Trainedog Blog

I just went to a party yesterday and had a conversation with one of the guests there involving a problem she’s been having with her puppy. The gist is her dog loves to jump in and snuggle with her and her boyfriend at night.  At first, they let her do that because she was a puppy and felt sorry for her when they heard her whining outside their bedroom. They thought it was because she was scared of being in a strange new place but, now that she’s been sleeping in their bed a few months, they’ve started to try to get her to sleep in her own bed but it just hasn’t worked!  And lately, it’s become quite a struggle for them to get her out, with her getting mad at them as if it’s actually “her” bed.

Below is the advice I gave her and thought I’d also share this with anyone out there who’s also experiencing a similar issue.

“It would appear that she has a “slightly spoiled” dog in their hands, making a beginner’s mistake in letting their dog join them in their bed.  As a dog owner, you should always remember that access to the furniture (i.e. beds and couches) is pretty big deal because you don’t want to end up having to fight for your own space (such as what you are doing now) and let your dog thinks that she is dominant over you.    By letting your dog have access to your bed, you’ve essentially given her the signal that her ranking in the social hierarchy of the household is the same as yours or perhaps even higher. This does not work for the harmonious dog/owner relationship.  What you need to do now is re-establish your alpha dominance over your dog and let her know who’s the “boss.”  First of all, make sure she has a comfy dog bed of her own and place that somewhere in your bedroom.  When she jumps on your bed at night, point to the dog bed and say “Off” in a calm, authoritative voice.  Since you have previously allowed your dog to sleep on your bed, she may be confused and is unsure what is happening.  As such, you may need to carry her to her bed the first couple times so she gets the idea. After you’ve shown her what it means when you say “Off” and is pointing to her bed a couple times so that she should have a solid understanding, keep your arm pointing at the bed and maintain eye contact. Try intensifying your expression and wait for his response.  Be consistent and give her some time to adjust.

Welcome to Trainedog Blog. This is my first post! since Trainedog.org was up and running about couple months ago. Well the long weekend has finally arrived! Are you going to walk your dog everyday?

Maybe you should take some time to train your dog better this weekend. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy the long weekend! Have fun =)

Trainedog.org