Hard to get in trouble
8 August, 2008 (17:00) | Daily Posts | By: 
Cynthia
Tatum was saying on her blog, the other day, that it’s hard for dogs to get in trouble at our house. 
And my husband said it once, too, when Muffit came back to live with us. And it’s true. Dogs just don’t get in trouble at our house.
I love this picture because it’s a perfect example. The dog who is looking at the camera is Bianca, one of the rescue collies we got from Houston Texas last year. And Tatum is the monster who still has her head buried in the roll of paper towels.
But as for a disclaimer… I have to say that our house is pretty dog proof. And if we leave a roll of paper towels out where the dogs can get them, well it’s our own fault, not the dogs.
Also, punishing a dog for something after the fact only makes the dog afraid of you. It doesn’t teach the dog anything. So if one of our dogs poops or pees in the house, oh well, we clean it up and go on with life. And Lucy and Angel are both getting old so this is happening more often than we would like. We just try to take them outside to potty more often than we used to.
Tatum ‘read’ a magazine the other day. It ended up all over the bedroom floor. But you know, I can’t bear to punish her. She has such a spirit and I don’t want to make her afraid of me. And oh yeah.. well, I gave her the magazine. Because I didn’t want her to ‘read’ my library book that she was starting to chew on! So really we trade our dogs something they can have, for something we don’t want them to have. Maybe they can chew up some futures broker someday… ooo that might be good!
Dogs are dogs, and toys are toys, and in our house, if it’s left out, it’s pretty much fair game to be used as a toy. We love our dogs more than our things. And we do have rules. Like Tatum said in her post, sometimes they are just hard to find. But the rules are there, we just enforce them in ways that do not entail punishment. Rather we redirect, we exercise, we do other things so the dogs are successful. And if they do something they really shouldn’t (like Chase going after another of our dogs) he might get a scruff shake or a hard ‘no’, but that’s about it anymore.
I used to do the correction thing, and you still might see me roll a dog and hold him/her down occasionally to make sure they know I am boss. But other than that, we have a happy dog house. And we want a happy dog house!
On this day..
- Here Comes the Attitude - 2007
- First Trial! - 2005
| 3.1 |
We have pretty much the same policy… If its left out.. its fair game.
Saint Lovers last blog post..Naptime with the Dogs
I agree Lora. fortunately my husband understands this and can’t get mad when he looses shoes lol.
pacco love shredding newspaper….
to prevent her mischief, i have resort to keep her in her own cage when i’m not around
paccos last blog post..Pre-Dogathon
LOL for Pacco. Yup, a crate is a good tool and dogs like them too!
Yeah I guess when you have a dog, especially several dogs, you just get used to putting everything away. I assume that if I leave something out when I’m gone that Ace might get to it. Better to be safe than sorry. I agree, if you don’t catch them in the act of destroying something, it’s not worth scolding them. They just won’t understand what they did wrong.
Lindsays last blog post..Blog update (8-9-08)
I agree, Lindsay. They don’t understand after the fact.
I pretty much live that philosophy. The toilet paper doesn’t live on the holders anymore and the coffee table is clean. When I get mad, it’s usually at myself. Note I said ‘usually’. LOL! But I’d never direct my anger at my dog; there’s just no reason to do so, since she can’t understand.
pams last blog post..Saturday afternoon
Hi Pam.. yeah, dogs don’t understand anger except that it is dangerous and something to fear. We don’t want our dogs afraid of us!
did you let your dogs loose on my commentluv database?
in response to your comment on my site, if you use http://www.tiptail.com in the author url field of a comment form of a site that uses commentluv then it will pick up your last post. for some reason it’s not pulling a feed url from your page if you ommit the www part
I’ll try to get to the bottom of it and let you know. (sorry you thought you got banned!)
Andy Baileys last blog post..My life in (other peoples) pictures
Thanks Andy! I’ll use the www from now on.
Thanks for the plugin!
I love the fair game remark. If we leave it out in the open for our dog to get it, it’s so hard to even think of serious correction.
That picture says it all, doesn’t it?
You have such a great attitude about dog messes!
K9 Amigas last blog post..Dogs And Parties
All dogs love toilet paper/paper? I wonder why? Why is it so attractive about toilet papers?
I only find one solution for my shih shu and silky terrier, crate them when i am not around. If not the whole roll of toilet paper will be gone and i will need to clean my house!
I totally agree with what you mention!
Blitzkrieg wants to come play at your house. He’s really good at derolling the toilet roll. When he can reach it. He’s only 12 inches high.
Condo Bluess last blog post..How to Make Old Doc Martin Boots into a Hip Flower Pot