Just have to vent. . .

[Kerislc]

Ok, I know we all love our dogs like crazy, but do they ever just drive you nuts?

I finally had to take Scout to my mom's yesterday because he was being sooo naughty.

He woke up at 6 am (usually he will sleep until we get up) and jumped on the bed and would not stop licking my face. He finally got off the bed and I heard a strange noise in the living room. I had made hot chocolate the night before and left a little bit in the glass on the coffee table. Scout had jumped up there and was licking the outside of the glass precariously close to the edge. I took it away right before it fell.

Then, I tried to read the newspaper, but he would sit down right in the middle of it everytime I turned the page. When I took a bath, he kept trying to jump in with me so I shut the door and he cried until I got out. I went to church and came back to the newspaper totally torn up and scattered everywhere and the dog was sitting on the kitchen table! I got the dog off the table and he ran in my room and got the water bottle off of my night stand and chewed the lid off of it. He then carried it into the living room leaving a trail of water. I tried to take a nap and he sat and looked at me and cried and everytime I would nod off, he would bark at me.

I did not feel well, so I decided that my mom would have more patience. I took him up there and after daying hello to everyone he took off running down the street. I called him and he just ran faster. I finally caught him about a block away. I put him in the house and told my mom that Scout was having a sleep over and left. I called her later and of course, Scout was behaving perfectly.

Is he turning into a teenager or something. Why does he have certain days where he is so naughty? And what do I do about it?

Sorry this is so long, but I am so frustrated, yet for some reason I can't halp but laugh at all of the things he did yesterday :D . Any advise on discipline?

[drjeffrock]

My suggestion is...
EXERCISE!
Take your dog on daily hikes, jogs, etc. and you will def. see a change in behavior. I know it sounds obvious, but it will really does work wonders.
I cannot imagine the terror Dex would cause if I did not strenuosly exercise him daily. If your dog is plum-tired, he wont have the energy to do naughty things ;)

[imported_Matty]

Sounds like your pup is training you. Hes doing a pretty good job of it :lol:
You should implement some rules in your household like the NIFIL policy. That way your dog will respect your rules. Dogs and pups learn behaviors which get attention and any attention is good attention weather it be you chasing him around the house calling him every 4 letter word out there, or if you are rewording him with a treat. They learn by repetition and attention.
You dog has learned to get your attention and he is pretty strong willed about it. Try implementing some ground rules and don't give in when hes naughty. If hes being good and laying there like an angel, reward him for it by telling him good boy and a pat. Ignore the bad, reward the good :wink:

[Kerislc]

We have strict NILIF rules in our house and normally he is very good, but he is learning that even negative attention is better than no attention. I should take him for walks more often though. We play in the backyard a lot, but a change of scenery for his excercise might help.

[Horsefeathers!]

He's being a dawg. However, YOU can outsmart him. :wink:

We have clearly defined boundaries in our house (physical and behavioral) mainly because we need order since there are so many of them. We've learned to never leave a dish (*ahem* hot chocolate mug) unattended, not even for a second. Our dogs are like vultures in that they seem to be constantly in a holding pattern, hovering around until one of us (hubby or me) is off our game for a minute and leaves a potentially edible (or lickable or chewable or sniffable) item unattended. We have to be faster and smarter than them.

If I need some alone time in the bathroom, I simply close the door. If they persist in being doodoo heads, they go into their special "calm down, time out" places which would be their crates. The parrot trick worked well for mine when they would cry to the heavens about their confinement. We'd simply cover the crates with a blanket or draw the blinds and close the door and say goodnight. Since their pitiful pleas didn't work initially (have to get some of that good selective hearing that most mamas have and tune them out sometimes at first), they don't bother protesting anymore.

Anything you don't want destroyed, put away. Clothes, paper, shoes, anything. In the initial training phases, our house frequently looked as if we might be selling off our belongings to support a drug habit since it often looked so bare in here, but the dogs did eventually learn that they couldn't eat, shred, gnaw, chew everything that wasn't nailed down. You'll probably need to put trash cans up on a high surface, or have one with a very securely locking lid.

I don't know how old Scout is, but I never gave free run of the house to any of my dogs until they'd been here a while and were more trustworthy. Dogs will be dogs and the world (or unattended house) is a huge place to explore and with exploration often comes destruction.

Pretty much whatever others have said... persistence and diligence and lots of exercise couldn't hurt. Find things that are most interesting to Scout than your newspaper :wink: . It's kind of a pain in the butt in the beginning (then again, it's pretty fun because you'll get to look back and laugh), but it usually pays off with a well mannered dog. When I think of some of the things we've been through with some of these critters in the past, I heave a huge sigh of relief that all ten are settled in (mostly :oops: ) and fairly reliable. I'm a huge believer in a structured environment. It just seems to me that dogs react much better to structure and routine and a clearly defined set of boundaries rather than constantly having to test their boundaries to see what they can get away with.

Good luck. 8)

[Kerislc]

Scout is 7 months and only has access to the kitchen unless he is with me. He sleeps in his kennel with the door open next to our bed. I guess I thought that anything left on the table in the kitchen was out of reach(aka the newspaper). Apparently not. So, he doesn't exactly have full reign. Although I have to admit, at 6am on a Sunday I was more concerned about sleep than where Scout was.

BTW, the reason I am so frustrated is becuase he is normally so well behaved. He stays in his kennel until we wake up, he plays in the kitchen when I need a break and he has never destroyed anything (except his toy duck).

Can you tell I am feeling super guilty now? I'm getting a little defensive about my puppy parenting :oops: . I thought it was funny because it was like he woke up on Sunday and thought "Oh, I am going to be naughty today." Then, last night, he went to bed and woke up as a good dog again. Thus, I am asking why the multiple personalities episode? :-?

[Carolk9s]

This does sound like fairly typical teenage/adolescent behaviour. The key is to stay calm, stay on course, ride it out while encouraging him to behave the way you want. Is Scout neutered yet? If not, those hormones might be stirring which only adds to him being somewhat 'unsettled'.
Good advice from an earlier post, put stuff away! It's funny but true, dogs teach you to put your stuff away. Silly me, I still 'forget' that nugget of gold now and then. I went searching for my slippers recently, could not think of where I left them. Found them in the back yard, shredded. Rotten dogs. 8) They MUST have mistaken my slippers for one of their toys even though my slippers did NOT have a squeaker. :P
They have to remind me now and then to put my stuff away!
Scout is far too young to be off leash in an unsecure area, glad you got him back when he ran down the street at your moms.