Calming Down Inside The House

[luckyhintz]

We have been trying to get our 8 month puppy to calm down in the house seems like the only way she will not chase the cat, tear the house apart, is when we give her a new bone to chew on. Just wondering if there are any other tricks I could try.
Thanks

 

[tigerlily46514]

lol, good luck! You CAN make this situation better!! don't give up!
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now,
how long of walks is this puppy getting? 5 minutes? 10 minutes? 30 minutes? 60 minutes?
How many times a day does the pup get this walk?

Does this dog get a chance to run full speed? how often? how far?
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How long is pup home alone each day?
(just trying to rule out factors which sometimes contribute to destructive dogs)
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How much exhaustive play time is this puppy getting? games like vigorous tug, or fetch for quite a while, etc etc.
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How many times a day, do you set aside a few minutes to teach the dog a trick or a cue? ("mental excercise")

the more we know, the better we can all help you solve this! i've had problems with my dog, and others here helped me see some things i could change to help my dog.

 

[Amateur]

Before I started into clicker training and knowing just what you CAN teach your dog, a friend just stood there and clicked and treated my border collie pup for calm behaviour. If the dog laid down she clicked and treated if she just stood there she clicked, if she laid down on her side JACKPOT. All without saying a word. The light bulb then went on in my head, you dont have to Name a trick for clicker work ... you can click for wanted behaviour !!!

Sit yourself down on the couch (without cat) , when your dog comes over and shows any good calm behaviour Click and treat.
Hopefully you can get a relaxed dog laying by your feet. There is a good video out there on Youtube I'm sure you could find.

Have plenty of chew bones, deer antlers etc on hand. Our 10 month old has never destroyed anything (except my sanity) and will still chase the cat in fun, but is easily called off.

 

[tigerlily46514]

Here is maybe the video Amateur refers to,
on teaching calmness.
BUT, if IF IF IF your dog is NOT getting lots of daily outlets to burn off his energy,
it might be more fair to dog
to give him increased excercise
as *first* step in solving this problem? by removing much of the "cause" of the behavior?
{that is, IF IF IF this dog is indeed, chockful of unspent energy.}
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destructive dogs are so often "bored" dogs.
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"a TIRED dog is a GOOD dog."
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http://youtu.be/wesm2OpE_2c

 

[Amateur]

Thats the one !