The most touchy subjects in any given place are Religion, Politics, and the Great Pumpkin.

Seriously though it's nice to see adults behaving like adults. If you would like to learn more about something and simply sponge up information, then starting up some of your own threads with questions or pm'ing knowledgeable people is a great way to start. It is important to learn as much as you can by reading and observing both sides of an argument before forming an opinion though, which will probably lead to controversy at some point in time. The best thing to do is just have a light attitude and not take things personally; because we're all just here to learn and have fun anyways even if we don't always agree on everything. ^_^

Aidan, you're eerily wise for such a young fella

Cheers mate.

Oh wait, you can't cheers.....

AMB wrote:

The most touchy subjects in any given place are Religion, Politics, and the Great Pumpkin.

Seriously though it's nice to see adults behaving like adults. If you would like to learn more about something and simply sponge up information, then starting up some of your own threads with questions or pm'ing knowledgeable people is a great way to start. It is important to learn as much as you can by reading and observing both sides of an argument before forming an opinion though, which will probably lead to controversy at some point in time. The best thing to do is just have a light attitude and not take things personally; because we're all just here to learn and have fun anyways even if we don't always agree on everything. ^_^

Aiden, can you ask your parents to write a book and send it to me? My hubby and I are going to start having some kiddos in a year or two and since you're the most awesome 16 year old ever I want to know what your parents did!

histi wrote:

Is there anyone here who can give me pointers as to what subjects can be touchy?
I don't want to be flying off the handle and pissing people off, and hi-jacking threads, or giving bad information.

So, I am sorry to everyone who had to experience my tantrum, and will try my best not to do it again..
I guess I have alot to learn.

( Sorry if it appears I am hi-jacking again, just thought it was best to apologize at the scene of the crime)

I don't post a ton on here, but I lurk pretty much every day. From what I've noticed, the hot topics seem to be: feeding (what brand of food, raw diet, etc), breeding, buying from a breeder (especially BYB and pet stores) vs rescue, and any negative reinforcement training methods. They don't mean to be hot topics, because we do try to educate; however, sometimes our strong passions are misinterpreted when they are written on a computer. (I've been on other dog forums where the people ARE truly, purposely nasty to newcomers, and, the people here are very, very sweet, especially compared to them.)
Some of the more common topics (not necessarily hot button, but just ones I see a lot) are: pulling on the leash, digging up the yard, destroying the house, jumping and biting. Plus there's all the wonderful, fun, positive posts where people seem to forget they were just arguing in another topic and are great to each other. That is what makes this particular forum a nice place to hang out.

wpskier222 wrote:

AMB wrote:

The most touchy subjects in any given place are Religion, Politics, and the Great Pumpkin.

Seriously though it's nice to see adults behaving like adults. If you would like to learn more about something and simply sponge up information, then starting up some of your own threads with questions or pm'ing knowledgeable people is a great way to start. It is important to learn as much as you can by reading and observing both sides of an argument before forming an opinion though, which will probably lead to controversy at some point in time. The best thing to do is just have a light attitude and not take things personally; because we're all just here to learn and have fun anyways even if we don't always agree on everything. ^_^

Aiden, can you ask your parents to write a book and send it to me? My hubby and I are going to start having some kiddos in a year or two and since you're the most awesome 16 year old ever I want to know what your parents did!

I second that! And please tell them to hurry. My oldest is already 7 (going on 25).

seattlesibe wrote:

Aidan, you're eerily wise for such a young fella

Cheers mate.  

Oh wait, you can't cheers.....

That's because I'm really a purple alien from Mars waiting to signal the invasion. But yeah, no cheers. :c

wpskier222 wrote:

AMB wrote:

The most touchy subjects in any given place are Religion, Politics, and the Great Pumpkin.

Seriously though it's nice to see adults behaving like adults. If you would like to learn more about something and simply sponge up information, then starting up some of your own threads with questions or pm'ing knowledgeable people is a great way to start. It is important to learn as much as you can by reading and observing both sides of an argument before forming an opinion though, which will probably lead to controversy at some point in time. The best thing to do is just have a light attitude and not take things personally; because we're all just here to learn and have fun anyways even if we don't always agree on everything. ^_^

Aiden, can you ask your parents to write a book and send it to me? My hubby and I are going to start having some kiddos in a year or two and since you're the most awesome 16 year old ever I want to know what your parents did!

Eresh wrote:

I second that! And please tell them to hurry. My oldest is already 7 (going on 25).

Ahaha I'll tell them you guys said that, they'll be sure to get a good laugh! The reason is because I'm actually a really bad boy (*coughhyperprocrastinationcough*) when compared to my little goody two shoes sister. >:c

Anyways I should leave so you guys can get back on topic now, kthxbai.

histi wrote:

Niraya - Sorry for my behavior if you didnt mean it how it sounded - I suppose that is the great flaw in forums, there is no body language to go with it and things can be mis-interpreted, and I have obviously done that. Maybe I had PMT - maybe I'm just not used to others having very strong opinions.. anyway, I feel highly embarrassed.
        I read part of that link you left but got very how-hum with the way it is written, and googled positive reinforcement training a lady called Victoria Stilwell.. what do you think about her?
She has great training videos on youtube and I like how a clicker isn't needed - these may be of help to the OP

It's cool.  No need to apologize.  Text is hard to understand as it doesn't contain any emotion or feeling and the "emotion" we do get from text is only there because we project it onto the text based on how we're feeling or how we think the words sound or that person is trying to sound.  

Everyone on this forum is here because we love Siberian Huskies - we are passionate about them.  With passion comes strong opinions on all things husky .

The link is a scientific study which is probably why you had a hard time reading it.  

