I'm a bad dog mom

I love social media. I especially love TikTok, but one thing that drives me mad is the critiquing of others. Normally this doesn't affect me, and I just keep scrolling past, but when it comes to taking care of dogs, I just can't shake it.

About 75% of my TikTok algorithm is cute animals, mostly dogs. Of those videos, many of them are incredible dog owners who have trained their pups very well and know seemingly everything there is to know about owning a dog.

I'm a relatively new dog mom (my fiancé and I got Argos less than a year ago), and while we did really well with potty training, several tricks, and I consider him a good dog overall, watching those videos makes me feel like I'm doing so many things wrong.

So, in no particular order, here's a list of things I do (or don't do) that make me feel like a bad dog mom.

• I feed my dog kibble. He doesn't get any wet food, fresh food, or raw food. (The occasional fruit or veggie treat is not out of the question.)
• I don't walk my dog everyday or even every week. He does get plenty of running and playing in the background and in the house, but regular walks are not part of the routine.
• I let my dog off leash in our neighborhood. We live on the outskirts of town, and have a big open field behind our house, so I let him run off leash sometimes. We don't have a fence. His recall isn't perfect (or even that great), so I'm definitely a bad dog mom for that.
• Once, when he was off leash, he killed a baby bird. He still sometimes chases many other birds, as well as squirrels. He will always chase the deer behind our house if I have him off leash.
• Sometimes he eats rabbit poop, and I've stopped grabbing it out of his mouth. If I catch him before the act, I can stop him, but during... not happening.
• He jumps on nearly everyone when they come in the door. We've really tried to break of him of this, using lots of different tips from different dog trainers and owners with little success.
• I never crate-trained him. We have a crate, but we've never used it.
• I let him lick my face. In fact, I encourage it. I love puppy kisses.
• We take him to the dog park.
• I let him chew toys longer than I probably should. Of course, if I took any toy away the moment he started to rip it, he'd never have a soft toy longer than 30 seconds.
• He sleeps in the bed between my fiancé and I.
• In fact, he's allowed on pretty much all the furniture in our home, and often uses people as if they were furniture.
• He begs while we eat. He doesn't whine, but he'll sit and stare into your soul. Or he'll lay under your feet waiting for a bite of something.
• He always barks at our neighbors, even though he sees them often.
• He was not "properly socialized" as a puppy. He's only been to two different stores, and we don't spend much time in town.
• I bribe him inside with treats if he won't follow me in OR I hide in the garage until he comes to find me.
• I yell at him when he's in trouble.
• I hit him with a flip flop once after he chewed on it (not hard enough to hurt him, but still).
• I don't like leaving him at home, so my separation anxiety has led to his inevitable separation anxiety.
• I use positive reinforcement like 75% of the time, not 100%.
• Sometimes I get Starbucks and don't get him a pup cup. Sometimes I do get him a pup cup. I'm not sure there's a "correct" way on this one.
• I let him lick my legs after I get out of the shower.
• I feed him off the floor like 60% of the time. Sometimes I feed him by hand.
• I let him ride in the passenger seat when we go somewhere. I do not have a doggy seatbelt.
• Sometimes I baby him while I'm working, which encourages his clingy behavior.
• He doesn't like it when I trim his nails, meaning I failed to make it a good experience as he grew through his puppy phases.
• And I'm sure Argos would let me know that I don't pet him enough.

Does all of this actually make me a bad dog mom? Of course not. Argos is happy, healthy, and loved. And that's the sign of a good pet parent. That being said... there are things I could do better (just like every other aspect of life). However, there is no reason to critique or make others feel bad for the things they do or don't do for their healthy and happy pup.

To all the other "bad" dog moms out there. You're doing great. We got this.