LOL Yep Moonie, You are one pitiful pet owner. :-)
The thing about the chocolate reminded me of something. My dad used to give his little dog M&M's. Whenever my sister and I were there and he'd do it, we'd just look at each other and cringe. Behind his back we'd say "GAWD! I wish he wouldn't do that!" You could never tell him anything so we would just let it go. That dog lived to be OLD. I'm glad we never made a big fuss about it. He'd be bringing up how his dog lived longer than any of ours, and that we should have fed them M&Ms :-)

Pitiful, yes. But I don't think that was the word my golden was thinking when I wouldn't let him ride to the store. Good thing he doesn't speak Humanese.

Isn't it funny how we can ground our kids to the house for a week when they're in trouble, but we can't ground our pets to the outside? Perhaps this needs to be rethunk. :)

And so everyone knows just how pitiful I am... I'd never share my M&M's. Your dad was a much better guy than I. *heh*

I think most of us learn a fact, like chocolate might be harmful to pets. We want the best for our pets so we don't feed chocolate. That's not what you'd call superior, just knowledgable. Whose to say about the nutrition aspect. A friend's cat died at 20. She never ate anything but Friskies and Purina chow. On the other hand, I'm into good nutrition so my cats have no choice but to be into it too. I spend a lot of money on cat food because I hope that will give them more healthy years. Kind of an awareness thing rather than superior/inferior attitude, I hope.

I think you have been blessed with some easy to handle pets.

And are you home most of the day? That makes pet ownership, much easier, too.

And why do you think people on this forum would consider you a substandard pet owner?

I believe moonie's post was typed with tongue firmly in cheek.

I agree, knowledge and awareness are important, bean counter. And sharing information is valuable.

Telling people they are laughable, negilgent, uncaring or using any one of a number of strong adjectives that have been thrown around here lately -- because they raise their animal differently than you would -- is not so valuable.

I believe that was the original poster's point.

LOL!

Totally "substandard" with respect to my stewardship of our 4 cats (and the 3 before them).

still chuckling... thanks!

"Telling people they are laughable, negilgent, uncaring or using any one of a number of strong adjectives that have been thrown around here lately -- because they raise their animal differently than you would -- is not so valuable."
Alison-I am thinking that this is in reference to my post on another thread so I want to clarify what I meant.I was not "laughing at the poster".I just found the "subject" laughable,funny,comical,whatever one might want to call it,and as I said,only because it was something I had never heard before,had never crossed my mind and something that I would not do myself.I never said the OP didn't have the right to do whatever she wanted with her pets,just that I personally wouldn't do it! If that makes me an irresponsible pet owner,then so be it,but that is also "my" business and preference.
If I hurt anyone's feelings,I am truly sorry.
And Moonie,you ARE fortunate to have been blessed with some exceptional pets.Too bad that some of us haven't been and have to deal with the little quirks and undesirable behavior problems that pets sometimes have.

so I kept my mouth shut. Besides, he didn't ask my opinion.

Hey moonie, I have never had any cross words here, but I can tell you there are some people in this world that really shouldn't own a flea! And I will speak up because I do it for the dogs. I always try and be kind and educational first, but there are those that take any kind of corrective critism as a insult and well you can guess the rest. People are very passionate about thier animals and what they think they know. When they find out they didn't know what they thought and get corrected an on open forum they take it wayyyyyyy too personal and hits deep.Than of course you have the people who think a dog is just a dog.....those are my favorites...NOT! LOL
many times you will see me send links, that way if someone has a problem with any information I offer they can take it up with the author or veterinary literature supplied.

Cindyx, I also stated that from our conversation I gathered he was aware of the dangers of chocolate. If I hadn't gleaned that, I would have asked if he had ever heard about dogs and chocolate before. It would then have opened up the conversation for a little enlightenment. And I think you're right.. people can be touchy and therefore go on the defensive. That's why I believe education and constructive critism goes a long way when served with a smile. After all, the tone of a post will set the response.

Then the thing about people thinking a dog is a dog... *hehe* I remember as a teenager my mom saying I talked to her like a dog. My mumbled response was I never talked to the dog like that. :) Where do these "isms" come from anyways?

joepyeweed... I only work about 30 hours, 5 days a week. It FEELS full time. However when my golden was a pup, I was a stay at home mom. So I do wonder if my luck, at least when concerning my dog, is because of the time I had, or because of the breed. I just think goldens are the greatest family pet. This one is our second, and they are almost like twins in every way. The first one died in 1994, a year later we got this one. My DH and I have been married 30 years and almost our whole married life has been shared with a golden.

