Experienced Owners

At what point would you consider yourself and/or others an experienced owner?

Do you feel it is to do with the length of time a dog(s) has been owned?
Or the problems one has to deal with with a dog(s)?
Taking on Pups? Rescues?
The training people do?
The different breeds owned?

What counts (in your own opinion) as experienced?

I think experience comes from knowledge and understanding.

I would say I was experienced (to a degree) about dogs. I know a lot about them, although I am still learning - but that gives you the experience and I understand them.. I'm not a behaviourist, but I'm not someone who completely lacks any understanding in them altogether (the woman on VS who thought dogs were like cats springs to mind).

I have trained basics and walked dogs for 9 years but not professionally, just as an after school/neighbourhood thing - I wouldn't call myself fully experienced...

I do think that the more you go through with dogs, the more understanding you are - you can read all the books in the world but it doesn't compare to the real thing.

Although I've researched, read, watched documentaries, dog walked, pet sat and trained basics to the neighbours dogs - since getting Louie I've only really started learning

Sadie and Benjie have taught me things along the way too.. not to leave them out..

Does that all make sense? Or did I just waffle?

i think there is a difference between 'experienced dog owners' and 'breed specific experience' and the blurry line between them

I think it depends on the challenges you have faced with dogs, the training you have done, the problems overcome etc. Somebody could've owned 20 dogs over their lifetime yet never taught them a thing and have no understanding of dogs, does that make them experienced?

I can think of somebody who has owned many terriers and HPR's over their lifetime and yet their lack of basic understanding of dogs and how to train one is fascinating. They may have had 'experience' when it comes to quantity and types of dog breeds yet have gleaned nothing from dog ownership.

i believe it depends on each persons perception of experience.

looking at myself, i wouldnt say i am an experienced dog owner, but i would say i have some (not a lot of) experience of dogs based on the fact that i grew up around gsd's as a family member used to breed them and also have had dogs as family pets.

this is certainly one of those cases where the phrase "It's all relative" comes into play

Nobody knows it all, however much they think they do, so experienced owners imo are owners who have experienced enough to know what to do at any given time/place, be it healthwise or when out walking your dog, so for me, it's the amount of time spent with dogs to be able to have all the experiences they give you.

I think this is usually a euphemism for... not a numpty.

Good one

I guess sometimes people want an owner to have experience of a certain breed. This is how we got Izzy as she was originally rehomed to someone who neglected her coat care and sadly, also kicked her as she was too much terrier for them I think. This is why she has been in kennels for some months as her original owners waited for a Kerry-Blue experienced person to come along.

That's not to say that someone else who had experience of another type of terrier would not have been a good match too but it is interesting to see how many of Parker's traits she shares and also how she copies him in what he does and is becoming much more "chilled" thankfully!

You can be an experienced dog owner but have no experience of (insert relevent discipline, problem, breed, training) etc.

Some people have the SAME experience over a long duration.

I am always amazed at the number of "experts" I come across who have owned only one member of a breed, or started competing in their discipline for less than a year