I think I may be going about it all wrong.

My daughter and grandson are living with us, and my grandson has a dog about 7 months old. He's very intelligent and good natured. I really do like having him around.

He has a couple of bad behaviors that I need to fix, and I'm not having much luck. He's not my dog, so I can't just arbitrarily put a shock collar on him though that might be negotiated.

Twice, he has put teeth through a 2' exercise ball that I use for exercise therapy. Those aren't super expensive, but they aren't free, either. He also likes to sneak into the front room and curl up on one of the soft chairs, which is strictly forbidden.

Recently I caught him in the soft chair, and had a recently destroyed exercise ball close at hand. It's soft, and couldn't really hurt him, though you might be able to crush a fly with it. So I flogged him with that. The point was to make him think he was getting killed without inflicting pain.

Yesterday, I was inflating the replacement ball. He took one look at that and quickly slunk away. He may be over his fascination with exercise balls.

Today, he was back on the chair so this time I applied a small amount of toe as I kicked him outdoors.

I don't want to actually hurt him, and I don't want to turn him into a cowering dog. The discipline I've applied leaves him shaking, and I don't like that, but so far, it just doesn't seem to "register" with him. There must be a better way.

Ideas?

Hard question Denton, I wish I had the answers to a lot of questions. Good luck.

Dogs chew, buy him some rawhide toys to chew on. Teach him to sit,stay, lay down, and to heal. If he is smart it won’t take long.

if i read this right, the dog is seven months old, a puppy. teething issues, i have had them chew the wood off an end table.
Just like a human baby.
Flogging him, kicking him, is just gonna make him fearful of adult males and a bigger problem down the road.
give the guy something to chew on thats acceptable.
the dog is a baby.

An intelligent dog needs positive reinforcement training, dumb dogs need to be disciplined.

When he gets down from the chair as instructed give him lots of happy praise and a treat. after doing this a few times he'll catch on. as for the chewing he's a puppy and he'll chew so the things you don't want chewed on keep up, when you find him chewing on something you don't want him chewing on tell him NO! and give him something to chew that you approve of.

Getting a puppy not to chew is a lost cause. It helps to get them plenty of exercise, to give them toys and chews and to keep stuff you don't want chewed on out of their reach. I had a chocolate lab for my last dog. That dog was smart and very obedient. I didn't want her on the sofa. She wouldn't get on it while we were there, but I could not figure out a way to keep her off of it while I was gone other than to keep her out of the room. I'll be interested in reading what others have done.

You didn't catch him in the act, he is clueless as to why you flogged him. You're training him to fear you regardless of the situation. Ever hear the saying "a tired dog is a happy dog"?

I run my dogs every night. Every. Night. If I am not home, my family will often but not always do it. The difference in their citizenship is worth it.
I also give chews. Lots of them. LOTS. Give them something that is theirs and let them do what they want to do. Works like a charm.
Finally, with the advent of remote control devices such as e-collars and cameras, I would think it pretty easy to break dogs of getting on furniture with some expense and attention.

Finally, dogs are like kids. They are not all the same. What works on one, might or might not work on the next. You must figure out what does and doesn't work, they won't tell you, not in words anyway.

as to getting on stuff. well, i have two couchs right behind me in my office for two goldens. One has his own recliner in another room where he basically sleeps. And we have a couple that like to jump on our bed with us until they think we are asleep.
Generally speaking they only get on furniture that by mutual consent is for shared use.
i made the mistake one time of leaving my fanny pack open and on the floor. Found my wallet in the back yard appropriated by one of the goldens. he had pulled out about 200dollars in 20's, really mangled them. Put the scraps back together and after a good laugh at the bank i exchanged some of them for fresh bills. The others i had to send to a federal reserve bank with a letter explaining my dog ate them. Got a check from them too. I think i was out 40bucks in total. I learned not to do that any more.

The exercise ball needs to be put somewhere inaccessible to the dog. Plenty of walks/exercise and toys he can chew relieve boredom and the urge to chew things he should not chew. We trained our dog to stay off the furniture by putting a piece of cardboard in front of the chair across the opening, some folks use aluminum foil most dogs don't like either. Hitting the dog or kicking him is never a good idea, it will produce a dog that cowers and fears you and most likely will not correct the undesired behavior. These days you may get a visit from the ASPCA if you're observed hitting/kicking your dog.

Crate training and exercise. Young dogs will chew on stuff and hard to stop but should grow out of it. Have to stop the behavior while they are actually doing it. . Going up on furniture is easy to stop. Teach off command.

VERY MINIMUM -Dog should be leash trained and taught to come, stay, heal, off etc. And this is the owner's responsibility. If the dog ruins, destroys anything the grandson or daughter, who are guests in your home, should pay for it otherwise just enabling poor decision making.

