How to prevent your dog from biting the carpet, curtains, slippers, etc.

Probably, if yours is a normal, healthy puppy of any of the more active breeds, by the age of nine or ten weeks he will show a propensity for fussing, tearing and chewing on curtains, shoelaces and anything else soft and dangling. That’s “shaking hands” is one of the easiest tricks to teach available to him. This is nothing more than the awakening of that instinct that in a natural state makes a dog’s jaws and teeth his most valuable assets, so don’t lose patience.

On the principle that “what’s out of sight is out of mind”, eliminate the temptation or the dog. If this is not enough, and the habit worsens, catch the pup in the act and, striking him on the side of the jaw hard enough to make him look surprised, snap at him “Stop!” repetitions of this will be enough to impress the youngster with the meaning of the words.

As the pup gets older, in ninety-nine out of a hundred cases it will lose interest in the game of scratching. Until then, he simply suppresses the desire instead of trying to beat it out of her; because it has its positive side in that it is an indication of the spirit that the adult dog will possess. It’s an old saying among the bird-dogmen that the more a cub tries to tear things apart, the more energetic, ambitious, and valuable he’ll become when he matures, a principle that’s good with other breeds.

With the exception of the command mentioned above, and one other lesson to be mentioned at this point, do not undertake any real and consistent discipline until your dog is at least four months old. A puppy’s brain as young as ten or twelve weeks is too underdeveloped to understand the why and wherefore of regular training, and he should not struggle to remember more than a few things.

But even if the dog is not going to be kept regularly in the house, it is very important that you take at an early age the matter of the formation of clean clothes in the house is a matter that cannot be overlooked, and by achieving it many homeopathic doses of preventative are worth more than a few allopathic doses of dog whip. Sometimes the latter is necessary, but before resorting to it, be perfectly sure that the culprit fully appreciates why he is being punished and what he should have done to avoid it, and then make the punishment appropriate.

The first step in housebreaking can be taken as soon as your pup arrives. If it is going to be kept in the house, make sure you or someone else takes it outside for a while at reasonable intervals. This will go a long way in the formation of proper habits, but when (as is sure to be the case sooner or later) the pup misbehaves, drag him to the spot where the misdeed occurred, reprimand him severely, and put him down immediately. in the open air, leaving it there for about five minutes before admitting it back into the house.