Dog Training...a few questions

[ChloeLove]

We're getting a new pup, and I was researching puppy training and house training, and came across this website, and watched some of the movies. Some of them are pretty good, but some things he said confused me. Before I go any further, if you want to check out the website, here it is. Banana TV

In the Boredom Busters section, it says if your dog digs, then get it a wading pool and fill it with sand and bury treats in it. Two questions:
1. Won't the sand get it the dog's eyes and hurt it?
2. The dog will obviously digest some of the sand by digging and eating the buried treat. Won't it not be good for the dog?

It also says if your dog gets bored give it a plastic bottle to play with.
But...what if the dog digests the plastic?

I only watched two of the videos, so there's probably more.

[aly]

I've suggested to many people to use the kiddie pool filled with sand for digging and have never heard of anyone having a problem with it. If the dog doesn't find the treat, be sure to remove it yourself so you don't get ants all over it. I would bury treats like milkbones that aren't too sticky.

If you're worried about the sand, you could use something else to fill the pool with, but sand seems to work best.

The plastic bottle would be fine as long as you are there to supervise. I used to give my lab empty milk jugs to play with

[ChloeLove]

Okay, thank you for clearing that up!

[lv4dogs]

i also recomend the sandbox to many people, never a problem.
My dogs love plastic jugs. Nanook can even open a pop bottle so well that you can screw the cap back on. Just watch out as sometimes Nanook will confuse a soda bottle that you are still are drinking out of for one that is empty.

The best boredom tool out there is a kong toy, you can fill w/ many many items, regular kibble & treats, peanut butter, yougurt, cottage or cream cheese, leftover potaoes & meat chuncks, ehat ever your heart desires. You can also freeze them for a nice hot day treat & they last longer then too.

A very important tip is that you should enroll in a reputable puppy obedience class & follow up w/ at least one beginer class. It will teach you & the pup many important factors including better manners, socialization & bonding.

good luck & hope to hear of a new addition soon!

[Cincy'sMom]

Originally posted by lv4dogs
My dogs love plastic jugs. Nanook can even open a pop bottle so well that you can screw the cap back on. Just watch out as sometimes Nanook will confuse a soda bottle that you are still are drinking out of for one that is empty.

Sounds like my Sadie!!! No matter how many toys she has, she will always return to her bottle...and be careful leaving one sit around...she will claim it as a toy, empty or full

[binka_nugget]

Yep, I don't think there should be much of a problem with the sandbox. But just to be safe, always supervise. I was thinking about doing a different version of that with kai. Instead of sand, I'd get a kiddie pool filled with water and place little tidbits of hotdogs in there.

[Dixieland Dancer]

You really don't need to worry about the pup ingesting the plastic from the bottle. When they are teething, their little puppy teeth usually pierce through the bottle and they have a "little struggle" to get them back out. This produces a massaging effect on them to help with the teething process. They also end up scooting it around quite a bit. Just make sure you remove any part of the bottle that could accidently hurt the pup such as the label and bottle cap. ALWAYS supervise puppy play and when the bottle becomes full of holes and to the point where there may be some jagged edges, throw it away and give pup a new one to start on!

About the sand box.... ingesting a few sand particles is really no different than ingesting the dirt they get all over their mouths when they dig in the dirt! The idea behind the sand box is just to control where they dig so you don't have little holes all over the yard. Please note that you should not introduce a sand box to your pup unless he is an out of control digger. Doing so without the problem behavior present could back fire on you and create a digger.

Kongs are wonderful as boredom busters. Make sure you get the right size for your pup to handle. One size does not fit all. Cubes that you put kibble in and it falls out as the dog rolls the cube are fun for the pup too. I use the cube in the crate to create two fold results. 1. It helps to discourage the pup from feeling anxiety when I leave. 2. It helps pup to learn to love his crate. I put the cube in the crate even when I am home occassionally and leave the door open.

[stacwase]

I keep Max from getting into too much trouble by pooping him out as often as possible. I don't know your dog or anything about the area where you live, but I found a couple of ways to give Max so much exercise that he stays out of trouble for over a day afterwards! He just lays around resting. You know what they say - "A tired puppy is a good puppy".

My favorite way is to go out to a very out-of-the-way loop nature trail where I rarely run into other people. I take him off the leash and let him run off his energy while I walk the trail. He runs way ahead, then runs back to me, and keeps doing that until he just wears himself out. He runs at least 5-10 times as far as I walk. Then when he's worn out I put him back on the leash and we finish the trial and drive home.

Another great way is to take him kayaking with me on a very slow, shallow river. He runs up and down the banks and through the water, and swims around. The river we go down is 7 1/2 miles long and he must go over 20 miles with all the running around he does. By the time we get to the end he's worn out and he sleeps all the way home and the entire next day!

I keep him from digging too much by just bringing him back inside as soon as he's done his thing. I like the swimming pool idea, though! I'll have to try it.