We have a Maltese-Shitsu cross, 8-9 months old. She is generally
well-behaved, but just lately has decided to get into mischief at every
possible chance. When we are not looking, she chews up papers, cards,
magazines, even books. She climbs up on tables and steals objects like
remote controls, etc. When scolded, she runs around like a mad thing. If she
is put outside, she scratches at the door and whines until let back in. I am
mostly alone with her during the day as I study at home, and she is driving
me nuts.

Any advice to bring her back to her usual behaviour? She used to lie around
quietly most of the day in the sunshine, waiting for the kids to get home.

Tony

On Fri, 17 Oct 2003 02:25:10 GMT Tony Gilbert ozplan2003 @ yahoo.com.au whittled these words:
We have a Maltese-Shitsu cross, 8-9 months old. She is generally
well-behaved, but just lately has decided to get into mischief at every
possible chance.


She hasn't decided to "get into mischief" She has no purpose to be naughty
nor to annoy you. Most likely she is boooooored. She is also a teenager.
She is maturing, and naturally she will change during that process. Give
her some structure to her life, some things to engage her mind, and
exercise to reduce stress and anxiety. Obedience classes, in particular a
clicker class (http://www.dog-play.com/clicker.html) will teach you how to
teach her. Then schedule 3 five minute training sessions a day. It
doesn't matter whether you do obedience or tricks or practice for a dog
sport. Take a brisk 15 minute walk away from home in the morning, and
another mid-afternoon. That will give her some mental stimulation. When
you are busy, let her engage a variety of interactive toys.
http://www.dog-play.com/toys.html. Consider feeding her ONLY via those
toys, to give her some challenges.

Diane Blackman

On Fri, 17 Oct 2003 02:25:10 GMT Tony Gilbert ozplan2003 @ yahoo.com.au whittled these words:
We have a Maltese-Shitsu cross, 8-9 months old. She is generally
well-behaved, but just lately has decided to get into mischief at every
possible chance.


She hasn't decided to "get into mischief" She has no purpose to be naughty
nor to annoy you. Most likely she is boooooored. She is also a teenager.
She is maturing, and naturally she will change during that process. Give
her some structure to her life, some things to engage her mind, and
exercise to reduce stress and anxiety. Obedience classes, in particular a
clicker class (http://www.dog-play.com/clicker.html) will teach you how to
teach her. Then schedule 3 five minute training sessions a day. It
doesn't matter whether you do obedience or tricks or practice for a dog
sport. Take a brisk 15 minute walk away from home in the morning, and
another mid-afternoon. That will give her some mental stimulation. When
you are busy, let her engage a variety of interactive toys.
http://www.dog-play.com/toys.html. Consider feeding her ONLY via those
toys, to give her some challenges.

Diane Blackman

On Fri, 17 Oct 2003 02:25:10 GMT Tony Gilbert ozplan2003 @ yahoo.com.au whittled these words:
We have a Maltese-Shitsu cross, 8-9 months old. She is generally
well-behaved, but just lately has decided to get into mischief at every
possible chance.


She hasn't decided to "get into mischief" She has no purpose to be naughty
nor to annoy you. Most likely she is boooooored. She is also a teenager.
She is maturing, and naturally she will change during that process. Give
her some structure to her life, some things to engage her mind, and
exercise to reduce stress and anxiety. Obedience classes, in particular a
clicker class (http://www.dog-play.com/clicker.html) will teach you how to
teach her. Then schedule 3 five minute training sessions a day. It
doesn't matter whether you do obedience or tricks or practice for a dog
sport. Take a brisk 15 minute walk away from home in the morning, and
another mid-afternoon. That will give her some mental stimulation. When
you are busy, let her engage a variety of interactive toys.
http://www.dog-play.com/toys.html. Consider feeding her ONLY via those
toys, to give her some challenges.

Diane Blackman

On Fri, 17 Oct 2003 02:25:10 GMT Tony Gilbert ozplan2003 @ yahoo.com.au whittled these words:
We have a Maltese-Shitsu cross, 8-9 months old. She is generally
well-behaved, but just lately has decided to get into mischief at every
possible chance.


She hasn't decided to "get into mischief" She has no purpose to be naughty
nor to annoy you. Most likely she is boooooored. She is also a teenager.
She is maturing, and naturally she will change during that process. Give
her some structure to her life, some things to engage her mind, and
exercise to reduce stress and anxiety. Obedience classes, in particular a
clicker class (http://www.dog-play.com/clicker.html) will teach you how to
teach her. Then schedule 3 five minute training sessions a day. It
doesn't matter whether you do obedience or tricks or practice for a dog
sport. Take a brisk 15 minute walk away from home in the morning, and
another mid-afternoon. That will give her some mental stimulation. When
you are busy, let her engage a variety of interactive toys.
http://www.dog-play.com/toys.html. Consider feeding her ONLY via those
toys, to give her some challenges.

