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Thursday, February 11, 2010

Need puppy advice

While I've had dogs before, I've never raised a puppy before. It seems I am constantly being tested and I do not know how to react. How do you train a puppy to stop being bad? (I don't want to beat my pets.)

These are things that keep happening that are NOT allowed: dog takes my shoes and puts them in the doggie bed, eats the cat food, climbs up the stairway, sits on the couch. For all of these I yell "No!" with a stern powerful voice and sometimes follow through with and outside "time out" punishment.

This morning I caught the puppy on the couch again. I made it very clear that I was upset and put him outside. After 20min or so I went to let him back in and discovered he had eaten the cushion for my backyard furniture!!! I was livid! Still upset as I write this...

2 comments:

Timmy said...

Well i have 2 dogs, an olde english bulldogge. No im not illiterate, thats how its spelled lol. I also have a pit bull. You just have 2 be persistant with the dog and never allow it on the furniture. Make sure the dog has plenty of chew toys, as it sounds like he is teething. There are also sprays u can buy that may help 2 stop the dogs chewing habits. I also recomend spraying ur dog in the face w a squirt bottle when he acts up, much better than hitting them. I also think crate training is the all time best method of housebreaking a dog. Hope this helps. From utah Tim aka breadman

Trixie Racer said...

Great suggestions, Tim! How should I react each time I catch him on the furniture? It is a daily occurrence.

I will check today for sprays to prevent him from chewing on my shoes. He has plenty of chew toys.

Your idea of spraying him in the face with a squirt bottle is great. I will implement that immediately!


As far as crate training goes, I know lots of people do it, but...locking up an animal in a little box for hours at a time just seems mean to me.

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