It's HARD to Learn to Be a Good Dog These Days...

Whoops - gotta edit it already:

1. =95 Humping ANYTHING is unacceptable.

While we were being over-run by house guests, Yogi has re-thought his priorities. For his previous furry 5 years, he was certain that any place high up was a threat to his personal safety: no sofa, no bed and no 'up in arms'. None. Zero. With so many careless human feet coming and going here, he's decided that 'up' is safe. When it is bed time, he stands on his back legs and does the Dancing Circus Bear routine - all the time looking longingly at the bed. It works. We don't know how long it will last but for a while, even though all the guests are gone, he seems to think DH's bed is the Place for resting a Yorkie. Could be worse. At least he's not four large furry faces. Polly

"Dr. Zachary Smith"

Wow, that's quite a list! LOL In my experience with dogs, spread over many dogs and 52 years, I have had more or less success in making a few rules stick. I never had a dog that would bite me and survive. All have been happily housebroken in short order. All the rest on your list have been considered "open for negotiation" by most dogs in the household. I really wish that the part about puking in the house and no doggy body parts on surfaces above floor level would be taken more seriously by the current doggy occupant. But it's apparently not to be.

Polly, sounds like Yogi has come up with his own renegotiation rules. I bet he's a great little snuggler.

Sunny

Doc -- if you sincerely believe that your cute little chocolate lab puppy will obey ANY of these rules any time soon....

um.... it's gonna be a LONG AUTUMN season! You will definitely need to UP your patience quotient!

Our Jasmine looks like she finally got housebreaking about 10 days ago (we're celebrating!). She was born on Valentine's Day -- so that's what...

7 months? I just don't want to jinx it!

To you, Sunny, Polly, and everyone else... I CAN DREAM, CAN'T I???

REACH BEYOND YOUR GRASP!

Dem's da rules. Ya hope for the best and take what you can get! 8^P

Doc

Ummmmmmmm rules ARE made to be broken....

There is a current T.V. commercial that I love! Charlie the bulldog skateboards through the house. Owner says, "Not in the house, Charlie. Take it outside, buddy." Cracks me up! (Ad for insurance maybe?) PAT in VA/USA

THE DOG HOUSE RULES

1. Obey all rules.

One of our all-time favorites, Pat. No. Not insurance. It's a commercial from a flooring company; Armstrong, Congoleum ... one of them. Doesn't it make you stop whatever you're doing and watch him and smile? We also got to see him on Good Morning America or something. That darling fur face apparently just loves to skateboard. Polly

"Pat in Virginia" There is a current T.V. commercial that I love! Charlie the bulldog

And then Fudgey nails you with those big brown eys, looking so innocent, and dang! he has you wrapped around his little paw ;)

G> In the vein of "The Cider House Rules", I present you: =A0(and I have no

They're green. The whole litter was. I don't know if that'll change as he matures or not, but brown would be cool. That look has no effect on me. DW says I *invented* that look.

Doc

Hi Michelle,

There's no truth to the old saying that, "You can't teach an old dog..." I'm no expert on housetraining an older dog; the protocol may be the same or different - I just don't know. If it were me, I'd do some research. Try these:

Or maybe even pay for a consult with a local dog behaviorist. AFAIK, the most important thing is to *be consistent*, which can sometimes also be the most difficult, but it must be done.

As far as the older dog is concerned, IMO these kinds of decisions are best thought out ahead of time with a level head when emotions aren't running high or at panic level with kids crying their hearts out. IMO, kids should be left out of adult decisions. Our first dog was very old (16) for a dog her size, and deteriorating slowly (I won't go into details). We made the decision ahead of time that when x happened, it would be time. Of course when it happens and you bring them in, they act like puppies and perfectly fine, even though they're not. X happened - it was still time. Boomer was more sudden, (and he too was the best dog in the world) but some clear candid discussion with the vet as things progressed helped us a lot. The decision was pretty much made for us as hard as it was (and still is) on us. Labs' lifespans average out at about 12 years - too short for the great dogs they are, and we felt "cheated" when Boomer was taken at 11. I won't get into the "family member" vs. "he's a dog" dilemma - that is too personal a matter that should be discussed with people with both knowledge and trust of each other.

For the carpet, some Nature's Miracle (or similar product) will help tremendously with both stain & odor.

Doc

Kate & others may be surprised at how many of those rules we HAVE been able to teach our dogs to adhere to (as best they can, anyway...) 2 thru 6 - no problems. Looking over the list again, the only things on it we *haven't* been able to successfully teach them are the two involuntary biological expulsions under #7 (barfing and tooting). Our last two dogs followed all the rest.

Doc

There's no truth to the old saying that, "You can't teach an old dog..." I'm no expert on housetraining an older dog; the protocol may be the same or different - I just don't know. If it were me, I'd do some research. Try these:

Or maybe even pay for a consult with a local dog behaviorist. AFAIK, the most important thing is to *be consistent*, which can sometimes also be the most difficult, but it must be done.

As far as the older dog is concerned, IMO these kinds of decisions are best thought out ahead of time with a level head when emotions aren't running high or at panic level with kids crying their hearts out. IMO, kids should be left out of adult decisions. Our first dog was very old (16) for a dog her size, and deteriorating slowly (I won't go into details). We made the decision ahead of time that when x happened, it would be time. Of course when it happens and you bring them in, they act like puppies and perfectly fine, even though they're not. X happened - it was still time. Boomer was more sudden, (and he too was the best dog in the world) but some clear candid discussion with the vet as things progressed helped us a lot. The decision was pretty much made for us as hard as it was (and still is) on us. Labs' lifespans average out at about 12 years - too short for the great dogs they are, and we felt "cheated" when Boomer was taken at 11. I won't get into the "family member" vs. "he's a dog" dilemma - that is too personal a matter that should be discussed with people with both knowledge and trust of each other.

For the carpet, some Nature's Miracle (or similar product) will help tremendously with both stain & odor.

Doc