and i'll tell you something. farcus used to go for shoes alot. (made a pair of my moms ballet flats open toe [summer was approaching, i thought it was very thoughtful of farcus, she didn't]) anyway... ron started giving him old shoes to chew on, even though its recommended not to do that b/c then they think its ok to chew shoes. well, now, farcus has lost interest in the ratty shoes and any other shoes laying around. go figure.

sorry about the shoes!

~cristina~

Having a puppy is frustrating. Now I look back and wish I did not enjoy it more. It was hard when all that they do is pee, poop and chew everything including your hands and feet. My bubba is 2 1/2 and he is still confined to the kitchen, I can't trust him not to chew. A few weeks ago he pushed down the baby gate and got onto my freshly washed bed and peed all over it. So unfortunately he can't be trusted. Your puppy definately needs training and especially crate training to help her become house broken.

I know what you mean but I thought mine was bad b/c she would sneak up over, thru, past, push, shove, etc whatever it took to go upstairs where my clothes and shoes are and go at the speed of light...and yess.....a bully on a mission has a speed of light...find one of a pair that were whole and unchewed...and sneak, again at the speed of light, back downstairs into a corner or crate that had other toys surrounding her while she happily ate the back heel part down to the base of the shoe....luckily my shoes were not expensive the way yours were but they were for me as she prefers my leather $40 shoes which I crave and rarely buy.

now she thinks that's all there is...patience and a
cool head will always prevail. You will win because you have a mind that thinks and opposeable thumbs.
: ) LOL

peace
gregg

I think you need to spread out your training a little more. No youngin, (two legs or four) can consentrate for an hour and a half. Keep your training to 10 to 15 minutes or so. Do a little training for a few minutes and then play, roll around on the floor, what ever is fun for her. The play is not the reward. Rewards her as well when she does something right with praise and rubsies. The play just keeps her interested and not bored. A bored puppy in training will be a stubborn...er...ok, they will always be stubborn. But you'll both have more fun. Also, training in little bits keeps both of your expectations low. It's much better to be happy about a 10 sec. sit/stay than be mad because she wouldn't leave the treat on the floor when you walk into another room. I'm not say that is what you're doing but it's an example.

Short training sessions, rewards, and intermittent play recess. That's the key. Good luck.

Oh, and if you ever do think she is just too much to handle, please call me. Chester wants a sibling real bad and I've yet to hear from the rescue societies I've registered with.

Take care,
-Michael

I think you need to spread out your training a little more. No youngin, (two legs or four) can consentrate for an hour and a half. Keep your training to 10 to 15 minutes or so. Do a little training for a few minutes and then play, roll around on the floor, what ever is fun for her. The play is not the reward. Rewards her as well when she does something right with praise and rubsies. The play just keeps her interested and not bored. A bored puppy in training will be a stubborn...er...ok, they will always be stubborn. But you'll both have more fun. Also, training in little bits keeps both of your expectations low. It's much better to be happy about a 10 sec. sit/stay than be mad because she wouldn't leave the treat on the floor when you walk into another room. I'm not say that is what you're doing but it's an example.

Short training sessions, rewards, and intermittent play recess. That's the key. Good luck.

Oh, and if you ever do think she is just too much to handle, please call me. Chester wants a sibling real bad and I've yet to hear from the rescue societies I've registered with.

Take care,
-Michael

Henry ate the leg off the bunkbeds today. Being that my mother bought them for my 4 year old, I will not be telling her this. lol

I just stared at him. It was all I could do. I just stared at him speechless. He hung his head and slowly walked to the back door. mmmmm.

Deep breaths and know this, as I have learned it too:

Bulldogs chew. They eat foriegn objects. I still havent gotten to the stage where I dont have to watch Henry like a hawk. I keep doors closed to where he doesnt need to be unsupervised. And I have to keep kids toys and shoes in the rooms with the closed doors.

Good luck, I feel your pain...lol
BREATHE!

1. dont leave your stuff on the ground or out or it will get eaten.

2. dont leave the dog out w/o being able to watch it.
get a crate and put her in it when you can not watch her.

if she goes on the floor it is your fault since you were not watching her. Hang a bell on the door or area where you pass to go outside, EVERY time you go out ring the bell.

Yelling will only make the situation worse, it is attention and she will soon learn that it is good or bad its attention. You also dont want her to be scard of you.

take a breath put her in her crate NICE since you dont want her to not like it.

OH all dog owners need a hand carpet cleaner.

good luck

Vicky, Bosco, Bella & the Babies

I think $600 would buy a dozen pairs of sneakers, and we don't even have that many...

Well, hopefully a good shoemaker can repair your Pradas and you will be good to go. Lucy has expensive taste, Gotta lock up the designer duds from the pooch

..is really a great way of training, but take a ton of practice and they really do learn quickly.. That, combined with crate training is what brought Maggie and Sophie to where they are today.

Now, neither are crated when we go anywhere, they have free roam of the house and never destroy any of our belongings. They know which toys belong to them and can do what they want with their own stuff.

Keep up with the clicker training and be consistent!! Even now, if I click the clicker they immediately stop what they're doing and come to me.

Donation to BCA for rescue..... $500
New pet supplies................$300
Vet bill #1.....................$119
Vet bill #2.....................$146
Vet bill #3.....................$209
Vet bill #4.....................$53
Grooming visit #1...............$31
Grooming visit #2...............$28
Boarding over holiday...........$78
Ongoing visits to PetSmart......$200
Destroyed Prada shoes...........$600

Look on fiancee's face when I tell him I need to replace the shoes..... PRICELESS

BTW...Lucy and I made friends again.

