Discipline Of Our "little Angels"

[Guest posting as: mOmOfaBe]

Hi,

I just came home from dropping the kids off to school......Abe the terror had gotten into my husbands work things, and drug out a boatload of papers and his planner, and needless to say decorated my living room.......(sighs heavily here)....anyone care to share stories, and how to deal with misbehavior after the fact?

Thanks,

frustrated mom of Abe

[Crazy Boys]

I had a similar experience with my two guys - I think the fact that we have two - it is definately true that they get into twice as much trouble! Most often, I confine them to a room while I am out to prevent coming home to these surprises. I will never forget last fall, I HAD the cutest little fall standing figure, something like a scarecrow, in my living room. I went to the grocery, well, that was it for me. The straw man was COMPLETELY torn apart, my entire living room was "re-decorated" with straw - it was amazing in such a short time they could have done that! I haven't made the same mistake twice.

I must be crazy, but I just went about cleaning up the mess and didn't dicipline them at all - it was strange, neither of them were hanging around me while I was cleaning it. Imagine that.

[CarCarDawn]

Hi! Just recently I left my home for about a half hour and let Riley have the run of the place. When I came home I found all of his toys - - he has about 20 - - out of his toy box and lined up in a row!! It looked so funny!!! At least he didn't destroy anything - - but he must have been a pretty busy lil guy!! I still marvel as to why he did this!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Guest posting as: mOmOfaBe]

The same with Abe, he knew I was upset, but I wasn't sure if he understood what for, so I didn't do anything. He is really pushing buttons right now.....go figure?!

I can't imagine them all lined up, Abe likes to get his out of the basket and distribute them in places that he has to have help to retrieve....ha ha

As to the two can do more damage theory........I have 14yr old twins........ITS A DEFINATE POSSIBILITY...

Guess the best thing is to be mindful of what we leave in reach.

MOB

(mom of abe)

wonder where he gets it?

[Mama Kim]

There is no such thing as discipline after the fact where a dog is concerned. They live in the here and now and don't 'get' discipline imposed after an event has occurred. If you don't catch them in action, forget it. This is why Piper is always kenneled when we are gone. They are not to be trusted. Even our 14 year old Cairn was kenneled for most of her life when we were gone. We went for a brief period when she was about 1-2 years old. We had more property damage then I can even name. She had seperation anxiety and would 'act out' when we were not home. Once we started kenneling her again, she was fine. She actually enjoyed the security, I believe. So we have never 'trusted' Piper on her own and never will.

BTW, the two can wreak more damage than one theory is true. I have 9-year old twins!!

[wheezie23]

I agree with you, MamaKim. There's no point in disciplining any dog after the fact. They don't "get it" and it just leads to frustration. I've never been able to crate my dogs, although I know it's best for them when I'm away. What I have done is to remove the temptations. I close off the rest of the house and let her have the living room and kitchen. I make sure that there isn't anything I wouldn't want destroyed within reach. I do leave out a basket of pine cones that I have always had. She loves getting into them, they're replaceable and they keep her busy. I think she enjoys them so much because she thinks she's getting into something she shouldn't! I've also found that if I leave the tv on to Nick Jr. or Animal Planet she isn't destructive. Ever since I started leaving the tv on, she has stopped chewing up my houseplants. Go figure.