I just wondered what you all think qualifies you to answer posts.
Myself :-
I will hardly ever give advice on behaviour other than suggest a good behaviourist. As even though I have been a dog owner for 13 years I am useless with behaviour and would never pretend to be anything else!!!! LOL
I do give advice on health that I have had experiance of, but only stating why I am giving that advice.
Give me life experience and gardening, now thats something I am comfortable giving advice on but only If I am sure what I am saying is correct :)
What about the rest of you??????
Lea :) :)

I will only give advice on what I know or have experienced myself or with my dogs.  Anything else, I will suggest vet or behaviourist.

I reply when I have experience with something, or if the person sitting next to me does, and tells me "You gotta write this".  (usually my mom or my aunt, who have been in dogs way longer than I have!)

Or if it is in idle chat or foo, I write when I got an opinion or comment on something.

I try to stay out of the showing section, unless its a general "My dog isnt good on the table" or "its my first show" cos we have all been there (if you show dogs that is).  Or a brag, where we all get happy at someone elses accomplishments, that take so long to do for some!!!!!  Cos I will admit, I know very very little about UK showing, and wouldnt pretend to know otherwise.  I do browse it though, to learn more about it, its very interesting.

If I've personally experienced something I know it's true and am happy to share (if only to prevent others making the same mistakes!). Anything else is merely theoretical so in all honesty I can only put it forward as a possibility to be considered. :-)

Personal experience - especially mistakes I have made and learnt from. Advice given to me by other experienced owners that I have used and benefitted from. In the non dog boards again it is my personal experience of life or my own opinions that I put forward and usually qualify it by putting IMHO.

I fully agree Lea -I only feel comfortable advicing on issues I have personal experience of -or if I don't have experience, I hope I say so. And likewise I'm very happy to listen to peoples actual experiences because you can always learn something new. Let's face it, experiences can vary an awful lot from just points of view. :)

I can only share what I know and have experienced.
Or try and point them in the right direction :)

I'm not qualified but having owned or been in the company of dogs for over 60 years I have seen or come across a lot of dog related problems before, also done a good deal of study on my own account so offer not qualified advice but second-hand experience.

again personal and life experience or cause from courses, training,semiar,plus any thing elis i have learned over the 50 years of life.

i learned two new thing last week at a semiar,

you can only advise poeple what you know if they want to take it on board it up to them,

Owning dogs for over 25 years and soaking in everything that a number of wise, ethical and responsible breeders have shared with me over that time.  Not recently, but belonging to breed clubs and dog clubs and learning everything I can from other members, speakers and educational seminars.  Asking a lot of questions from anyone that is knowledgeable about dogs and is willing to answer.

Personal advice only, we have had dogs over 30 years.
I think this site is great for reassurance and to give another view point! its diffecult when you have pedigree dogs to know if behaviour is "normal" and to see what other owners have tried and trained. Its a god send to people like me. But i do get a bit annoyed when some people sieze on a comment and get offended by it. I think crating a dog all day you are out is cruel, thats my view, but only my view, others may feel its ok? But I am still going to say i think its cruel because I do. I have only left our for about 2 hours any longer and they go to our dog minder. But i am in  a position to take both boys to work, and can afford a dog minder as and when I need her.
But I think we should all just chill and not always jump to conclusions all the time. We are all entitled to our own opinions, we may all be right!! but this way of getting free advice has to be good for all of us that have the need to belong to a dog.. and be loved unreservably... warts and all....

To be honest i have learnt so much from this forum, i have picked up some useful tips and advice from more experienced members than myself regarding all aspects of dogs, find it really interesting, the behaviour side interests me, especially with my girl...also the showing as hopefully i will be a newbie next year :)
It's nice the foo/idle as it can be light hearted, it's also good to have a good old rant :)
I am More of a learner, but will only give advice about  something that's personal or i have experienced owning/working with dogs.

Hayley

I would only give advice on something I know about which is why I don't often reply to posts in the Behaviour or Health boards and never in the Showing or Breeding ones.