Victoria Stilwell and Ian Dunbar are great people to look into and I highly suggest it .  Also Kikopup on youtube.

As I was scrolling through facebook a minute ago I saw a friend of mine posted a link to a blog that was made regarding dominance - if anyone would like to read it let me know and I can post it or PM you it.

Yes I would be interested.. it seems a lot of people I know are doing it the wrong way - my parents used dominance based training (now I know that that is what it is) with their dogs throughout my life, and now that I have not only seen (by watching videos on youtube with them training fresh pups) but also had it explained why it is not good, I can deffinately understand why you are so passionate about it, I think I am warming up to it very quickly.. But takes a bit to remember not to tell my dog off for inappropriate behavior, but am sure I will get there.

I guess I just thought it was acceptable because the majority of dog owners I have met all train dominance wise... In fact I don't think anyone I know with a dog uses positive reinforcement...

Maybe New Zealand needs a kick up the bum. oh and Cesar is very popular here too so that probably does not help.

I wonder if it would work on my kids

Cesar's rapidly growing celebrity status and his mass exposure to the dog world is deploying dominance based methods faster than ever.   That said, I find he is grossly misrepresented by people who have passionate disagreement with him, even on this forum.  But the reasons for that are the same reasons for his celebrity: his television show content and the stories told through it.  

I think it is important to note that he is neither the originator nor the sole proprietor of dominance theory; he is merely the celebrity face of it.

On his initial show that made him famous he was dealing with dogs way off the deep end of trouble and using wolf-pack/ dominance based methods and rhetoric. People see this--fans and enemies alike--and think that is all he is.about, which is far from true. But I have also read every book he's written and understand his entire system, and the wolf-pack/dominance stuff is but a small part.  The overwhelming majority of his stuff is very positive and non-controversial.

His controversial stuff, well, I don't like those parts either so I chop them out and use the good stuff. That one premise of an analogy with wolves just went viral in every direction.

The same thing that made him controversial made him very rich and famous.  

Funny that.

The most unfortunate part of his system forgotten or unknown by people is that he very strongly advocates and utilizes positive based, healthy dog-focused methods of building trust and respect in your dog so that she never gets.to the point of psychosis/aggression/danger/sickness/neurosis/obsession.........in the first place. His articulate critiques in his books of how dogs are raised and treated in the US are profound and intelligent and that has nothing to do with his wolf-pack/dominance non-sense.

I forgot that you mentioned you wanted to read the blog. Sorry!

http://wildewmn.wordpress.com/2013/06/18/hey-old-school-dominance-theory-schools-out/

I don't agree with comparisons made between humans and dogs but I think the overall article has a decent point.

That is a great article. Her description of a doctor slamming a baby down is exactly what I was trying to convey when I was talking about trying to show dominance over a baby that we have at least a 100 lb weight advantage over. I'm definitely going to be following her blog!

wpskier222 wrote:

AMB wrote:

The most touchy subjects in any given place are Religion, Politics, and the Great Pumpkin.

Seriously though it's nice to see adults behaving like adults. If you would like to learn more about something and simply sponge up information, then starting up some of your own threads with questions or pm'ing knowledgeable people is a great way to start. It is important to learn as much as you can by reading and observing both sides of an argument before forming an opinion though, which will probably lead to controversy at some point in time. The best thing to do is just have a light attitude and not take things personally; because we're all just here to learn and have fun anyways even if we don't always agree on everything. ^_^

Aiden, can you ask your parents to write a book and send it to me? My hubby and I are going to start having some kiddos in a year or two and since you're the most awesome 16 year old ever I want to know what your parents did!

I want a copy of that book! Darren and I are thinking about trying for a little human "pack" member this upcoming spring ...

As for the "aggression," many have said this but I will add my own   

I don't believe what you're seeing is aggression, per se. As has been said, aggression in dogs is actually pretty rare and oftentimes it is incorrectly seen as aggression. Often what is thought to be aggression is a fear response. Growling, baring teeth, showing "whale-eye," or looking sideways where you can see a sliver of the whites of the dog's eye, even lunging as if to bite -- those are fear responses, not aggression. It's a warning from the dog that says "back off." If not dealt with, this can LEAD to aggressiveness.

Still, I think for a puppy this young it's unusual that they would give these warning signs at such a young age, especially for something as seemingly innocuous as light touching. And I can see how you would want to stop this behavior as soon as possible with young children in the house. I second the recommendation to visit arooroomom's positive-reinforcement thread and look around there for some tips. https://www.itsahuskything.com/t11582p20-arooroomom-s-positive-reinforcement-force-free-training-thread

I would also cease turning her on her side and holding her down several times. As has been said, this will only instill fear and can lead to MORE of the undesirable behavior when she is touched. She is a puppy and is still learning. Like Jen said, it's your job to create a positive, safe environment while still setting boundaries and allowing her to learn what acceptable and unacceptable behavior is. You will learn about her behavior and how the dog world works as much as she will learn about the human world.

Just my opinion, though. There is PLENTY of great info here that you can take and learn from. The ultimate responsibility and decision, though, are yours.

Thank you for the explanation. I never thought of it as being fearful reaction. Hmm. I'm glad I know now though. Lately she's been doing great. Haven't seen anymore signs of fear response or anything. Maybe she was just having a bad evening that night :-/ oh I have a question that has nothing to do now with this thread. How do you guys get that cute thing in the bottom of your post that says pitapata? I would love to do one for Samoa :-)

http://pitapata.com/create.html

Quote :

Maybe she was just having a bad evening that night :-/

She very well could've been tired from that day...Karli will get grumpy sometimes when she's tired and put herself to bed in her crate before I even say anything to her.