My Dog Wants To Carry Everything!Here's a question recently posed to me by a Dog Training Blueprint subscriber together with my suggested answer. Hi Andrew, I have enjoyed the tips that you have sent. The problem that I have run into is with a four year old male boxer that I adopted on July 7th. He was housebroken, using the dog door, in a matter of min. Knows to sit and has basic commands. The problem is that Mugsy is a collector. He picks things up from all over the house, shoes, clothes, remotes, trash can lids, blankets, etc. Anything that he can tote. He was adopted from the local Humane society where he had been for 3 moths. He came in very starved with a female that they could not save. I believe that for the most part there is no "bad" dog, just a bad trainer. Mugsy is pretty sensitive (big lover boy) so I have tried to take the temptation out of his attention line. When he does locate something (every day) I tell him no, this is not Mugsy's this is Mommy's. Usually I repeat this a few times then put the item up. Thank goodness he does not chew because today he took some very old books off the shelf and lugged them to different parts of the house. This morning he also got a pair of shoes and the trash can lid. I keep the bedroom door closed, paper towels off the coffee table and a chair in front of the trash can. Still my dear Mugsy finds things that catch his attention. Any suggestion you have would be greatly appreciated. Kathy |
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Hi Kathy, It sounds like collecting stuff is an integral part of who he is - if he's still doing it aged 4, chances are he'll be doing it for the rest of his life. You'll probably have a real battle on your hands to ever stop him doing it so I suggest you turn things on their head and come at it from another angle. Try designating certain toys, old shoes etc that are his and that he's allowed to carry around wherever he likes. That way you're not trying to fight him, merely steer him in a different direction. So next time he picks something up, make a conscious decision - does it really matter if he has that object? If the answer's 'no', quietly praise him and then let him get on with whatever it is he wants to do. If the answer's 'yes', take it away from him as you're used to doing and as soon as he gives it up for you, praise him and offer him something in return that you don't mind him having. An old shoe, a toy, a ball etc. Be consistent about it, and you'll hopefully find he'll soon learn that certain things are his and other things are yours. He's allowed to carry his own stuff about but not yours. So long as you always offer him one of his own toys as a substitute when you take yours away, the penny should drop. Let me know how you get on.... Regards,
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