What's the best way to discipline a dog?

Question

I have a 5 month old lab who at first appeared to be potty trained. For the past three days, he seems to be testing other areas he knows he isn't supposed to be peeing? How would you suggest I handle this and what type of discipline should be taken?

Answer 1

I keep a water bottle handy and whenever my dog does something wrong I give her a squirt and till her no! Usually after doing this one or two times the dog learns that they arent suppose to be doing what they are doing!

Answer 2

I too have labs (2 of them). And as you read, know that I went through this twice with puppies and spent over 600 dollar on training - so save some money and read on -

I actually had the same problem with my little guy who is now 10 months old. We thought he was potty trained, and then boom, he would leave us a gift, or right in front of us he would pee. My BF would scream and yell and drag him into it, rub his nose and throw him in the crate...DO NOT DO THIS. My approach was different, if you catch him in the act, you scold him with a neutral by elevated tone - name first - bad boy - then take him outside. He will look at you like you are nuts, but stand over him, and say - Go potty, he might cower under you and hang head down. He also does not have to go, since he went in the house. Then after a few minutes (I know it takes time), take him in and put in crate for 15 minutes. Ignore the puppy, everyone in house has too.

If you dont catch him in the act..the same - show him urine or poop, then outside then crate. Again NO ATTENTION.

Their attention spans as puppies are only a few seconds. So they forget easy, which means that even after being bad, they think - play play play after. So, ignor. The behavior will be enforced - it took me until he is almost year.


Time outs are what helped me. Dogs want to play and they want attention (even right after a potty in house). Take this away and they will eventually learn that when they are bad, they lose fun time with mommy and daddy. Also, NEVER SCREAM, they just think, who is this nut, why is mommy screaming. And, keep constant with words that they will learn from, like Potty - go potty and then reinforceing positive words that mean he did good - GOOD BOY, or he did bad - BAD BOY, but always the clear voice, never screaming.

I wish you luck, there are many resource on the WWW natually, but unless you take a course, or have multiple dogs (like kids) it come naturally if you just keep constant and everyone is deciplining the same in the house. There can be no favorites with the dog, if someone gives in - the dog will take longer to learn.

Answer 3

$1 dog correction:

Buy a can of soda and drink the soda (yummy!). Rinse out the can and let it dry. WHhn it's 100% dry, put about 10-15 pennies into the can and cover the top with duct tape.

When you catch the dog going something it shouldn't be, vigorously shake the can, or toss it so it lands near the dog. The noise will startle them and soon they'll associate the naughty behavior with the bad noice.

Also, reward the dog when he does go to the bathroom out sice (praise or a treat) that way he associates going to the bathroom outside with praise.

If he can't be montored 24-7, crate train the dog so he doesn't go to the bathroom in the house when you're not home.

Answer 4

I have a Lab to and they at times like to test the waters, but I do not think he ever went intentionally in the house, the only time he would was if I was not paying attention. I do not believe in physical punishment with dogs, it only does two things either makes them afraid or aggressive. To make a dog fully understand you have to catch him in the act, finding it later does no good in telling him no. Both of my dogs know that a stern "no" is a bad thing. so if you do catch him the stern no followed by putting him outside where he is suppose to be doing it. Always praise him for doing right. If he is doing it when your not home your better off crating him, so he does not get in trouble.

Answer 5

If this is a new behavior that just came up I would advise a vet visit to rule out a medical cause such as Urinary Tract infections.also if your dog isn't neutered be advised he is reaching the age of sexual maturity and will be interested in territory marking. If he isn't neutered I recommend making that appointment asap.He'll be a lot happier and healthier and so will you since you won't have to put up with hormonal behaviors.

Answer 6

Disciplining a dog doesn't teach it to do/not do anything
To Begin with dogs have no perception of the negative, thus it is imposable to teach a dog *NOT* to do anything. Instead what we do is teach a dog *TO* do something.
ie; when we teach a dog not to get on the furniture, what we really do is teach the dog to stay on the floor.

I would suggest "crate training" the dog to solve the problem you are having.
Here is a good article on the how & why of crate training
http://www.retrievertraining.net/crate/kennel.htm

Answer 7

Watch the Dog Wispere show, because it is all about a guy that can tell you how to control dogs and whatnot. It is a nice show, usually on National Geographic, so i think you should go to the National Geographic website to see. Maybe there are sometips on the net for you to see. P.S, dont give your dog attention when it wants it for something you dont want! That is what i know... ;)

Answer 8

kick it in head then burn its balls with a hot stick it will soon stop peeing all over the place or you could move into a park somewhere then the dog wouldnt be peeing inside anymore

Answer 9

try getting a potty mat and teach the dog to go on that.

Answer 10

Labs are good for that. Check out this site, it has alot of useful info. http://us.iams.com/iams/en_US/jsp/IAMS_Page.jsp?pageID=A&articleID=177#1