So 2015 has had a little bit of a rough start for your old friend.
I generally don’t like sharing depressing news and like leaving you with a smile after you read these daily dog training emails.
Here’s what happened:
Last week, everyone in the house got sick. We then had a pipe freeze and burst which was then followed by a car accident. My van was backed into and it pretty much smashed the driver’s side door in completely.
But…..
……I am not complaining. I am not even really that upset by any of it. Problems happen. I don’t go out of my way to find them but there is no way to avoid them and when they come along it is much better to learn to roll with them then to scream, kick, smash and get upset over stuff that has already happened.
When faced with a problem I always try to remember this:
“There is an opportunity here. What is it?”
Getting sick was a reminder to take better care of myself. The busted pipe resulted in finding a great plumber that I referred to my father and a few others. The car getting smashed resulted in having something to write about.
It’s all good.
Which leads me to dogs.
Dogs come with problems. And it is easy to get upset and frustrated when your dog decides to take up wood carving with her teeth and chews your antique oak table into a set of toothpicks.
That is UNacceptable behavior and has to stop. This would give you an opportunity to learn the M.U.T.T. Method and apply it so it never happens again. Here is how it works:
M – Manage the behavior. Do NOT give your dog the chance to chew on the table by using crates, baby gates or a back tie.
U – Underlying reason. What is the reason for the behavior and can it help us prevent it from happening again? Was the dog bored? Hungry? Once we discover what the underlying reason is we can take steps to help it from happening again.
T – Teach a new behavior. In this situation we could use a taste deterrent and a little peanut butter to help the dog learn to discriminate between what is acceptable and unacceptable to chew on.
T – Then we need to give it a little time for everything to sink in. New behaviors sometimes take a few weeks to become habit.
Okay, before taking off one more thing.
I created The M.U.T.T. Method to help you any time you’re faced with a behavior problem. The Dog Training Inner Circle includes my Good K9 Manners course which covers the M.U.T.T. Method in detail with videos.
You can get it all for just $1.00!
Incredible.
I know. But I really do want to help you train your dog and you can get started by going here NEXT:
Best,
Eric