[Cassidy's Mom]

So when it comes to dogs and GSDs, what level does it appear I am on? Level like Beginner, Amatuer, Novice, Expert, etc.

I haven't paid enough attention to your posts to begin to answer your question, but even if I had, it's rarely so simple. We do have many people with an obvious broad range of knowledge about dogs in general, GSDs in particular, breeding practices, training techniques, nutrition and health, competition in a sport, but we also have many people who know a lot about one or more of these subjects, but are not expert at all of them. It's usually pretty easy to tell when someone knows what they're talking about and when they don't.

What I try to do is read and learn in the threads where I don't have a lot of personal experience, and to answer questions in the threads where I do. That doesn't necessarily mean I'm an expert at whatever topic I'm responding to, but I can at least share what has and has not worked for me.

 

[Cassidy's Mom]

However, you should not (IMHO) give advice pertaining to things that you have only read and not things you have personally experienced or dealt with unless you follow up your statements with something to the effect of, "I haven't personally done this, but I heard/read the following..."

^ What she said.

 

[Cassidy's Mom]

Excellent post Emoore, exactly what I was trying to say.

GSD Fan, I went back and read some of the threads you started, and I'd have to say you're a beginner. You've never had a GSD, you're still young (in college), and although you said you've have dogs in the past you don't currently have one. I don't know how many dogs you've had in your life or how old you were at the time and how much responsibility you had for their care and training, but a family dog when you were a child or even a teen is not the same as being being completely responsible for raising a dog as you would as an independent adult.

Your threads ask a lot of very basic questions. Nothing wrong with that at all, we all start somewhere and you're thinking ahead by doing your research now, before you get a puppy, which is great. But you've only been a member here for a month, and asking questions and getting answers does not make you qualified to advise to anyone else on those topics as you've had no practical experience yet. Once you do I'm sure you'll have some great experiences to share, but in the meantime, why pretend to know more than you do?

 

[Cassidy's Mom]

I'm sorry I made this thread. I guess I just wanted someone to say to me "You've made an improvement".

Well, you have! But that's not what you asked, is it? None of us are experts at everything, and some of us know more about some things than others. Why would that be a problem? As long as we all acknowledge what we DON'T know and continue asking questions to learn as much as we can, that's what's important.

 

[Cassidy's Mom]

We all learn new things about our dogs every single day. It's a never ending process.

TOTALLY. I got my first GSD (and first dog as an adult) in 1986, probably before many of you were born. And yet 24 years later, I'm STILL learning! There is no shame in not knowing, only in refusing to learn.

 

[Cassidy's Mom]

My last dog would do the "Down" command when I gave the "Sit" command. I learned then that she had not fully understood the "Sit" command or maybe it only confirmed what someone else told me, that female dogs may try to do a trick a different way.

Somebody told you wrong. Gender shouldn't have anything to do with it, if she's sitting to the down command she hasn't fully learned the down command, period.