Avril Munson's Blog

I wonder how many of you have puppies at the stage where they are tall enough to reach the work tops and tables in the kitchen? I have been living with dogs all my life and have been fortunate to live a with a lot of puppies and still I forget how much damage they can do once tall enough to get up on surfaces! The first warning came when Betty started pulled magazines and papers off of the kitchen table, mostly they were of no real value and I didn’t take much notice, thinking I had left a chair out or left them too near the edge! One Monday I was busy going from appointment to appointment and had planned a visit home at lunch time that for one reason and another didn’t come off and poor Betty was in her crate most of the day, I felt bad, but she seemed to cope. The next day she was a complete demon, all that pent-up energy from the day before came out (easy to forget for us owners that the next day the puppy will have more energy than normal)! At one point on returning to the kitchen Betty was on top of the table, having thrown everything off on the floor, having first torn up anything tearable! The look of her face was so full of mischief I had to turn away before she saw my smile! The day went from bad to worse, she ate one DVD, a tea towel got shredded, anything she could move got moved and all this despite me training and walking her a lot that day!

The work tops have come in reach over the last week or two, at first it was just stuff near the edge but now it is anything and I have at last noticed and remembered to be a dog trainer! I am not the tidiest person on the planet, but now I must be or Betty will learn to explore work tops and high surfaces. The best way to stop this behaviour is not to leave the room with anything in reach! Betty has already realised that it isn’t a good idea to go up on the work tops when I am in the room, at least mostly, I wouldn’t test this theory by leaving delicious food near the edge :)! For those of you whose pups still jump at work tops when you are in the room here is the way to stop them:

Do

Those legs are getting longer!

not:

• speak or shout if they jump up
• do not use your hands to pull them off
• do not look at them directly

the above are all interpreted by the dog as attention and will encourage the behaviour!

Do:

• push them down with the side of your leg or hip
• do brush their back feet out from under them by sweeping your foot along the ground
• either of these without speaking or looking directly at them

I look forward to your comments and hearing your experiences and do send in photo’s of your puppy’s please?