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Pardon me, but do you happen to carry the New York Times?
Q. My seven-month-old Australian cattle dog, Bivy, is starting to show his adolescent side and misbehaving more and more. I spend a lot of time training, socializing, and exercising him, but he’s a different dog when I’m not around and destroys paper, climbs on tables to get to remotes I’ve placed out of reach (or so I thought), gets up on furniture, etc., even though I never leave him without stuffed Kongs and chew toys. Knowing I can’t really scold him after the fact, I’ve tried leaving papers and remotes on the floor when I’m home to catch him in the act, but he’s uninterested. How can I correct bad behavior that only happens when I’m not around? —Mike
A. Mike, I like where your head’s at. You’re trying to set Bivy up to succeed in a controlled environment so that he also succeeds when you’re not around. Trouble is, your dog is clearly not ready to be alone with the temptations around the house. Training him to avoid the remote a few times a day is hopeless if he’s got the rest of the day to hapily untrain himself. It’s likely that he’ll grow out of gnawing everything in site, but you don’t want to risk having inappropriate chewing become a habit. The only thing to do at this stage is to have a safe place to leave Bivy where he can’t get at the remote. Ideally this is a secure outdoor kennel or fenced yard where the lad can get some fresh air. The best runs have shade and privacy, which gives the dog a sense of security. Some people see the bars of a kennel and think it looks too much like doggy jail. I’m of the opinion that a well-situated outdoor enclosure is more fun for the dog than wandering the living room. I leave Danger and Cooper outside in a divided 10×20-foot run. Danger is a year-and-a-half, now, and I’ve just started trusting him to spend the night on his dog bed without wandering into the bathroom to snack on toilet paper. The key thing to remember is that it’s a fluid process that mostly depends on your dog. If what you’re doing isn’t working, you’ve got two choices: change something or live with it.
I have one of these bowls, they work great!