Disagreements about dogs. Are they good?

Dear Darcy, It seems to me that a lot of people who love dogs disagree with each other about what is the right thing to do in feeding and training, especially training. I see this all over the Internet, not just at your blog. I don’t like the disagreements or confrontation and would rather see everyone agree. Just get along. What do you think? Peg

Dear Peg, Wouldn’t that be nice! Especially if we’re on the agreeable side!? The world doesn’t work that way and in my opinion, it shouldn’t. What a terrible thing for me if I had to agree to use shock collars even when I am so against their use. And what a terrible thing for someone else to have to give up their shock collars if that’s working for them without turning their dog into a mass of jelly….no wait, I take that back, that’s not a good argument….LOL!

Disagreements aren’t necessarily bad and they can be very, very good. Some people have to weigh all sides before they make a choice, to do that they need to hear all sides.

Oh, there will be a few bad apples in the barrel who want to raise some ire for the sake of starting a fight but those people are few and far between and in my experience are excused by most of us as argumentative and not worth listening to much. We let them stick around because every once in a while they say something sensible and worth listening to but most of the time we kind of roll our eyes as if our crazy old Aunt Tilli had just farted in church, it’s just the way she is and we don’t pay it much mind.

Most people want to hear about things that they don’t know about yet or why what they’re doing isn’t working as well as something else. Gosh, if nobody listened to what might be a better solution because they think they have it all figured out, nothing would change for the better. And will that happen? Sure, it happens every day. Some people will never be budged away from what they think is right, right or wrong.

I say that everyone should get a chance to speak their piece and share their experiences. Of course I don’t like anger, resentment, or harsh words and if the posts are bad enough, they get deleted from the discussion. We don’t ever have to be mean to each other to talk this stuff over. The Dish by Darcy and SitStay’s Facebook are all about sharing what we know with each other. It’s a good thing.

I’m not the end all of the dog world and you won’t be either, none of us are, I’m sure there’s agreement about that. What I do know is that I do what I do by writing The Dish and sharing with our Facebook friends to share what works for me and what I know has worked for thousands of my friends and customers who want a better way to live with their dogs. It’s why I’m here, to share. I don’t put myself on the line every day just to have people agree or disagree with me. I do it because I care about people and the dogs they love. I want to be loved and accepted just like I love and accept everyone else. It’s my nature to want to help. I can’t help it, it’s what I do. Again LOL!

If we don’t all put our two cents in and listen to each other, what use is it to have a public discussion or even to know each other at all? We don’t have to always agree. I think we should always listen. Good things come of people coming together for a good cause. What better cause than the dogs? Well kids, maybe, but mine are all grown and doing well so I don’t have much to say about that any more.

I’ll always be on the side of the dogs and I’ll always do my best to answer and argue and share with love. For me, it’s the only way.

Thanks for the question. It’s a great one. Stick around, we’ve been doing this for over 14 years and we’re still going strong. You might learn more than you ever realized existed. It’s a great big old world out there and there are tons and tons of people working with and loving dogs every day. That’s a lot of information. – Darcy