If I send my 7 month old mastiff puppy to dog obedience school, will he stop tearing up my flowers?
I have replanted some of my bulb plants 3-5 times! My hens & chicks have been replanted 3 times. Luckily he hasn’t eaten them just pulls them up and swings them around. He has only totally destroyed 2-3 but it can’t be good for them & it is very frustrating for me & my husband. I love my puppy very much but I cannot tolerate this type of behavior. He recently tore up a box of Kleenex off the coffee table while we were at work. So I can see if we don’t put a stop to this it will get worse. Obedience school is the only thing I can think of doing. Will it help? I know he is going thru the terrible two stage but he is already 130 lbs so we need to control him now before he gets even bigger. HELP!
October 4th, 2010 at 12:52 pm
Yes, definetly. Obedience scool. Also I have to ask. do you put bone meal in your flower beds? If you do that may be why he is going after the dirt in the flower beds. bone meal is just ground up bones of various kinds used to add calicum to the soil. I had a neighbors poodle rip out all my tulip bulbs one year and finally I asked my vet why whould he do this and she told me he was after the bone meal I put in the soil. Makes sence now! No tulips that spring!!!
October 4th, 2010 at 1:11 pm
Obedience training would be good for you and your dog as far as handling him when you see him start to get into the flowers he might listen to you better. But there is a product that might work which you can spray on your plants and flowers called “Boundary” which repels dogs and cats.
Or..you could get a cactus garden..
October 4th, 2010 at 1:52 pm
What you proably did was scold him after he did these things, didn’t you, well let me tell you that that was the wrong way to handle it! What you need to do is replant your plants, praise him if he does something right, it will leave a psitive remark on him, it will make him want to do that so then he is praised, but if you scold him, he is going to grow up in fear and frustration and not know what to do. Obediance classes aren’t nessesary, all they do is teach how to sit and lie down, ect.
October 4th, 2010 at 2:46 pm
You are right- it’s not good for him. Many plants are extremely toxic to dogs. A $2000 surgery to remove an object from his digestive tract won’t be any fun either. Crate him when you cannot supervise him, and watch the Dog Whisperer. He gives great advise.
October 4th, 2010 at 3:35 pm
I don’t really think that if you just sent him to obedience SCHOOL that they could teach him to specifically not to dig up your flowers.
But, if you went with im to obedience CLASSES, I’m sure they would be more than happy to teach you ways of training him that would discourage this behavior.
Also, have u tried spraying “BITTER APPLE” on the flowers? Its non-toxic & u can buy it at almost any pet store. I believe they have one specifically for spraying plants. It’s just so bitter. Most dogs hate its bitter taste and spit things out once they taste it on them.
***Whatever u do, DO NOT follow joe’s advice about the plastic bag. I don’t care how much “EXPERIENCE” he has!!!
I know u sound like u have more sense than this, but I just wanted to mention it!
Good luck!
October 4th, 2010 at 4:06 pm
You have a little ways to go 🙂 My mastiff is 7 and barely moves! They are VERY calm for puppies. Mine is 230 lbs know and doesn’t chew or anything like that.
They go through a rebellious period around 18 – 24 months when they will test your patience much more than now. Obedience training will make him obedient when you TELL him something…not so much when you aren’t around. That would be reasoning..and a pup has none of that 🙂
Even now..at 7 yrs..the one thing my dog CAN’T resist..is getting into the garbage if left to his own devices. The tossing and chewing will be gone soon enough. They are very, very, very, very mellow animals. Had this been a German Shepherd pup? Your shoes would be torn up, the garbage knocked over…I even know of one couple who put their Shepherd into the bathroom when they left to go to the movies and she ATE through the drywall!
Also…they aren’t the brightest dogs in the world. It takes them a while to understand what is expected of them and even longer to actually OBEY. For now? Put up what you don’t want chewed (or behind a closed door) when you aren’t around. When you ARE around..make sure to let him know it’s a NO thing. Don’t hit the dog to discipline him (not even the cuff under the jaw thing)…but be firm. Their feelings get hurt quickly if the person they’re most attached to tells them they’re bad and refuses to give out any attention (or treats).
October 4th, 2010 at 4:34 pm
Well, yes you should have enrolled in obedience school a number of months ago. You have a large breed dog. And, you need to do the training. Sending him off to a board and train will not work. Just costs a lot of money.
Obedience will not teach him to not chew up kleenex boxes or not pull out the flowers though. Obedience will teach him to listen and respect you and eventually he will then learn to not do things that you don’t like.
Simple for now….don’t leave him loose in your yard without supervision. If he is left in the yard while you are at work, well there is just no way he’s not going to get into mischief. Build a dog run for him. The same with chewing in the house. He should not be left loose in the house when you can’t watch him. Crate him when you don’t have the time to watch him.