Pup Parenting
Excerpt
The following is an excerpt from the book
Pup Parenting
by Lynn Lott, Jane Nelsen and Therry Jay
Published by Rodale; March
2006;$14.95US/$19.95CAN; 1-59486-081-5
Copyright © 2006 Lynn Lott, Jane Nelsen and
Therry Jay
Punishment
Is Not the Answer
Some people
mistakenly think that kind and firm solutions
reward their dogs for bad behavior and that the
only way a dog can learn is to suffer. More
often than not, the "solution" for the dog's
misbehavior is really misplaced anger or a
desire to hurt the dog for hurting you. That's
what happened with Francie, who left her new
puppy Cody, an American Eskimo dog (a very
attached breed who needs attention), home alone
for long hours while she went to work. Her
little dog was bored and teething, so he
entertained himself by chewing on Francie's
shoes. Little did he know that his entertainment
would make his mom so angry. When Francie walked
in and saw one of her $200 shoes in Cody's
mouth, she saw red. She pulled the shoe away
from him and hit him with it over and over,
yelling, "No, no, no! Bad dog, bad dog!" Cody
slunk away with his tail between his legs and
hid under a chair. Francie grabbed him and threw
him outside saying, "You think about what a bad
boy you've been." Right!
If Francie thought
her methods would stop Cody from chewing on her
shoes because she "taught him a lesson," she was
soon disabused of the notion when, the next day,
he chewed another pair of her best shoes. No
amount of yelling and hitting seemed to get
through to the little pup.
The Pup Parenting
Plan was very simple for Francie.
1 . The behavior
that bothers me: Chewed up shoes.
2. Why change is
needed: Shoes are expensive and I can't afford
to keep replacing them.
3. The mistake I am
making: Every one of them. I am reactive,
disrespectful, punitive, and I talk too much.
When she stepped back and looked at the problem
objectively, she knew that chewing a shoe is not
bad behavior. It is normal dog behavior. The
faulty behavior is leaving the shoe in the dog's
reach in the first place. Francie could see that
it does not make sense to punish a dog for
normal dog behavior, nor does it make sense to
assume a dog will learn from punishment. Have
you noticed that most pooch parents initially
respond just the way Francie did? They punish
their dogs for chewing the shoe instead of
simply removing their shoes from the dog's path.
4. A list of
possible solutions: I don't have to brainstorm
for a list of solutions. It's obvious that I
must keep my shoes out of sight and provide
appropriate chew toys. Instead of brainstorming,
she acted:
-
She went to the
store and found a shoe rack that hung on the
back of her closet door and put all of her shoes
in the rack.
-
She also bought a
lot of soft stuffed animals at the secondhand
store and set them out for Cody to chew. Each
animal cost 50 cents -- a bargain compared to
her shoes. Francie tried rawhide strips, but
Cody never liked chewing on them. He preferred
something soft, like the shoes, so the stuffed
animals were a great substitute and a much
better solution than releasing all one's anger
at a dog.
5. Choose a solution
and follow through: Having a well-thought-out
plan made it easy for Francie to follow through.
She kept her shoes out of Cody's sight, and she
never lost another shoe.
Try to imagine what
your dog is thinking while being swatted with
the shoe. Do you think he is thinking, "Thank
you for caring about me so much that you want to
hurt me to teach me right from wrong"? It is
more likely that your dog is hurt and totally
confused -- but amazingly, still loves you.
Francie didn't feel
good about hitting Cody and yelling at him. She
shook her head at how much she and Cody had
suffered because she didn't take the time to
think the problem through. She liked herself a
lot better when she was less angry and had a
respectful plan. Kind and firm proactive pooch
parenting was much more her style.
If Cody could
talk, what would he say? "I loved the game that
Francie used to play with me. I would chew her
shoe, she would give me lots of attention, I got
to go outside and play in the yard, and when I
came back in, she had already left another shoe
for me to chew. Oh well, now I have my own
special toys to play with."
Reprinted from: Pup
Parenting: A Guide to Raising a Happy,
Well-Trained Dog by Lynn Lott, Jane Nelsen, and
Therry Jay © 2006 Rodale Inc. Permission granted
by Rodale, Inc., Emmaus, PA 18098. Available
wherever books are sold or directly from the
publisher by calling (800) 848-4735 or visit
their website at
www.rodalestore.com
Pup Parenting
A Guide to Raising a Happy, Well-Trained Dog
By Lynn Lott, Jane Nelsen and Therry Jay
Published by Rodale
March 2006;$14.95US/$19.95CAN; 1-59486-081-5
Many dog owners feel
their dogs aren't just pets but beloved family
members. For this reason, internationally
renowned parenting experts Lynn Lott and Jane
Nelsen, who have more than 2 million copies of
their Positive Discipline books in print, have
teamed up with acclaimed animal behaviorist
Therry Jay to create a unique approach to
"parenting" this important member of the family.
The result is
Pup Parenting, the first parenting book for
dogs that takes dog training to the next -- and
ultimate -- level. This one-of-a-kind,
comprehensive guide modifies effective
child-rearing methods to work with the canine
set. These methods represent an exciting
breakthrough in dog discipline that can help
make your dog a loving, responsive, and
responsible family member.
Introducing their
Five-Step Pup Parenting Plan, the authors offer
new and fun solutions to age-old problems while
presenting a more pup-friendly approach to
living with and loving your dog. They'll also
advise you on how to:
-
Choose a breed that
fits with your family and lifestyle
-
Assess your dog's
personality
-
Bring straying
behavior problems smartly to heel
With a kind and firm
approach that rejects both the alpha discipline
method and the overindulgent reward-based
system, Pup Parenting is the companion
you can refer to for any dog, at any age,
throughout his or her life. And it's not too
late -- the authors know that you can teach an
old dog new tricks.
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