and when I went inside to get water to wet their roots my dear Oliver CHOMP, CHOMP, CHOMPED my spinach into oblivion. This was followed a while later by the complete destruction of my budding raspberry plant (which is kind of impressive because those suckers are pretty pokey!)
The list is indeed growing, and at last count includes: numerous pairs of socks, new sunglasses, an entire bottle of hand sanitizer, a water bottle, a pen that turned our white comforter into one with blue splotches and drips, the christmas present I bought for my parents when I was in Haiti, and the better part of a new pair of pants.
Oh yeah, he also ate my only surviving plant jut a few days ago, which was the blueberry plant that had a magnificent two berry yield for us so far this summer. ARGH!!!
Being a people person in general and an inexperienced pet owner in specific, I’m not sure how to proceed! If Oliver was a toddler I’d have a number of tricks and techniques in my bag of discipline/re-direction that I could fire right off, but I don’t think any of those apply when it comes to small puppies. To date I’ve mostly just done a miss moshed approach which involves a combination of all of these things: bugging my eyes out, banishing him to his kennel (I know, I too read that the kennel should be a “place of happiness” where the dog feels safe and homey, but banishment to the playground of the backyard hardly seems appropriate..), dragging him to the scene of the crime to force him into confrontation of the disastrous event, and in general glaring at him while shaking my head sometimes adding a little wagging of my finger. Not surprisingly this “approach” is not entirely effective, ok it’s not effective at all. Thus, I am writing this post to ask advice on the issue of puppy discipline. My personal opinion is not that he’s being bad, or anxiously destroying things cause we are gone and he is worried, but more that he has discovered the joy of tearing things apart willy-nilly style and while I think he realizes that he’s in the dog house (wha whaa) with us, the benefits of tomfoolery and destructive revelry are far outweighing the drawbacks at this juncture! That or he likes to find the things I love and destroy them so he will be the only one left..
3 comments:
those are the things i would probably try, too; if you catch him in the act you can squirt him with water or shake a can of rocks or something equally loud at him. also, is he getting enough exercise? maybe he needs you to take him for really long runs or something. in all of your spare time?? ;)
Oh man, if only mine was still a toddler, i would trade you. I can deal with the puppy stuff. . . Toddler and now pre/adolescent stuff, WTF??! I do not get it.
But back to Oliver, move the potted plants onto a table where he can't reach (move the chairs too, so he can't climb them). Fence around the ground plants. Keep him in a kennel when your away, I know it seems cruel, but it's not, they're den animals they love small spaces. Plus all he does is sleep most of the day and if he's not sleeping he's looking for things to chew, in his kennel there are fewer choices.
Some people like that bitter apple spray, haven't tried it though.
And Nora is right, make sure he's getting enough exercise too
Good luck! And if you ever want to trade just let me know!
haha Kathy, I said I would HAVE some tricks, not necessarily that they would work. I am sure I will be blessed with an incredibly obstinate child!
We kennel him whenever we are gone, but the party like it's chirstmas all over our now ink stained bedspread happened the one time he somehow escaped! I think one of the latches was undone and he busted out.
I've been working hard on the exercise portion too, I had been thinking it was partially that, cause his breed(s?) need a lot of running time. I've been taking him out for a run three times a week with me and then walks and play time in the back yard... it seems to be helping except now he digs. can't win them all I guess!
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