Q:
I have a six-month old male puppy who is out of control. He is smart
as a whip, but will only obey when we are watching or when he feels
like it. He has terrorized my cat, ripped up my garden, and stolen a
whole pot roast off the counter. The list is endless. Short of going
to a zapping collar we have tried everything. Can you help?
A:
Actually, everything you mention sounds like
typical puppy behavior. Reliable behavior really doesn't happen
until a dog reaches emotional maturity … from 1-1/2 to 3 years of
age.
I suggest lowering your expectations. Your dog is at a stage
comparable to a grade-school level. What you're asking for in your
question is high-school level reliability, which means your dog will
do what you want in distracting situations and will work more for
“life rewards” (praise, going for walks, chasing a ball, etc.).
That's impossible for a six-month old puppy.
The most important aspect to work on is the prevention and
management aspect of training. This means controlling your dog's
access to the things he wants … including freedom to certain areas
of the house. Dogs should earn their freedom in increments. Normally
a dog shouldn't have free run of a house until about the age of one
year. We need to create an environment for safety and success. In
other words, use baby gates and supervised tethering to control your
dog's access and keep him safe at the same time. But we also need to
teach him how to resolve his desire, such as stealing food from the
table. That brings us to training.
Positive training is proactive rather than reactive. It has to do
with teaching your dog appropriate behavior rather than trying to
stop inappropriate behavior. For example, rather than trying to
teach your dog to stop stealing pot roasts from the table, teach
your dog to lie down whenever you put food on the table. Once your
dog is convinced that lying down will actually get him what he
eventually wants—a food treat—he'll gladly stay there until he is
finally rewarded.
I'd recommend hiring a professional trainer (who only uses positive
methods of course) to show you the step-by-step process to make this
work.
For more specific tips, see our
Puppy Sections | |
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