My dog, Zoee,  has a look that is infectious, so infectious it keeps her out of trouble with me. However, her ability get out of trouble does not work on my wife. Kaely constantly is getting frustrated with with Zoee and then gets frustrated with me for not punishing her for all the things shes done. My typical response is, “but look at that face honey! How can you be mad at that?!” her response then sounds like “Easy, she peed on the floor, she chewed up the dog bed, and shes been digging in the trash!”. Needless to say, our little Zoee, needs to be trained, and soon!

Zoee, is a purebred long-haired Daschund who has reddish brown hair. She is about 16 months old and still has plenty of puppy in her. However, we do our best to give her nylabones (those hard plastic bones that are almost impossible to ruin), real bones, and toys to keep her occupied. However, she always seems to get in trouble with her three greatest “tricks”, which are 1) going to the bathroom in the house 2) chewing on inappropriate things and 3) barking. All three are more than likely my fault at times, but I cannot take all the blame.

Her going to the bathroom in the house is usually not my fault. I let her eat, after a few minutes, she goes out, walks around for a few minutes, does her business then comes in. Not five minutes being inside she has gone to the bathroom again, only this time on my kitchen floor. Now the chewing, well its expected, she is a puppy and all puppies chew, but why can’t she chew on the flavored bones instead of my cabinet, or a toy instead of the dog bed!? I swear sometimes I think she does it because she knows she can get a way with it. Finally the barking… The high pitched yelp that tends to keep me up at night, that interupts my TV watching, or just down right annoys me while on the computer. We have a bark collar for training, but I don’t think she cares if she gets zapped, that or she’s not the brightest dog and forgets because she will shock herself up one side and down the other and yes, we know it zaps her because she gets quiet for a few moments then starts right back up.

My question for you all is, what has worked for you while training your dog(s)? I am giving our beloved Zoee one month to shape up, and after that, shes gone. The sound of that breaks my heart, but for the sake of myself, wife and soon-to-be son, she will need to go. So any and all tips on how to successfully train a dog would be wonderful!