Parent belittles her daughter's strict puppy training, sparks debate over boomer-logic dog ownership: 'Mom had our childhood pets overweight [and] reactive'

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Jesse Kessenheimer • Writer and Editor
Jun 21, 2026 2:00 PM EDT

How do you train your dog? Do you use treats, toys, playtime, or extra cuddles? 

Well, this boomer mom uses none of the above, letting her family dogs roam free and feral in the household as long as they lived. Is that the kind of person you want to take dog training advice from? Probably not. A young woman and her boyfriend just got a 9-week-old puppy and were planning a strict regimen of training, but her mom's boomer logic got in the way and immediately started derailing her diligent training. 

Furious, the dog trainer ran to Reddit's r/opendogtraining subreddit to vent about her mother's inconsistencies, opening up a discussion about dog training, dog ownership, and the flawed mentality of "hands off" dog training that plagued an entire generation.  

Training a dog requires a lot of work, time, and sometimes money. 

Pushing their humans to the limit of their patience, puppies can be particularly frustrating to train. Their little noggins just aren't ready to be in the crate for 4 hours at a time, and just like iPad children, they're ready to demolish the house if they're left unattended for too long. Anyone who's ever had the stinky-breathed pleasure of owning a puppy knows the upsides and pitfalls of dog ownership. 

The generational divide comes into play when we start looking at how different age groups trained their dogs. Older people likely had houses with yards when they got their first dog, setting Fido free in the house and the yard to get the wiggles out. Their dogs jumped, they knocked kids over, they bothered guests at the dinner table, and they probably lived an epic, rule-free life. 

Young people don't have that luxury. We got dogs when we lived in an apartment, rushing the puppy down three flights of stairs when they were getting potty trained, and walking the pup on a leash for an hour every day to exercise them. Our dogs had to be better trained the wolves of yore. Alas, this boomer mom would never understand that, and likely would never bother to try to adopt her daughter's "strict" methods either. At least this young dog trainer is encouraged by Redditors online to persist in her training and stick to the rules, because ultimately, that's what makes your dog a good boy or a good girl in the end. 

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  • Cheezburger Image 10639667712
    via Genstoness

  • Training a dog requires a lot of work, time, and sometimes money. 

    Pushing their humans to the limit of their patience, puppies can be particularly frustrating to train. Their little noggins just aren't ready to be in the crate for 4 hours at a time, and just like iPad children, they're ready to demolish the house if they're left unattended for too long. Anyone who's ever had the stinky-breathed pleasure of owning a puppy knows the upsides and pitfalls of dog ownership. 

  • Hi! My bf and I got our first puppy a week and a half ago and he's a 9 week old English lab. We did endless amounts of research on training and preparation for our baby
    via Genstoness
  • and now that we have him, I'm realizing that many people truly don't care about training their dogs lol. My mom has been all over me saying that we are too "by the book" or too strict with
    via Genstoness
  • TRESE
    via Genstoness
  • our regimen for him. We already have him crate trained, he knows his name, how to stay, wait for food to be given an "okay", sit, down, and a bit more. He sleeps
    via Genstoness
  • throughout the night with one or two wake ups for potty. We don't allow him on the couch or bed yet because we are working on establishing
    via Genstoness
  • boundaries that he has his space and we have ours. Eventually we will create a command for "up" or "off" so we can get him on or off with a command. She thinks it's
    via Genstoness
  • absolutely nuts that we don't let him actively roam the house or have access to every room. We let him explore but supervised. Most of his time is spent in his play
    via Genstoness
  • pen with toys or his crate for his enforced naps to ensure he gets his 18 hours of sleep a day. He is doing great but I'm so over people giving their two cents saying things
    via Genstoness
  • like "but it's normal for him to chew your couch, he's just a puppy" or "let him jump all over you, he's just excited!" We're working on preventing his
    via Genstoness
  • jumping or not entertaining it when he does jump because eventually he will be around 70lbs and jumping won't be funny or cute anymore. My mom had
    via Genstoness
  • our childhood pets overweight, food reactive, and weren't friendly with other dogs. I loved them to death but I'm realizing she is not in the place to give advice. I remember
    via Genstoness
  • they tore up our couch one time as puppies because she let them free roam while we left. I guess I'm just ranting to rant about how many people are telling us we
    via Genstoness
  • are too strict on him and how frustrating it is to hear this just because he has a schedule. Puppies are like babies! They need to have order and structure in their lives.
    via Genstoness
  • NINE
    via Genstoness

  • The generational divide comes into play when we start looking at how different age groups trained their dogs. Older people likely had houses with yards when they got their first dog, setting Fido free in the house and the yard to get the wiggles out. Their dogs jumped, they knocked kids over, they bothered guests at the dinner table, and they probably lived an epic, rule-free life. 

    Young people don't have that luxury. We got dogs when we lived in an apartment, rushing the puppy down three flights of stairs when they were getting potty trained, and walking the pup on a leash for an hour every day to exercise them. Our dogs had to be better trained the wolves of yore. Alas, this boomer mom would never understand that, and likely would never bother to try to adopt her daughter's “strict” methods either. At least this young dog trainer is encouraged by Redditors online to persist in her training and stick to the rules, because ultimately, that's what makes your dog a good boy or a good girl in the end. 

  • Skull_Murray • This is why most dogs you meet on the street aren't that well behaved.
    via Skull_Murray
  • literarypetlife ⚫ You should probably just assert boundaries with people in addition to the puppy. "Thanks for the input but this is how we are raising our dog. You can do what
    via literarypetlife
  • you want with yours but this is what we are doing." Rinse and repeat every time they bug you.
    via literarypetlife
  • Incidental Apex ⚫ Glad you did the research and are making an effort with your pup. A well trained dog is great to be around.
    via IncidentalApex
  • Juliet Dove88 · I puppy raise service dogs and you are doing everything right absolutely do not listen to them
    via Juliet Dove88
  • AG_Squared • Yeahhh my mom used to get onto me for having "too many rules" for the dogs but then she got a dog and suddenly she has more "rules" than we do.
    via AG_Squared
  • Business-Fish-9137. I think most people don't actually realise how hard it is to be responsible dog owner either.
    via Business-Fish-9137
  • bassekong1⚫ I think it depends on where you live, in Norway most people have very well behaved dogs as there is much focus on training and «good >>> br ling.
    via bassekong1

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