You asked why some would consider me "substandard". Yes, as someone said, it was mostly tongue in cheek, but I like to amuse myself at my own expense. I have a wacky sense of humor and am not offended easily, and have personally never been offended here. My philosophy is different strokes for different folks. But, sometimes I cringe for other people knowing that their feelings will be hurt. The purpose of this forum is to help, not to hurt. And most don't mean to hurt or alienate, but sometimes people aren't careful of their words.. and some just don't care. It's easy when you sit here under the mask of the internet to say things you wouldn't say to someone in person. I think people that are interested in the welfare of the animals, meaning all the folks that post here, are loving, caring people. So, you sort of expect kindly worded posts, even in times of disagreement.

lillie1441... yeah, in all honesty, your post on raising the house temps for pets was one of the ones that made me cringe for the OP'er. But, you did follow it up with a sorry (twice) and to explain how it amused you. I'm often amused here as well, but I hope I'm careful in my wording. Now, the OP'er never made another response on the thread. Sometimes it's hard to come here as a newbie and feel like a dork. The only reason I chose you as "an example" *hehe* is because you didn't appear to be offended that someone else had pointed it out. So I think everyone can take your lead and if they might have offended when they don't mean to, an apology is nice. :) And thank you, yes I am blessed with exceptional pets. (How could they not be, considering their exceptional owner.. um,...

I'm not sayin' anyone is an inferior pet owner.

I think it's important to note, for people that read this forum and learn from it, that chocolate is toxic to most animals, dogs included. The amount of chocloate that can kill your dog depends on how big or little your dog is, what kind of chocolate it eats (mild or dark) and how much it eats. This is not an opinion.

This is from a vet website. It is a chart showing reactions to chocolate and how much is lethal. The bottom of the chart reads:

NOTES:
* Mild reactions may be seen at ~ 20 mg/kg

* Moderate to severe reactions may be seen at doses over 40 mg/kg

* Cardiotoxicity may be seen at ~ 50 mg/kg

* Seizures are possible at doses over 60 mg/kg

* Any dose over 40 - 45 mg/kg should be considered potentially life-threatening

* 100 mg/kg is the LD50, meaning that at this dose half of the animals will die; animals can die from exposures well below the LD50

So please don't feed your animal chocolate, whatever the old coot down the road did!

Here is a link that might be useful: Chocolate toxicity chart

Cindyx, I also stated that from our conversation I gathered he was aware of the dangers of chocolate. If I hadn't gleaned that, I would have asked if he had ever heard about dogs and chocolate before.

Moonie, I understand what you mean when people are just down right nasty about sharing information, but on the other hand your above statement sounds like you thought I was correcting you when in fact I was NOT stating you should have spoke up just because I said I would, therefore there was no need to explain to me why you handled things as you did.
In a sense this is where inferiority kind of begins.
I mean truly the only person that can make anyone feel inferior, is the person themselves.

I don't think there are ANY Inferior pet owners here . There wouldn't be a pet forum if us concerned owners didn't care ! I can't tell you how many times I wished my kid came with a manual ..same with my dogs . I'm doing the best I can and I'm sure alot of us are ! I wouldn't dare tell someone how to raise their kids .... same with pets.
I'm really glad we are all here to support each other :)

I dont get how anyone can compare if there animal is superior or inferior to anothers. I do have words of wisdom for this and any other forum, take what you can use from this forum and blow off the rest. At times I see some passions about animals and pets flare a bit, and at times I kind of think it can be a bit much. I try and stay out of anything that is not a direct question about behavior or health.
Most of the time, people upset with those who are neglectful, or in some other way not up to par as far as "their standards" go, are preaching to the choir. I would have to admit most everyone here is a loving caring pet owner and their pets are well cared for, even those who are just starting out, I know they are good pet owners because they are posting questions here.

We have an indoor dog, a cocker spaniel named casey. She eats a strict diet, and eats three times a day whne I can get home for lunch, because she can't eat anything else, it makes her sick on the stomach. I wish she could eat regular dog stuff myself, she's missing out on some joys of life I think. We have a cat that eats cat food and occasionalyy a table scrap, very finiky he is but loves cat food, he eats twice a day. We have an outdoor dog named foxy that is all dog. I found her on the road and she is all but wild. All she does is bark at birds and dig holes everywhere, but she is good watch dog. She eats dog food, table scraps and loves them, bones, grapes off the vine cause she pulls them off, dirt, moles, even killed a warfrat once. We feed her only once a day, at evening with occasional snacks and such, she's the healthiest one of all. She'll eat anything you put in front of her, and loves to bury those rawhide bones and let them get all soggy and gross looking then dig em' up and eat them. heck she'll even eat Casey's doo-doo if she gets the chance, she has a beautiful coat, strong muscles, clean teeth, bright eyes, etc. I'm guessing she live to be about 210 dog years old, and probably be digging a hole to bury a bird in when she kicks the bucket.

I used to date a guy who was always rattling on and on about his dog's superiority to my dogs since my dogs were only allowed off leash in their fenced yard and designated leash free areas and his dog never even wore a collar. Of course, his dog Steve was waiting at the Rainbow Bridge since he'd been killed the year before when he got hit by a car.

True story.