a lead properly
• letting my dog stick her head out the car window while driving
• forgetting to worm her regularly..the months just fly around

oh and one more..not allowing her on the bed the day ive put a new duvet on, so shes totally confused as every other day shes allowed on it hehe

miss no stars

not training my dad correctly, as he undid all the training the dog received

Latchy

Training my dog to thinks he's human .Now he hogs the remote .....swine

Wotzit

this could be a long list....

feeding him bits of my dinner from the table
letting him drink the last sup of my tea. i haven't enjoyed a cup of tea without him whining in my face for about ohhhhhhhh....10 years?
letting him jump up on me when i come in ... but i always enjoy a nice welcome of dirty paws and hair all over my work clothes!
tooooo many treats

i don't care though. when people say he's a bad dog i just call him a free spirit... after all he's 15, can't start telling him what to now can i

Gauge

Wotzit wrote: »

letting him drink the last sup of my tea. i haven't enjoyed a cup of tea without him whining in my face for about ohhhhhhhh....10 years?

Hahaha this cracked me up. I've never known a dog to like tea enough to beg for it!

I am bad in that I talk baby talk to my dog and let him sleep on me when I'm watching TV or relaxing in bed.

kazza90210

do we have to.......

*stands up with a red face*

Too many treats
Allowing him on couch, bed where ever he wants
allowing him to sleep inbetween me and the other half (he is a better cuddler )
talking to him like he is a person
spending more time teaching him tricks like barking on command instead of basic training!

I dont think i can admit anymore

PinkTulips

i have 3 cats and i do tend to let them get away with murder

• i let them have my leftovers which means they beg at the table and if someone leaves the table for something they'll make a lunge for their food
• i let them sleep anywhere they want.... on my head in bed, the baby's buggy and bouncer
• i let them prowl the worksurfaces
• i should have a litter tray for each but we don't have enough places to put them with 3 tiny kids so they share one although it's cleaned twice daily plus they have outdoor access so not as bad as it sounds
• i should be feeding them better quality food but they prefer the go-cat dry to any expensive dry food i've tried yet so am still searching for one they love... i give them tins too as they love them, they can have dry food still left out and hoover up a tin in 20 secs flat.

all in alll more crimes of indulgance than ones of neglect so i don't think i'm doing too badly

Call me Socket

Ummmm..... giving Denali more attention than the other 3, not always though....but he is my main man and I sometimes can't help myself.
Allowing them on the couch up til 6 months ago....must've been well confusing for them to all of a sudden not be allowed.
Like the OP....also forgetting sometimes to worm them.
And on a really horrible wet day the poo in the garden stays put, and even the day after.....with 4 dogs they run out of clean areas to go by day 3:o

anniehoo

Fair play to yis...call this Pet Owners Confession

Of course in the all real and perfect world we wouldnt be doing any of the above mentioned things

anniehoo

kazza90210 wrote: »

do we have to.......

I dont think i can admit anymore

lol'd at that

Sigma Force

Babying our smaller dog too much when she was little, now she's a diva.
Even now it's hard not to she's just so darn cute

Lauragoesmad

I got my ing charles when I was 10. She died lastyear. I spoiled her so much, she deffinitely thought she was the most important thing on earth. If my friends were over and someone sat in her seat, she would bark and whine at them until they got up! Such a little madam!
My cat sleeps in my bed and always will. Thats her reward for accepting all my boarders into the house. My boyfriend goes mad though because when he stays over, I wait til he's asleep and go get into bed with Jess. he wakes up in the morning bewildered, knowing that he has come second once more to my cat!:D

The Sweeper

Not enough litter boxes - need to buy another two. (Small kittens growing quickly - one box did the three younger ones, plus two other boxes - so I had three jumbo covered trays for five cats, and now I'm starting to need the full six to provide one each + 1 extra.)

Cats are different to dogs in one main way - if you tell a dog not to do something, you'll repeat that training and few times and eventually the dog will stop trying to do whatever it is. Cats gain an awareness of the fact that they're doing something bold, but instead of stopping they just try and make sure they only do it when you're not around. Walking across kitchen worktops is a perfect example of this. Mine know they're not allowed to do it and they're chased off whenever they try, but every so often I'm just too tired to chase them and I try to pretend I haven't seen Hahn, hiding under the wooden dishrack on the draining board...

Cushion throwing. If I'm on the couch after work and I'm tired, and I've used tone of voice and sharp noises already to try and distract one of the cats from something bold (usually shredding my house plants, or squabbling with each other) and they're wilfully ignoring me, I'll peg a cushion at them instead of getting up and going to them. My crappest cushions are dead light, and my biggest cat is 6kgs, and I swear the cushion bounces off his backside and he just flicks his tail and doesn't even pay it attention.

I mark worm doses on the calendar so I'm good with that, but not with annual vaccs - I'm not sure I "believe" in annual boosters so at the moment they're not up to date.

My cats always try to get into cupboards and the pantry when the doors are opened. They've been trained to respond to 'out' but sometimes they're in play mode and refuse. I usually just close the door on them for ten minutes, but I have on occasion forgotten about them and passed the pantry an hour later to hear loud protests.

PinkTulips

sheisse... ok, you can add all MAJD's to my list too although i throw baby blankets not cushions and it's usually dp who forgets the cat is in the cupboard

popecatapetal

Whenever I visit my parents at home, I spoil our dog so much. He's never normally allowed on the sofa, or sleep anywhere but the utility room, but when I'm minding him, I just leave all the inside doors open and he can sleep where he wants. My sister always complains that he loves me more than her.

I also feed him too much - my mum weighs his food out and only gives him the exact right amount for a dog his weight, but he loves food so much that I can't help giving him more!

I also let him have the dregs of my beer - he can get his tongue almost all the way inside the neck of a bottle of bud! This particular taste for alcohol now means that none of my family can leave alcohol on the low table in the sitting room, cos McDuff'll drink it!

woofie87

Mmm, where to start...
Guess the biggest sin is forgetting they are dogs after all and treating them like humans: talking to them instead giving clear commands ''now, you are being very bold, I told you to sit and what's this? doesnt look like a sit to me...'', thinking they can understand that they can do something they are not usually allowed to do as an exception ( yes, yes I Know!) '' you can lie on the bed with me today coz its saturday!''.
Then the ususal: overfeeding treats, letting them beg at the table, thinking that stealing food from the counter is funny.... Thank God my OH has more sense and he corrects me and trains the dogs consistently.

Whispered

When he was smaller, we used to allow him lie on us on the couch. He still tries it. At 20kg it's not really comfortable but we put up with it coz he's so warm. When we have guests however it's a problem.