I gave up negative dog training a long time ago. I try very hard to keep positive in my day to day with Luke and Elsa. Finding the positive way around an issue is not always easy but it is always best. Being positive builds strong bonds and makes us look at things differently. Negativity is all around us and I am quite frankly giving it the boot.
I have a few Facebook groups; I love them and I take great enjoyment in meeting and hearing from all the members. But like anything else; there is always one in every crowd. As my groups grow I am running into some negative nellies; and I'm not a fan of any of them. In the beginning I tried to explain my stand, what I meant etc. etc. But now, they get the boot. Just yesterday a member threatened to "UNLIKE" my page because I said I'd seen oodles of doodles on our walk. I was shocked at how many I'd seen in one place and they were all the color of Elsa. A doodle is anything mixed with a poodle. The negative person stated that if I agreed to the mixing of poodles and other dogs that she was going to have to 'unlike' my page. At first I got angry but then after some consideration, she got the boot. (More on designer dogs in another blog)
Managing all my groups takes a good amount of time to do it right. My time is valuable like anyone else's. The more I weed out the negative the better everything is. This person who threatened to 'unlike' my page (like I care) knew nothing about me and yet still found it to be her prerogative to accuse. I have very few rules on my pages but one is that it must remain positive. So that old saying that your Mother told you a million times as you were growing up has been instilled. "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all." Mean, rude or disrespectful comments are deleted immediately. If I think that comments are too disrespectful then that negative person is given the boot.
Thankfully I have had to only boot 3-4 negatives so far. But as my groups grow my patience diminishes. I don't have time to let negativity hang around. So I am much more free with my delete button. Being positive not only makes you feel better but creates a positive atmosphere around you. Dishing out negativity creates more negativity.
When I am faced with a new canine behavior to deal with I look at solving it with positivity. If you look at the same problem and try to fix it through negative actions the impact with be vastly different. Positive versus negative; there is no comparison. My act of deleting negativity from my groups is a positive one; removing the negative to make room for the positive. It is a stand I take and one that I will not waver on. Really, if you cannot play nice with others, then don't.
I work very diligently to keep my canine interactions positive. Keeping my human interactions as positive can take more work but with a bit of weeding I keep pretty much on top of things.
Have a wonderful positive day. :)