I will give advice on the Foo or Idle Chat boards in it is on a subject that I have some experiance with but if it is a personal issue eg grief only very general advice and only if I know something about it

It is hard to give advice over the internet.

I've over 30 years experience fostering and rehabilitating rescue dogs. Anything from simple hard to house-train to extreme aggression. I work as a dog walker/pet sitter too and have taken on some "difficult" dogs needing careful handling which other dog walkers refused and I help the owners train their dogs if needed.

I've seen and helped at lot of training classes or shows (agility, obedience, HTM, flyball, clicker, pet classes, puppy parties) and I'll read any dog magazine, book, article, forums, watch programmes on TV, to keep up to date with whats going on out there.

I can give lots of training/behaviour advice but I prefer to give brief advice and suggest owners see a good trainer in person, especially for serious problems. Even experienced owners can misread situations and we only get their point of view online, we don't see the dogs'.

I worry that owners want free advice so they don't have to pay an expert. Health being another one, I only give advice if its something I know from personal experience but some posts online make me want to scream "open your purse and get to a vet NOW".

Breeding and diet are other things I couldn't claim to know a lot about. There are some foods I can strongly recommend (or not) but that's as far as it goes. I have lots of opinions on the ethics of breeding but I can't advise on problems that come up with bitches and litters.

The scary part is that I probably know more about breeding (from reading posts on here) than many new breeders do.

Edit I'm still learning, even the most knowledgable person in the world on any subject should keep learning! There will always be new ideas and new ways of doing things (some good, some bad but how will you know if you don't find out?).

Hi Lea,

not getting a very wide response here - perhaps it's confusing a few ;) Re the thread title "What makes you qualified to give advice???" I'm not personally aware of anyone "qualified" in any of the canine specific areas ....

Re your opening comment

> I just wondered what you all think qualifies you to answer posts

Simply put, being a forum member appears to me to be the only requirement :)  If nobody answered posts there wouldn't be much information to be found and this is after all Champdogs Information Exchange so Q's, A's & POV are pretty much fundamental to its continuance.

MarkR opened up an interesting THREAD a while back which proved quite popular and informative ;)

regards, Teri

I've read lots of books, taken some courses and surf the internet. ;-)

I'll pull my tongue out of my cheek now. :) Actually all of those things are true, but I don't think you can replace hands-on experience in owning dogs so I consider myself a novice for many topics. Something I take into account is the success of ownership. I have friends that have turned around some dogs that were very broken - I respect their opinions. I know others who seem to break every dog that comes into their ownership so it's not just how many dogs owned but how the dogs are that are important to me. So I try to stick with advice that I've had personal experience; either mistakes made or things done well (either with my dogs or with first hand knowledge from friends). For behavior problems especially I will state things that have worked with my dogs or those I've trained. I try to avoid commenting on topics I have little or no experience with, like aggression. For example, even though I've taken courses on aggression from some top behavior counsellors I don't have any personal experience in living with such dogs or with treating them as clients. I only have two dogs that are a couple years apart, so I don't usually comment on posts about multidog household problems. I leave that to those that have raised generations for decades. I've learned a lot from those members.

I try to help as much as I can and if I have had the same situation or expierance I will explain what I did to help/sort it but can only give what works best for me and is what I believe in which may not be what someone else believes in :)
I may have only owned dogs for the last 2 1/2 years but have been training family dogs and walking them for nearly 15 years now, getting better with age of course and now getting into showing so have allll that to learn now!

Im here to help, not to hinder lol

What makes any one qualified and acceptable has got to be experience.

Theoretical knowledge is great but not enough.

On this forum I dont believe there are many who would claim a proffesional qualification in 'dog matters'.

If something works for you then to share that experience is useful, whether or not you have years of experience.

Karen :)

Would be great to get a "qualified"person on here to share some views. A practising vet would be fantastic!

> A practising vet would be fantastic!

I'm practising to be a VETeran, does that count? :-P

Oh, I think Fred's Mum has a great idea.  I also frequent a Canadian pet forum that has a resident Vet who is very generous with his time and comments.  He is invaluable in explaining medical problems and suggesting solutions, which include advice to see your own Vet.  Just so no one thinks he is dispensing Veterinary advice without seeing the animal.

