Teaching a new dog old tricks

Ah. Puppy love. Someone finally finds the perfect pooch that is playful, loving and energetic. But after a few months, those slimy puppy kisses, continual playful bites and ceaseless gnaws on random pieces of furniture aren't as cute as they used to be.

Unfortunately, the young canine just doesn't understand the word "no."

In October, Susie Minhondo had the puppy blues. She was living with a 5-month-old unruly beagle named Sadie.

"Well, she's all fun and that kind of thing, but I just wanted her to learn how to behave and to have some manners," Minhondo said.

Sadie was chosen by the Minhondo family because of her playful and loving disposition. But her jumping on guests and chewing on people's belongings had grown old.

So Minhondo called Keli Dowler of Waggin' Tail Dog Training for a private consultation on how to manage Sadie's fun-loving nature.

Dowler taught the family three basic steps to train their dog. The first step is to decide on a command, like "off," "no" or "down," for a specific behavior. Make sure everyone in the family uses the same command, Dowler said.

"Your command is never a punishment," Dowler said. "It is simply a way to get your dog to quit doing the behavior you don't want them to do."

The second step is correction. This step comes with a repercussion, Dowler said.

"If you want to get rid of a behavior, it has to have a consequence," she said. "You can say 'off' as many times as you want, but if it doesn't have a consequence it doesn't matter."

Dowler suggests either shaking a can with pennies in it, spraying a dog with water or even just clapping hands together loudly, as consequences. That way the owner will be able to get the dog's attention and the dog will know it has done something wrong.

The third step is praise. After an owner has given a command and then a consequence, and the dog has stopped doing the unwanted behavior, the owner should let the dog know it did something right, Dowler said.

"Every time you say to your dog 'good puppy,' you are saying you like that behavior," Dowler said.

With Sadie, learning to stop jumping on people came easily. Each time she would jump on Dowler, she got a squirt of water to the face. Then after she was back on all fours, she was praised.