Hello, I have a 4 month old labrador puppy that loves to destroy things while I’m not around. She doesn’t destroy furniture, she destroys everything she thinks is edible that’s on the coffee table. One week ago I caught her eating a plant that’s on the table, I tried to somehow explain it to her that she shouldn’t be eating that and she felt guilty but today I went out and guess what happened - she ate the whole thing plus some other things she could find. I don’t know how to explain it to her that things on the table are off limits and I don’t want to have to put things away every time I have to go out so it would be great to get some advice on how to deal with this problem.
Hi Milica, welcome to the forum! I'm sure some of our knowledgeable members will be along soon with great suggestions, but in the meantime our troubleshooting page on the main site might have some helpful starting points Good luck and let us know how you get on!
At this age we either kept her away from rooms with stuff, or removed everything in her reach. It’s not for long and much safer than eating something that could risk her health. I don’t think it’s realistic to expect her to know at this age what she can have access to and I don’t think she feels guilt in the sense we do. I also think when they are teething anything they possibly may have learnt goes out of the window. They seem to go through another chewy phase about 6 months and that when the chair legs might take a hit. Meg was in her crate at this age when I was not there to supervise. I could leave Meg without worries round about a year after KC obedience classes that her settle and be calm in and out of the home. Good luck
Hi @Milica Your dog would not have any comprehension of your explanation. Dog training does not work that way at all. Nor would she feel any guilt. Dogs have no understanding of guilt. Two things you need to do now. 1. When you leave her unsupervised you should put her in a crate. You will have to carry out crate training. 2. Put a house line on the dog, when you are supervising your dog. When she attempts to get something fro table, give her a tug toy and briefly play with her.
Experiencing problems with my tablet. Here's the link. https://thehappypuppysite.com/crate-training-a-puppy/
Please don't tell her off or shout at her, this will not teach her anything and will only damage your relationship with you. You might think she 'felt guilty' but she didn't - she experienced your anger and tried to appease you, and this does not mean she has any idea what she did wrong. Loads of articles to read on this one: https://www.theatlantic.com/magazin...-dog-pictures-your-dog-feels-no-shame/550901/ You will need to contain your puppy in a place where she can't make any wrong choices and there are only puppy chew toys available for her to chew. For most dogs, that is a crate and involves crate training the dog. If you are going out for many hours at a time, then you will need to use a playpen (if strong enough) or a dog safe room where everything is removed or put out of reach. As long as you are only going out occasionally for up to 4 hours, I would recommend a crate. Here is a link: https://thehappypuppysite.com/crate-training-a-puppy/