Certainly I do not have the experience many here do but in 42 years I have had 4 dogs, including PB who is nearly 8 months.  Hopefully I've learned something and I am a nit picking fanatic when it comes to research, which is much easier come by in these days of the internet.  Though information on the net can be out of date, wrong, confusing and contradictory.  I do post sometimes with examples of something I've discovered or found has worked for me.  But on this site I am most often looking for advice.  I really think that in the UK you are way ahead in doggy matters and experience.

> I'm practising to be a VETeran, does that count?

ROFLMAO at Missie - "practising" ...... you're good hun, had me TOTALLY fooled :-D

Ooh, Teri, I'm glad it was you that said that. DUCK, I can hear the bone whistling your way now... :)

I can hit two 'birds' with one bone ya know ;)

I've stopped giving advice here:  I've only owned dogs for over 50 years now, and obviously my "expertise" is completely out of date, even though I have kept up to date with current thoughts on feeding, training and breeding and try to combine tried and true methods with bright and new - using whatever suits our dogs.   My attitude is be pragmatic -what suits one will not suit all (uh-uh - that could be taken as advice!)  

We've bred a total of about 12 litters during all this time which now appears out of kilter with a lot of the current posters who apear to dive in and breed like the dickens and who fast track their way to expertise, so I now (try) to keep schtum!

Now I try to sit on my hands and just read ;)

You're the sort of person I would like to get advice from!!  You have a wealth of experience.  Please don't keep schtum! 

This will go over the heads of those it's supposed to be addressing Lea.  ;-)   

I find it eye opening that people who confess you being inexperienced just 6 months or so ago, in some matters, are now the font of all knowledge.

Hope that's not me, cringes and hopes not being over-sensitive!  I will only answer about things that have happened to me and my gang.

>I find it eye opening that people who confess you being inexperienced just 6 months or so ago, in some matters, are now the font of all knowledge.

I think that sort of naivety's a youth thing. The older I get the more I realise there is to learn, and how many more grey areas there are - or is that just my eyesight?! ;-)

I just wondered what you all think qualifies you to answer posts

Absolutly nothing qualifies me, except a mixed bag of life experiences. One thing I am quite sure of is that no matter how old and grey you get you never stop learning.

Now standing next to JG looking at a sea of grey....:) :)

My eyesight started going grey in my early thirties JG. It is amazing how much less I know now than I did 20 years ago. LOL maybe that's the mad cow..

Vets like doctors don't always know everything - I had to tell my doctor what I thought was wrong with me (Coeliac disease) because he had done blood tests and made up his mind without asking me the right questions.  This forum is invaluable - ask a question and you get a varied number of answers.  I read books too.  At the end of the day if one has to go to the vet then you go armed with more knowledge to help the vet in making a diagnosis.  Other people's experience is great - you see the imperfections of other people's dogs it helps to put your own problems in perspective.  As for the health section (someone said that we should be prepared to fork out to see the vet then look for free information) Who runs to the doctor for every ailment?  You ask people like the pharmacist first before clogging up the waiting rooms for every little ache and pain. 

Just glanced back at your first post Lea - you mentioned behaviour.  I really like to hear from people who have had experience of the same problems that I have had with my dog.  If they have found solutions that worked for them then I welcome hearing them.  I have been to a behaviourist and didn't really find a solution - certainly was told nothing I hadn't already read elsewhere. Due to various problems on the day - I am sure it was a unique situation - the whole thing was very unsatisfactory and happily my money was refunded.  That wouldn't stop me recommending a behavourist for someone else - it depends on the situation. 

I don't feel 'qualified' to give advice, but I think givving advice is a great way to learn for everybody, especially in this forum situation. Giving advice, can cause an influx of other peoples advice/knowledge/experiences and help open your eyes to things that maybe one hasn't considered.

Although I have owned dogs nearly all my life, that only amounts to 4 dogs so really my experience, compared to a lot of others here is not that much, but each dog will present it's own set of quandries that need dealing with. Over the 4 dogs I've had, I've delt with raising littermates, dog-dog aggression, food-agression, people aggression, integrating a rescue dog, pulling on a lead etc.. and a whole mixed bag of things to deal with when you have a puppy/littermates to raise.

