Gardens

[Mary]

Lottie loves the garden but is constantly after everything she shouldn't.  She tries bringing in and eating all the plastic plant labels (I won't have a clue what's coming up in the Spring ) , pulling at and eating alot of the plants and basically doing all the things she shouldn't!  It's impossible to restrict her so I almost let her go where she wants really as she enjoys it so much and hope she will learn in time to stick to the grass?!!
Studied the plant list on an old thread re. poisonous ones so OK in that respect.
My main worry is the amount of stones she plays with .  I'm frightened she'll swallow one but she can't go out there without picking one up.  How can I discourage her? :-                    

[Mike]

I spent a fortune and lots of time and effort on my garden, and it looked great - and then I got the pup. She ate half of what I'd planted, including my precious grapevine   She also nicked the apples and pears of my budding trees, and trampled and sat on (and so killing) all the border shrubs   I planted some fruit and vegetables, and she ate the cobs of sweetcorn, the potatoes, decimated the strawberries and raspberries... hmm, no wonder she wasn't into Pedigree puppy food  

Even though I was always supervising her in the garden, and clapping my hands loudly (I'm sure the neighbours thought I was just a very strange young man) every time she ventured somewhere she wasnt supposed to go, I'd look away for one split second and she'd dig a hole. I'm afraid it's just what puppies do!  

I'd say the way forward is never leaving Lottie unsupervised in the garden, always stop her if she goes in the wrong area, or chews something she's not supposed to... and accept that your garden may not be quite how you want it until the little beastie has grown a bit older and realises the things she shouldnt do. Fortunately, by summer, if you persevere with 'garden training' her now, I think she'll be past a lot of the 'destructive' behaviour, and you can enjoy your garden again                    

[Gilly]

(I'm sure the neighbours thought I was just a very starnge young man)

 
Young

I think our puppies are running a conspiracy against us Mary 'Cos Buttons is doing all the same things as Lottie. She even managed to bring in a piece of mouldy bread   obviously meant for the birds....muts have got thrown over from next door...she wasn't happy when I had to remove it from her ever so soft JAWS
I've got loads of red chip stones in my garden...definitely not ideal with a young puppy....by spring I'll have not left as everytime she picks one up I remove it and chuck it in the bin The dustbin men must break they're back when they lift my bin everyweek
I clap my hands very loudly too Mike, when she goes near something she's not supposed to...that's why I can hardly type today my hands are red raw
It's reassuring to know that our pups are "normal" isn't it Mary                    

[Mary]

Trouble is she thinks its a game when I clap my hands and if I try to get hold of her she is either too fast or runs 'laps'
In one way we are lucky its Winter Gilly as most of the perenials have died back and its fairly uninteresting out there (well, for us!).  But then again you know that cold snap I was longing for Mike, its on its way and I think I might regret wanting it.  Running round the garden in my dressing gown at 11pm in the freezing cold is not too appealing
Any suggestions on the stones?                    

[*Jay*]

Hi mary, I had the same problem with Vegas when he was younger. Every time we went out in the garden he went for the stones. Because of my work, I tend to have laparotomies on the brain so wherever puppy went, I went and as soon as he picked up a stone, I would remove it from his mouth while telling him to leave. Obviously, if I saw one before his beady eyes goyt to it, I would pick it up and throw it away. It took a few weeks but eventually he just stopped. He won't even look at them now - now it's discarded chewing gum, fag ends, anything plastic./paper/cardboard, bird poo and the list goes on                    

[Mary]

I'd love to see Vegas with chewing gum and a dog end hanging out his mouth!  Does he like discarded beer bottles too?                    

[Michele]

I'd love to see Vegas with chewing gum and a dog end hanging out his mouth!  Does he like discarded beer bottles too?

Probably Mary, they say dogs look like their owners
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Oh no, Gill's gonna slap me now                      

[Gilly]

with chewing gum and a dog end hanging out his mouth!

I didn't know we'd met before Mary

Buttons seems to have her "Mad half hour" between 11.30 to midnight....I'm beginning to think she may be a witch

I think all the neighbours must have seen my red fleece "Chicken Run" dressing gown by now

Oh no...am I gonna be saddo of the day again......and yes I have the nightie to match                    

[Loraine]

This thread is so refreshing to read as I thought it was just me!!  Candy also has a mad half an hour at 11:30pm and runs laps aound the garden with her ears flapping looking really cute.  I am now a bit more organised and I have my shoes by the back door as well as my ski jacket, hat and scarf as I was so fed up with being freezing cold.  The only thing is I look like Michelin man with all of this gear on over my my chunky dressing gown.  The neighbours give me funny looks....  

I don't know what to suggest about the stones; I have a shingle path way and now, I have more stones in my living room which I've collected in a can out of harm's way, than I do in the garden I'm sure!  On a good note, she seems to be less and less interested in them so hopefully it's something that she'll grow out of.                    

[Mary]

When she's come in from the garden after a good explore she can be quite hyper and gets very aggressive when I try to wipe her paws.  She will not keep still, growls, gnaws me and generally gets very nasty.  She ignores my very firm 'No' when she is in this mood.  If I just leave her in the kitchen she rebels by scratching her box in a frenzy. Any advice?                    

[Gilly]

I seem to have this effect on Buttons too Mary, It's frustrating as when my husband tells her "NO" she stops straight away and looks at him adoringly With me it's like...."Oh yeah, what you gonna do about it"  
I think I'm a bit of a soft touch really...I have to keep telling myself "dog,dog,dog," instead of "baby,baby,baby" now I've managed to progress to "baby-dog,baby-dog,baby-dog"
I can manage to get items out of her mouth tho...I'm just very gentle with a coaxing voice and it seems to work....where as the "give me that back right now young lady" approach got the growly, tazmanian devil reaction
In other instances when she's generally being naughty...I've started holding her still on the floor when telling her "NO" if she doesn't listen the 1st time...she wriggles a bit then gives in......YES...I am the boss                    

[Pammy]

I've managed to progress to "baby-dog,baby-dog,baby-dog"
I

Well done Gilly. The next stage is dog-baby, dog-baby, dog-baby - then you can drop the baby - NO not literally   Well, pick the baby up - it'll be OK - lol                    

[*Jay*]

Probably Mary, they say dogs look like their owners
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Oh no, Gill's gonna slap me now    

You'll keep                    

[markjcage]

I found the flipping her onto her back, holding her down and looking into her eyes in a mean way and saying 'No!' does the trick. It doesn't hurt like smacking would and she definately gets the message about who's boss.
(Although letting her sleep on our bed probably ruins any effect this has!)                    

[Jane S]

I found the flipping her onto her back, holding her down and looking into her eyes in a mean way and saying 'No!' does the trick. It doesn't hurt like smacking would and she definately gets the message about who's boss.

Just a word of warning about this method - yes, it can be very effective but I wouldn't recommend inexperienced owners try it unless someone experienced has shown them how to do it - it would be quite easy to cause an injury if the puppy is roughly handled. I also wouldn't use this method on a generally submissive puppy as it is too intimidating for these types & could result in a nervous pup. As with any training method, what will work on one puppy isn't necessarily going to work so well on another