From Books
Sue: We used "How to Raise a Puppy You Can Live With" by Rutherford & Neil and a pamphlet by Iams to try and deal with puppy issues like potty training and chewing. I don't remember which book I read it in, but it recommended putting a few pennies in an empty can and shaking the can whenever puppy did something you didn't want her to do.
Pearl:It was loud.
S: And it worked. Also, from books I learned to punish Pearl by putting her leash on and tying her to a chair for a few minutes. I never left her long and most of the time she could still see me, but this punishment worked really well when I wanted to convey how mad I was. It's been years since I have tied her up for bad behavior.
P: Because I'm a good girl now.
S: That's mostly true. One thing we don't do is hit Pearl. I just recently read about a punishment technique that involves hitting your dog under the chin in a very good book called "How To Be Your Dogs Best Friend" by the Monks of New Skete. I have only slapped Pearl twice and both times I did, I felt so bad, I promised myself I would not do it again.
P: I'm glad Mommy doesn't believe everything the monks say.
Petco Class
S: When Pearl was 6 months old I signed up for an obedience class at the Petco in Denton, Texas. We met once a week for about 8 weeks or so and learned the basics - sit, come, down and stay. I used bits of tuna as reward
P: I like Tuna.
S: heeling was the hardest thing to do and the hardest thing to keep up. In fact, we haven't kept it up.
P: heeling stinks. When we go for walks, I have things to sniff, birds to chase.
S: Pearl really does take the lead when we walk. Luckily, she is small, but I guess if she was bigger, I would have to train her to heel or she would pull my arm socket out. She is pretty good about the command "wait", however, which I taught her on our walks around the neighbourhood. If she is ahead of me and reaches an intersection first, I call out "wait" and she does. Then we cross the road together.
P: I'm pretty smart.
S: Too smart at times.