Got hammered over the weekend.
I didn’t get drunk. I meant the amount of snow we got. Had a wedding to go to on Sunday and we made it.
I did meet a few people and had a conversation with a young women in college. Once she found out I was a dog trainer she locked on like a heat seeking missile and started to fire questions at me. She was in luck.
I was in a talkative mood but I was concerned about what she was about to do. Here is what she said:
I have a 5 month old Pomeranian and he is awful. Nothing my boyfriend or I am doing is working he isn’t potty trained or anything. I’m in college and he is tearing up my books, my wireless router for internet, phone chargers and more. I was considering getting a shock collar but don’t know if that will work. I’ve put so much money into keeping him but I’m reaching my last straw. Can you give me any advice?
I was hesitant to give advice for two reasons:
- Most people reject free advice.
- She really needs a trainer to work with. A dog that is sick needs medicine on a daily basis until the problem goes away.
A dog that is having behavior problems often needs help on a continuing basis for at least a few weeks. All of my training programs require you to work with me for at least a few weeks.
Anyway, I decided to mush on and give some advice. I pulled out a napkin and pen wrote this down:
- Management.
- Exercise.
- Teach what is acceptable and unacceptable to chew on.
- Teach the word “YES.”
- Teach the word “NO.”
- Forget the shock collar.
A young puppy needs constant management. If the puppy is chewing your books, router or anything else, someone is NOT managing the pup’s behavior. You have to use a crate or x-pen with puppies and NEVER allow them the chance to chew your stuff.
Since they are both busy college students the pup is not getting much exercise. That has to change.
You can teach a pup what they can and CANNOT chew on. There different ways to do it but it can be done.
Teach markers like “YES” and “NO” so the pup can learn what they can and can’t do. This is done through classical conditioning and once you teach markers you can communicate with your dog for the rest of his life.
Teaching the word NO has become controversial and confusing a lot of dog owners but here is a little inside baseball for you. Most people come to me to learn how to STOP behaviors. They are more interested in getting their dog to stop stealing food off the counters, to stop jumping, barking, digging, chewing and more.
When you learn how to teach your dog NO you can effectively teach your dog to STOP doing certain behaviors. No long drawn out often ineffective “counter-conditioning” techniques that sound great on paper but don’t work that great in the real world.
Lastly, the shock collar. It has become an alarming trend that I see in my business. People are getting frustrated with their dogs and they immediately reach for an electronic collar.
E collars can be very effective but used incorrectly, you can confuse the heck out of your dog and other, more undesirable behaviors could crop up.
Anyway, since she did not live close to me I directed her to The Dog Training Inner Circle. I told her that there are plenty of videos, articles and more to help her. I also told her about the forum where she could ask questions.
I then wrote this on the napkin: Go here when you go home and register for just $1.00!
Best,
Eric