How old is your grandson? He should be partcipating in training if its his dog otherwise a waste of time and it will just end up being your dog which might be a bad thing and probably better for the dog. Typically the owner needs as much training as the dog. Dont ever hit a young dog hard or beat them imho. Just a swat open hand or pinch in ear near rear leg.

I never understand why people get dogs and have no clue how much time and dedication it takes to have a good well trained, obedient, exercised dog. That's why so many good dogs are in shelters and put down every year.

Yes, a dog is a big investment of time. I agree that a lot of people don't understand that. But the investment is worth it.

He is a puppy still, and he is going to chew. He is very well supplied with chew toys, including rawhide. He had a ball that he could barely get his mouth around, so I got him a couple of smaller ones with squeekers in them, and he struts around squeezing his toy, happy as can be. If I try to play fetch with him he gets the ball and then wants to play hide and seek.

His owner is 13, and a very responsible kid. But he's in school most of the day.

And he will learn he gets approval and a treat for getting out of the chair.

Get him a soft doggy bed and put it by the chair. Get a rolled up newspaper and swat him out of the chair. Much noise, no pain.

My 10 month old yeller lab ate two buckets and the stuffings out of a pillow in the last 24 hours.

He is also immune to SportDog 400 collar. Just twitches his ears slightly on level 8. My other male, aka ye royal collar tester... Screamed like a banshee when i caught him eating my Layer Pellets in the chicken shed. So i know it works. SMH

No amount of negative reinforcement, scolding or newspaper beatings seems to impress him. Just a dolt.

Easy peazy and have fun while you do this as well.

get a mouse trap, set it and lay a piece of newspaper over it on that chair.


Use bitter apple on the ball,

Put yer balls up.

Mouse traps on the chair will end nap time there.

Just don't forget, otherwise your other balls might suffer.

Mousetrap.... great idea!!

Denton, My wife's last dog liked to relaxin her recliner, especially when we were not hone. Momma did not like it so much.

She cured the problem easily by simply leaving a small (6"x12") piece of corrugated cardboard in the seat of her chair. The fact that she had written upon the cardboard "Rascal, keep out" in heavy marker made for family fun concerning the dog's ability to read.

Thats usually not what they learn with positive reinforcement, they seem to learn the last action they did when they got the praise which would be getting out of the chair when commanded.

I've trained dogs both ways and am surprised at how well my newest dog reacts to it. Praise from me is the thing she seeks most in her life now and is willing to do anything to get it. I taught this dog to "Shake" inside of 5 minutes and she hates her feet being touched. She might even be a little smarter than me..........

I also have a dumb dog, he's about as smart as a bag of hammers, he loves praise but is willing to ditch it to do what he wants. A good swat puts him back in line for awhile. The only difference I see between the two in the training aspect is the intelligence factor.

My Lab is a year old and he's been with me almost continuously since he was 8 weeks. I know very little about training a dog, but he knows he's done wrong when I raise my voice at him. He hangs his head and droops his ears so much that I don't have the heart to be any rougher than that with him.

My biggest problem with him is that he's just so excitable. Not all the time, but he goes off when people come to visit. I've had to rap him on the head with my knuckles over that a few times. He weighs a lean 75 lbs and I've worked him out until he's strong as a pony. He's taken off to go "welcome" a visitor on occasion when on a leash and damn near pulled me off my feet.

That's when he gets the knuckles on the head. He's usually so worked up on those occasions that he just looks at me like "what?"

Crate Training.........absolutely!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Teach the pup to go to his bed in a kennel crate. Best thing to ever happen to a house dog. And the best thing in the world for dog/human relationships.

We tell Momma's little maltese/yorkie: "Go to bed." And she RUNS to the bedroom and jumps right into her bed. If she needs to go out in the night, she will wake one of us to let her out. Five minutes later, she goes back to her kennel for the rest of the night. If she needs to be left alone in the house for a few hours, it is no big deal to spend that time in her kennel.

Some people hold the mistaken belief that locking a dog in a crate overnight is abusive. That could not be further from the truth. Dogs are an instinctive denning animal, and a kennel crate makes a perfect den.

A pup might whine for a short time due to separation anxiety, when first placed in a crate overnight. Keeping the crate close his master's bed side will go far to lessen that anxiety.

YOU TUBE is a great sources for dog training info. You will have to glean through some not so good info along with the good.
As another poster stated you are making the pup fearful of you from what I read of the op. Most of dog training is really training you to understand the dogs pov and behavior. From there you can modify its' behavior.
If you get an e-collar WATCH THE VIDEO AND READ THE MATERIAL SEVERAL TIMES and take notes. Shock yourself with the collar to get an idea of what the dog will receive when you use it. The one I use does not hurt but it is unpleasant. Most dogs will respond to the sound and/or vibration setting with out having to be shocked. Good luck

put your dog on the ground and lay on top of him a few times a day. When you train him make sure he maintains eye contact instead of ignoring which im guessing he is doing.

choke chain and leash training 15-20 min a day with positive reinforcement praise and food treats. Short training sessions ending on positive note.

