Sacha wrote:
On 19/7/06 12:24, in article , "david taylor"
wrote:


"SallyJ" wrote in message
oups.com...
I have a new puppy who is at the stage where everything (and I mean
everything) goes in his mouth! [...]
Does anyone have any good
ideas about how to stop a puppy chewing these plants?
[...]
No smart ideas. The same issue can arise with children and grandchildren.
Close attention, correction and reward is all I can offer.

When our still young Jack Russells & older wire haired dachies were paying
too much attention to the ducks, we put a very low voltage rabbit fencing
round the enclosure. Each dog touched his nose to it just once..... I do
stress *very* low voltage but it's unexpected and was just enough to keep
them away from that area as long as the ducks lived there.

It isn't at all cruel to tap a puppy _gently_ on the head while sharply
saying "No!" when he's in the very act of some crime or folly. In fact,
it's rather cruel not to: that's the way their mothers and aunts train
them in nature, after all. A well-trained dog is a happy dog, as well
as being safer among the hazards of life. I don't think there's much
need to worry about the poisons in plants: a nasty taste will often do
the trick without help from the owner, and they rarely swallow a lot.
If they do swallow a bit too much of something, there'll probably be
more damage to the carpet than to the animal, and you probably don't
let him on the carpet yet anyway.

--
Mike.