My knowledge and experience pales in comparison to most here, but I still like to get invloved with discussinng possible solutions to problems, if my input is deemed useless to others, at least I normally take something away from a discussion even if it is just a different point of view that doesn't suit me & mine :)

Learning & and increased understaning are things that we all get from giving advice/opinions on subjects (as long as we are open-minded to responses) :)

>but I think givving advice is a great way to learn for everybody, especially in this forum situation

Sorry mastifflover, I can't agree at all with that comment.  IMO only seeking or receiving advice is a great way to learn not giving advice!

> Learning & and increased understaning are things that we all get from giving advice/opinions on subjects

Nooooooooooooooooooooo - not from  giving advice - certainly not on the vast majority of canine matters!  Please remember this board is read by all sorts and responses to some serious issues easily googled.  Folks wanting to "practice" expertise should do so in the privacy of their own home and not on the internet.

> Folks wanting to "practice" expertise should do so in the privacy of their own home and not on the internet.

So the only people who should be giving advice on here are those that are fully qualified to do so then? That takes away the whole point of a forum doesn't it?

You can learn by giving advice, if for example you give advice on an isssue that you have dealt with successfully, somebody else may respond with the way that worked best for them, and therfore you have learnt something. As the saying goes, there is more than 1 way to skin a cat.

> Please remember this board is read by all sorts and responses to some serious issues easily googled.  Folks wanting to "practice" expertise should do so in the privacy of their own home and not on the internet.

You also need to remember that this board is easily read, you have given the impression that apart from me, everybody else here is an expert!

>You can learn by giving advice

What if the first thing you learn is that the advice you gave was wrong?

> What if the first thing you learn is that the advice you gave was wrong?

You have learnt you are were wrong and most probably, in doing so have learnt the 'right' approach.

And in the meantime someone else is in a worse mess than they were before, and the anonymous person from the internet can't be held responsible ...

> And in the meantime someone else is in a worse mess than they were before, and the anonymous person from the internet can't be held responsible ...

The sort of advice I give is for example, try a harness to help with stop a pulling dog, don't walk a giant breed pup untill it's nackered just to fit in with the 5 minute rule that other posters reccomend etc... if somebody tried the sort of advice I give there would be no detremantal damage. I would never advise somebody to have thier dog PTS for example, or to tackle aggressive behaviour without a behaviourist or to manage a medical problem without seeing a vet etc...
I'm quite sure there is nothing I could be held accountable for....unless somebody fitted a harness wrongly and there dog broke free & got run over??

mastifflover,

I've seen some stomach churning examples of *well intentioned* but totally inappropriate advice on here over the years.  Posting on subjects involving health, breeding, behaviour, training, feeding, socialising etc all carry a responsibility with them - one of the things I've admired most about this forum is the fact that it boasts a membership of non fluffy, straight to the point, dyed in the wool enthusiasts with centuries of combined experience.  Equally those same experienced and to the point members are quick to assess whether they can add appropriate advice and when it's best left to someone else or help divert the poster to an appropriate professional.

If I had a query on something important to me or my dog I'd rather get 1-5 responses from folks who knew what they were talking about than 60 posts where I struggled to sort the wheat from the chaff.  That from someone in a better position to do so than many less active members or passing new ones who may well follow the entirely wrong advice on the basis that someone has a lot of stars after their name!

>You also need to remember that this board is easily read, you have given the impression that apart from me, everybody else here is an expert!