With constant negative reinforcement youre teaching your dog to dislike and ignore you.


Again to the OP- get your grandson in on training. if you have to pay a professional trainer to come in do it. No offense meant but Why would your daughter give him a dog if he is not responsible to take care of it? Sure he has plenty of free time unless he has a part time job, plus sports, plus school. Weekends? I had all three and still trained our dog when I was11 in 4 H. That is the entire point of involving a child in bringing a pet into the household.

I see a lot of young boys in our culture being treated like 2year old girls and not young men and given zero responsibilty. Not doing him any favors unless you want to support him rest of life which seems to be more and more common in today's society.

Again no offense intended

Put something in the chair that's uncomfortable or impossible to be in it with and leave it there. It's not rocket science.

My setter would sleep on my bed while I was gone. I made a note that said Jan NO! I showed it to her and put it on the bed. She never slept on it again. All of the setters I have owned previously were box of rocks stupid, but this one learns everything like that. Has a vocabulary of hundreds of words.

Yep... this is what I was going to say

Why is this your problem? You didn't say how old the grandson was but I would tell him to train the dog, get the dog out of the house, or move out himself.

Denton stated earlier that his grandson is 13.

Took our 9 month old GSP to her first training class last night. Up till now I've been working with her on my own but she needs additional distraction/socialization. I figured she'd spaz out over being in the presence of other dogs which she did. Barely under control while wearing a harness a couple of instructors suggested trying a prong collar instead of a choke collar. Difference in her composure was like night and day. She calmed down immediately and was more focused and attentive to me.

Where's all the guys that said a year old dog ought to be fully trained to obey every command by that age?

Isn't everyone's dog flawlessly trained by a year old?

I had a Lab and my wife didn't want him up on the furniture. We bought a doggie couch (very low to the ground, attractive and - - - his). If he tried to get up on our furniture we just said a stern "NO" and re-directed him to his furniture. We also kept him off the bed by just saying "NO". He usually slept on the floor, on my side of the bed. There is no trick to it except for being consistent. Everyone in the household uses the same word and uses it every time pup tries to get away with it. If the dog can not be trusted when you are away, crate him. You can use the crate as a "time-out". If pup won't listen to you, crate him. Leave him in there for awhile. There were times when my dog would do something he knew he wasn't supposed to and all I had to do was give him a harsh look and he would slink off and crate himself.

We sometimes dog sit a friend's dog and she is allowed up on their furniture. We know we are not going to break her of this in the short time we have her. We just drag her off our furniture and place stuff on the furniture that we are not occupying that makes it difficult for her to get comfortable and if that's not working, we crate her.

Dog training is all about establishing your dominance and being consistent and persistent. I also believe in using food and praise for positive reinforcement of good behavior.

great idea to get dog in classes with other dogs and people , trainers to socialize and learn how to train

money very well spent


Having an untrained dog can be expensive, stressful and a pain to own

Years ago, a half starved, abused year-old beagle followed my son home, and we adopted him. That dog was seriously grateful for the rest of his life, and would do anything he could to please us.

This dog loves us, and wants to be close to us, but seems to be very easily tempted to misbehave. He's a dog. He's young. He forgets.

I discovered that my grandson has been letting the dog sleep in his bed with him at night. And that's the consistency issue. It's hard for a dog to understand why one human will invite him up on a bed, but another disciplines him for being on a soft chair. So I've got the dog in bed thing stopped. The dog does have a comfortable bed, and is going to have to be content sleeping next to the human bed, not on it.

It would be a delight to train him to do something useful, like pheasant hunting or working cattle. He loves the water. But pheasants are pretty scarce around here, and I left the cows behind many decades ago. I don't think any of that is in his future. So far, his main useful skill seems to be announcing visitors. He is good at that, and I let him know I appreciate his vigilance.

Sleeping in bed...

It's an alpha dog/dominance thing. Dog needs to learn that you are the alpha. You eat before him, you go through doorways before him, everything you do you lead he follows. Once that is established then he can get up on the bed AFTER he's commanded to do so.

Right now all's right with his world.

Handsome little guy, isn't he?

I see an aura of mischief...

Many fail to understand this.

He is, he looks happy chewing on that there stick.

It's a fine Corinthian rawhide chew.

Crate train him. Actually, have the grandson do it.

The dog will thank you many times over across the ensuing years, for always having a safe, comfortable, and known place to call his own.

Nice thing is that crate's are transportable, so the dog can be at home wherever you take him.

