What has the forum....

ORIGINAL: denise_m

I've been hang'n around for over 3 years and this forum has really changed my life in soooo many ways.

My house has never been so ill kept.
My kids can never find clean underwear.
I have learned how to throw a meal on the table in less than 15 minutes.
My typing skills have improved 10 fold. I now have a empoyable skill.
I am now acronym literate.
I actually know people who own guns.
I have one more addiction.

Besides that I am a better informed and happy dog owner.

HAHAHAHA. That's awesome and I can relate.

I have enjoyed exchanging dog stories for almost 2 years on this forum. It's nice to know that other dog owners experience some of the same things I have, and are as nuts about their dogs as I am about mine. I mean who else can carry on a discussion about the consistancy or color of their dogs BM?
 
I don't participate much in the nutrition area, but have learned tons of great things just by lurking over there. Because of the valuable things I have learned on this forum Marley has consistantly been fed a very healthy, balanced diet from puppyhood on. When Marley runs and plays I see the results of a very healthy diet. Shaq who started his life on what I thought at the time was a great food (before researching raw and high quality kibble) does not move with the same ease and grace.
 
At the end of some of my longest and most stressful days surrounded by grumpy teens I can always laugh or smile by checking out photos for sharing. I say an happy dog owner, is an good dog owner! []

It's helped me with health questions, nutrition information, training ideas and help, problem solving and the most important - chatting with fellow dog-people. *smile*

It has helped me very much. From learning why foods are good or bad. When Rupert was dignosed with HD, there were so many people there to lend advice and tell me what to expect, which calmed me down ALOT. Also it has helped me deal with minor problems I might have while raising a puppy.

I'm relatively new here but still this forum has taught me so much.  But I think that the most important thing i learned about on this forum was puppy mills.  I'm so glad that I learned about this travesty...because now I have the chance to pass on the knowledge that I acquired.

I also learned a lot about nutrition which has been really helpful for my dog's general health.

This forum has helped me a tremendous amount! As a first-time dog owner, each and every piece of advice I've received is something I consider invaluable, something you can't just pick up from reading books or researching the Internet. I come from the Philippines where there is a serious lack of behaviorists, +R trainers (I've only heard of one) and nutritionists, so this forum has helped a lot in that sense as well. Plus, it's just fun to be around this many dog-lovers!

I came across this forum 2 yrs ago when my Penny had to have ACL surgery. I don't post in alot of sections but I do read them all and I like to gather information.
When Penny went to the Bridge in Feb.2005 I couldn't believe the support I received. Many times I was ready to check out of this life but I had many friends here who helped me through one of the toughest things I have ever gone through.
There is one thing that makes me sad though. At times I have noticed that some posts don't get a response or only get 1 or 2. I wish people would post something just so that the person posting doesn't feel left out. Even if you don't have an answer, well wishes for a sick baby are really nice.
Personally, I love checking in all the time to see what responses I have gotten to a post, makes my day.

This forum has taught me so much about everything! I've learnt how to do the best by my dog (and other dogs) in all the ways possible- like how to find the best food for her, what are the most effective ways to train her and approach problems and in general just helped me to understand her so much better. I've also learned all about puppy mills and BYBs which I wasn't aware of before.
Thanks to all the people here, this forum is a treasure trove of knowledge and wisdom, and the way it is shared makes it a brilliant place to learn.
I also like the fact that this is a place where I can "be" around lots of other dog crazy ppl, and hear about/share silly dog stories and not feel like an idiot/weirdo []
 

ORIGINAL: ron2
. Learning here has been logarithmic. As in each successive step is ever higher than the one before, best expressed by the function, f (x) = x^2. Sorry about that, I couldn't resist. BTW, ^ means "raised to the power of."

 
Don't mean to be one of those pedantic nerdy people- but do you mean exponential, Ron? I always thought logarithmic functions slow down (as in the opposite of exponential functions). Sorry, I couldn't resist either [8|]...

This forum made me curious about "positive" training, and clicker training.

Emma is a completely different dog, now.

Wow, what hasn't this forum done?  I've learned so much about dogs.  Nutrition, behavior, books to read.  On top of that it's great to have a place to go where I can be with people who love their dogs as much as I do.  Because of i-dog I still have Grady when I wanted to send him back to the rescue I got him from.  He still is more dog than I bargained for but I learned how to deal with him.  Because of i-dog, I now have 2 of the best friends I could ever want (Grady & Aspen).  It opened up my mind to what I can do to help other dogs.  My first foster child now has a great new home & I thank this place for giving me the confidence in myself to be able to give her a chance the life she deserved.

I came here looking for info on a good clipper to use to cut off the mats from Shari's *bloomers*.  I started reading a lot more about the nutrition and changed her food for the last year of her life, as well as that of my cats.  I read through the health stuff.  Like many have said, I have found a lot of good information here and when I get another dog, I will be better-prepared how to train it.  I will know who to ask, where to look.
 
I also appreciate all the kind thoughts expressed when I lost Shari.  You guys and gals "get it", they aren't just dumb animals.
 
 

Oh boy....
 
This forum is invaluable for so many reasons.
 
It has given me the opportunity to not only learn more about my dog, but has helped me to learn about other breeds of dogs as well.  It has opened my eyes to those that make up the dog world.
 
I have learned about many things mentioned above, training, +R, food, toys, health, accommodations (beds), etc.
 
I've "met" some great people, get to talk about my dog, "meet" their dogs (the photos section is right up there as one of my favorites), exchange views on all kinds of things -- dog and non-dog related.
 
This is really a great place, and im so glad to be a member of this community!

Oh I love the health section, very informative. I love all the different breeds that are on this board. Just about anything you want to know you can find out about it here. What can I say besides it's a awesome forum...........

I am a first time dog owner with a breed many suggest is very stubborn and not good for first time owners.  This site has helped me, and quickly, with any question I have ever had, whether it be about feeding or whether the bump on her belly is a bite or a growth, etc.   If it were not for the site, Zoe would still be eating Iams and not gotten the tons of compliments on how shiny she is.  If it were not for this site, I wouldn't know much about therapy dogs (and hopefully Zoe will be one soon!) and if it were not for this site, I would never have known about clicker training and better harnesses for Zoe.  This is just some of the stuff, not to mention vaccine info, raw bones, toys, supplements, etc.
 
Also, I have learned a lot about people, made friends (some I have met in person as well), learned about other areas of the country and world and learned about a ton of breeds I never would have known existed.  I am addicted to Idog and I am proud of it!

I happened to find this forum one day when I was looking for places to buy K-9 Advantix online.  I found dog.com and saw the forum icon and decided to click on it.  I haven't been able to turn back since.  It has been a great place to learn about nutrition.  I was also feeding Iams and thinking it was a "great" food.  My son even told one of his friends one day " My mom is always on her dog website reading about dogs,  so she knows! "  LOL So funny
Thanks everyone for making this such a great place to come and learn. To be able to ask questions and get answers.   There is so much more to being a good dog owner than I would have never even thought of until coming to this forum.