This is not entirely addressed to yourself, so apologies if it is coming across as personal.  However I feel that of late we have sadly lost the input of several valued long term members and simultaneously added some who have become overnight experts.  I find that situation worrying, not for me personally, but for anyone with a genuine need of advice from someone in the know.

regards, Teri

I don't necessarily give advice but if someone has a problem that I have experienced in the past of which I had a satisfactory outcome then I would gladly share with them how I reached that outcome - that doesn't mean the poster would have to follow the 'advice' I had given - thats personal choice and of course every case is different. I would also like to think that by choosing to share my experiences, I wouldn't come across as an 'inexperienced know all' just because I haven't owned dogs for years and years. Harvey was my first dog, two and a half years ago but after just a couple of months owning him, I felt that I was able to advise other new owners with toilet training problems (for example) based on my own personal experiences by sharing techniques that worked for me. I always thought that the idea of public forums was so that people can exchange tips etc learned through experience - no qualifications necessary.  It baffles me why posts like this always tend to end up in heated debates.

Unfortunately we live in a day and age where we all want someone to blame when something goes wrong but are all adults on this forum, it is up to us whether we take the advice or not. if we dont believe it is the right thing to do then we simply wouldnt do it & if we did do it and it went wrong then we should blame ourselves. if you dont trust the advice then dont take the risk and do it.
For small things then an opinion or, "i did this" is fine, but for major things i think too many people give advice that could go wrong. For big things i think a trained person who is there to see the animal first hand is always going to be better than a person on a internet forum.

Maybe we shouldn't look on the things we read as advice to be followed though, more ideas to be personally investigated to see if they are appropriate for our individual dog(s)?  On that basis, the person implementing the suggestion should take responsibility.

Having said that, I accept this is an ideal situation and that some may just pick up and run with the information given on this and other forums so we should all bear this in mind.

For small things then an opinion or, "i did this" is fine, but for major things i think too many people give advice that could go wrong. For big things i think a trained person who is there to see the animal first hand is always going to be better than a person on a internet forum.
Couldn't agree more.

I've not no written qualifications that make me a dog trainer or a behaviourist, but I've been involved with dogs since I was born & had my own dog from the age of 8-50 years ago this July !! I've been involved with training dogs since I was 6 & started training other people's dogs with problems since 1964. I have never called myself a behaviourist & never would, I'm a dog trainer & have had GSDs, Beardies, Border Collies, cavaliers & one Cross breed-all were trained at least to novice level in Obedience even if they never competed. I've been helping with GSD rescue for as long as I can remember & we do see a lot of owner casued bad behaviour, which fortunately can be corrected, but it does take time & patience.

I try not to give advice anymore after being called a "know-it-all" & can no longer be bothered to get invloved in public with other people's problems aired on the internet.

I will still help people face to face though especially with any of the breeds I have had personal experience of

Lokis mum;

> Now I try to sit on my hands and just read

I've more or less joined you in this attitude after a period of posting and being dismissed by several posters.
I've come to the conclusion that in this medium one's experience is hardly worth a jot. The need to justify my 'credentials', when in the real world I'm highly respected and regarded, is a real drag.
Why bother to post about feeding when I've only bred and fed several generations of healthy, happy successful dogs unlike the resident experts with a handful of dogs they didn't even produce.
Or post on breeding when I've only been doing it for 30 ish years ( and my family a further 20) and on my umpteenth generation -when first time breeders pour out advice using words like ALWAYS and NEVER when they have no idea what that means in long term dog breeding/owning.
How can one post along side 'breed experts' who have owned precisely one of their breed  but already have definate and fixed ideas?

It's all a bit more trouble than it's worth I feel and now I'll join you sitting on my hands for a while I think.
Oh but I did get some great advice once regarding which carpet shampooer to buy!!

Well Lea, if I was qualified I wouldn't be handing out my advice for free I would be charging obscenely for it as the only qualified person on the board. ;) ;)   There would be a paypal link in my profile and all major credit cards would be welcome ;)

In actual fact I have no animal related qualifications and think I only comment on things I have personal experience of and most of them are not dog related (although if anyone wants to dredge through all of my old posts to disprove this feel free). 

I also try to make sure that I don't say things as fact just because I have heard them on the board or they are one authors opinions (e.g. all irish staffs are pitbulls <how would I know?> or the 5 minute rule for walks <haven't had a large breed or carried out a longitudinal study>  and as a result of this try not to jump on to whatever bandwagon is flavour of the month.

Ditto, own experience or the experience of those I know where the said action has worked well.