This^^^, like rotten chicken. Whoops, i forgot. Thats what you tie to a dogs collar for a week if it kills chickens.

Has anyone mentioned, to train a dog you gotta be smarter than the dog?

Yes, take a rabbit hound pheasant hunting. Take a video of this circus and make some money.

Remember, bird dogs fer birds, cow dogs fer cows, an rebbit dawgs fer rebbits, and uh, be smarter then tha dawg.

And about those expensive furniture legs, you better pee on a rag and wipe them down real good, or keep him in beef bones.

Maybe that's my fundamental problem.....

Today he wanted to play, so I went looking for his squeeky toy ball. Actually, he has three of them because he tends to lose them under the couch and in other places where he can't reach. None were to be found. So I looked at him and said, "Have you lost your balls?"

Bad choice of questions.

He went to the vet just a few days ago.

that's funny.

In off season I get my dog to stay in house and go hide his toy or duck or pheasant wing somewhere in house where he cant see me hide the thing. . Then give command to find. Try to use hand signals to help locate. Helps with bored dog.

Most working breeds need something to keep mind and body active or experience the negative, destructive behavior.

I might have an extra wing laying around can send if interested pm me.

good looking pup

Vet, huh? You deserve to have your junk chewed up.

Well, he would think so if he understood what we did to him!

Several people suggested a crate, and I think that is a great idea. Dogs pretty well know what belongs to them, and to give him is own place might be a big help. Also, there are times when all of us have to leave the house, and so far the solution has been to put him outside on his zip line. That has been OK, since we've had an extremely mild winter, but it's not ideal. An indoor place of his own would be much better.

Now I'm thinking of a game where he finds his squeeky toy. He would enjoy that, if I can teach him.

It makes life much easier and much safer for dog.

The collapsable wire crates are more portable. I just cover with a blanket and place in the corner of a room

https://www.petmd.com/dog/puppycenter/potty-training/evr_dg_crate_training_for_puppies

Leaving a newspaper in chair was a cure for one of our long ago dogs.

and all the more easier if the master has himself been relegated the doghouse.




Times we had intruders or strange noise I allowed the shepherd to lead through doorways or into the rear yard
...even when just generally checking out the yard the dog would scout ahead of his own fruition.
Doorbell rings or people approach the gate?....they almost always be greeted by a dogs face before mine.

Thinking back, he unhesistantly did point duty so much he really deserved to sleep on the couche
much more often.

When generally walking him, he was also typically forward positioned on a lead, yet never failed
to understand who was boss if a postiion change was required.

Master eat first LOL ..? never bothered with that either ,all depending he would eat before, after or with us,
and it made schite amount of difference to the dogs obedience.



and dogs are like kids in that they soon know when they have a master they can manipulate.

Which brings me to teachers, memorably ,we had a secondary one that did next to nothing to keep his class
highly disciplined, yet those same students would run riot around other teachers who tried their darndest to
control them.

We crate trained my Little Pup. She loves it. I bought the crate and set it up but never forced her into it, Let her get used to it and enticed her into it with treats while telling her to kennel up. After a couple of weeks I started locking her in. Never bothered her at all.

We put her in there at night at first I would get up every three hours to let her outside to do her business, Now she goes all night without making a mess, If she is getting to excitable when the Granddaughters are over we tell her to kennel up she goes right in and lays down till she and the girls settle down.

I have a nice roofed kennel for her for when we are at work but with the extreme cold we have been having we have had to crate her several days instead. I think she likes it better than being outside in the bigger kennel.

Every time I take her out to do her business when we come back in I tell her to kennel up. She jumps right in the crate sometime we have to coax her out of it. Its the best thing we have done so far makes her life and ours easier. When she gets in trouble she goes to her crate on her own.

Now if we could just get her completely house trained we would be doing good. Cant get her to let us know when she needs to go out. She will go outside if you take her out but if you arent watching for signs of her needing to go she just goes inside. We have tried bells on the door. She knows when the ring that its time to go out but she wont ring them herself.

With our GSP pup it was body lanquage. We noticed right quick that if she started to sniff the floor and her tail was straight vertical she needed to go out. We take her out front on her leash to pee. She won't usually poop when on the leash so then we put her out in a fenced back yard. Now she will bump the front door with her nose if she needs to pee, she'll bump the back door and stare at us if she needs to go out back.

Yep I can usually tell when she needs to go if I see her.but im not always in the same room. Well keep trying the bells on.the door.

I didn't have much trouble house training my pup. I would just take him outside every hour for a few minutes and let him do whatever it was he needed to do. He got the message fairly early.

The chewing is hard.

To keep my dogs off the furniture, I would just lay Aluminum foil on them. They hate it, or at least mine did. Do that for a month or two and they'll stay on the floor.