I'd be upset too! Sheesh, what designer was that? I think it would be 6 pairs of sneakers here to inflict that much damage, LOL You gotta lock those babys up in a safe

$600 !!!

OK, I admit I did YELL, but I never, EVER hit. And you are right, I should have put the shoes up. Maybe they can be fixed!

She does so well, and then if you leave her alone, WAMMO she's messed up something in the house.

By the way, she is in trainng. I spent an hour and a half tonight alone doing that stupid clicker training, only to get my favorite pair of $600 shoes ripped to shreds. I need a drink. I think I'll make an apple-tini.

there is some very sound advice in almost all these posts..and I can not add much more other then take a deep breath...exhale slowly...and vent here but try and deal calmly with your Lucy....oh and I love Denises wack a tree with the broom...ouch poor tree...
...hugs to you ..and take it easy on mums shoes to Lucy....ce

I use most every method you do...
and I find calm and easy...and praise and treats gets me the pupster that is happy and a delight to share my journey with...ce

I hate to be the voice of reason here...but you need to quit screaming at your dog and TRAIN! your dog. The only thing different between your pup and a kid is eventually your kid will talk back then ask to borrow the car. I lost a remote...ONCE! I lost a slipper...ONCE! Eventually they (I have 2, mind you) got the message that things that were not theirs (they eventually know) are off limits. Firmness not screaming and acting a fool. It pains me because I save a Bully last year like this...out on a leash because the lazy assed owners thought it looked cute until it kept DOING WHAT A PUPPY DOES. I hate to say this but if you wanted something that did exactly as you ask with little or no time or effort spent you should have gotten a stuffed Bulldog. Think about a stuffed kid, too... because another living breathing thing takes time and work. Looked cute when you got her, huh? Still cute?

I have had dogs all my life and have put up the destruction that comes with puppies. I got my lab Boscoe and he was the worst. Labs are great pups if you can live through the terrible twos! Boscoe ate all the corners off the wood deck within one week of having it installed, he dug holes to China, he ate the mud flaps off the truck, tore up the golf cart seat three times, and tore off all the molding on the hottub three days after it was installed. Jez has made sure all the window sills have round corners, ate a pair of my shoes, destroyed my glasses, believes newspapers and phone books are there to tear up and also tore off the wood molding on the hot tub that we replaced when Boscoe chewed it off. But, my attitude is "it comes with the territory". I have dogs. Everything I own can be replaced. My dogs cannot be replaced. We installed a gate so he could not get to the hottub, we covered the dirt part of our yard where he was digging with cement, we took the seat off the golf cart and put it in a high place, we made sure when we were gone, there was nothing of importance around that he could tear up. Thankfully, he has now outgrown that stage and is a wonderful dog. Jez, on the other hand, all I have to do is shame her. She is so excited to see me when I come home and can't stand it if I don't greet her with hugs and butt scratches because she has torn up something while I'm gone. She now sits and waits until I have walked through the house and yell, you were a good puppy! and then she comes running doing her bulldog dance so proud of herself. I don't scold for bad behavior but praise for good behavior. When I was potty training Jez, we would dance around outside when she went potty and she would get a treat. If she had an accident in the house, I would just tell her she was a bad dog and clean it up. I have never spanked any of my dogs for accidents. I will tell you all my dogs have been fully potty trained at 6 months with just a few accidents before they were a year old. And I have never crated any of my animals. I really think because I have never punished or yelled at my animals for accidents in the house is why they potty train so fast. And please don't take this as any kind of criticism, I'm just telling you how I do it in hopes that maybe some of the things I do can help you. Oh, by the way, when they really test your patience, take a broom, walk outside away from everyone and beat a tree with the broomstick screaming at the top of your lungs. You will feel so much better and nothing was hurt but the broomstick! I have used that method not only with the animals but my husband!

Hi,
Having a puppy is sometimes 100 times worse than having a 2 year old toddler.

Opal is 2 1/2, no longer a puppy and she still can't be trusted when she's alone. She's chewed every pair of my healed pumps. Luckily I buy them at K-Mart. Anyway...BAD SUE for not putting them away knowing that they are a delicacy for Opal.

Opal is confined to the kitchen when I'm not home. I have to make sure there's nothing within her reach. In the past, on 3 different occasions, she broke open a 10# bag of cat litter & dragged it all over my kitchen. One time she decided to play with a gallon of bleach & poked a hole in it. That was NASTY!! I learned the hard way but now I "scope" the kitchen before I leave for work to make sure it's dog proof.

Your pup will be fine. Just be consistant. Use baby gates & the crate when you can't watch her.

you must be going nutz.. I know I would be, but YOU CAN AND WILL GET THROUGH THIS!!! like someone said above.. start from scratch, clean slate for both of you and give yourselves both a second chance at establishing gorund rules and a routine... read a new book/article on puppyhood... we're here for you! Vent away!

~cristina~

Kandace,

I can very definately tell you, that yelling and getting upset is doing neither of you any good. It is counterproductive. She is a puppy and NEEDS to be managed at ALL times. If she is not reliable in the house then you can not leave her long enough to chew your shoes, it could have been an electrical cord. Pick up and put away anything she can't or shouldn't have. The more time you dedicate to housetraining her now, the sooner she will become reliable, it's that simple.
Take a deep breath, step back and start from scratch.
Stay relaxed, what you do with her now will effect your relationship for the rest of her life.

Good luck

Lynn K

How old is she?

When it's that bad: obedience, crates and gates work wonders to help restore your sanity and make the dog understand it's parameters. Hugs and best, I know how frustrating it can be.

PS: and a glass of wine might calm you down too

I'll take her!!!! lol!!!