Diane Blackman

"Tony Gilbert" ozplan2003 @ yahoo.com.au wrote in message
...
We have a Maltese-Shitsu cross, 8-9 months old. She is generally
well-behaved, but just lately has decided to get into mischief at every
possible chance. When we are not looking, she chews up papers, cards,
magazines, even books. She climbs up on tables and steals objects like
remote controls, etc. When scolded, she runs around like a mad thing. If
she
is put outside, she scratches at the door and whines until let back in. I
am
mostly alone with her during the day as I study at home, and she is
driving
me nuts.

Any advice to bring her back to her usual behaviour? She used to lie
around
quietly most of the day in the sunshine, waiting for the kids to get home.

Tony




Have her spayed and take her to obedience classes. Dogs aren't born knowing
what is acceptible behavior to humans and what is not. It is up to the
humans to teach the dog (if they are smarter than the dog). That "lying
around quietly" is the mark of a young puppy who needs lots of rest just
like a human infant needs lots of sleep. You should have begun training
then, and not waited until the difficult teen years. It will be a little
harder now, but with some effort on your part, modifying her behavior will
not be that difficult. She's entering her more social juvenile period and
needs more stimulation, and as head of her pack, she's looking to you to
provide it. You are providing reinforcement for her "naughty" behavior by
paying attention to her when she engages in it. She needs attention paid to
her while she is being good, and obedience classes will help you to figure
out how to do this and to extinguish the undesirable behavior. And, a tired
dog is a good dog. Even companion breed dogs don't lay sleeping all day and
will need exercise.She needs mental stimulation with the training and
physical exercise to work off some of that energy. The two go together. If
you wanted an animal who lays around 18 hours of the day sleeping, you
should have chosen a cat. :~) But, cats need training by their owner too,
as any pet will other than a pet rock.

Sunflower

"Tony Gilbert" ozplan2003 @ yahoo.com.au wrote in message
...
We have a Maltese-Shitsu cross, 8-9 months old. She is generally
well-behaved, but just lately has decided to get into mischief at every
possible chance. When we are not looking, she chews up papers, cards,
magazines, even books. She climbs up on tables and steals objects like
remote controls, etc. When scolded, she runs around like a mad thing. If
she
is put outside, she scratches at the door and whines until let back in. I
am
mostly alone with her during the day as I study at home, and she is
driving
me nuts.

Any advice to bring her back to her usual behaviour? She used to lie
around
quietly most of the day in the sunshine, waiting for the kids to get home.

Tony




Have her spayed and take her to obedience classes. Dogs aren't born knowing
what is acceptible behavior to humans and what is not. It is up to the
humans to teach the dog (if they are smarter than the dog). That "lying
around quietly" is the mark of a young puppy who needs lots of rest just
like a human infant needs lots of sleep. You should have begun training
then, and not waited until the difficult teen years. It will be a little
harder now, but with some effort on your part, modifying her behavior will
not be that difficult. She's entering her more social juvenile period and
needs more stimulation, and as head of her pack, she's looking to you to
provide it. You are providing reinforcement for her "naughty" behavior by
paying attention to her when she engages in it. She needs attention paid to
her while she is being good, and obedience classes will help you to figure
out how to do this and to extinguish the undesirable behavior. And, a tired
dog is a good dog. Even companion breed dogs don't lay sleeping all day and
will need exercise.She needs mental stimulation with the training and
physical exercise to work off some of that energy. The two go together. If
you wanted an animal who lays around 18 hours of the day sleeping, you
should have chosen a cat. :~) But, cats need training by their owner too,
as any pet will other than a pet rock.

Sunflower

"Tony Gilbert" ozplan2003 @ yahoo.com.au wrote in message
...
We have a Maltese-Shitsu cross, 8-9 months old. She is generally
well-behaved, but just lately has decided to get into mischief at every
possible chance. When we are not looking, she chews up papers, cards,
magazines, even books. She climbs up on tables and steals objects like
remote controls, etc. When scolded, she runs around like a mad thing. If
she
is put outside, she scratches at the door and whines until let back in. I
am
mostly alone with her during the day as I study at home, and she is
driving
me nuts.

Any advice to bring her back to her usual behaviour? She used to lie
around
quietly most of the day in the sunshine, waiting for the kids to get home.

Tony




Have her spayed and take her to obedience classes. Dogs aren't born knowing
what is acceptible behavior to humans and what is not. It is up to the
humans to teach the dog (if they are smarter than the dog). That "lying
around quietly" is the mark of a young puppy who needs lots of rest just
like a human infant needs lots of sleep. You should have begun training
then, and not waited until the difficult teen years. It will be a little
harder now, but with some effort on your part, modifying her behavior will
not be that difficult. She's entering her more social juvenile period and
needs more stimulation, and as head of her pack, she's looking to you to
provide it. You are providing reinforcement for her "naughty" behavior by
paying attention to her when she engages in it. She needs attention paid to
her while she is being good, and obedience classes will help you to figure
out how to do this and to extinguish the undesirable behavior. And, a tired
dog is a good dog. Even companion breed dogs don't lay sleeping all day and
will need exercise.She needs mental stimulation with the training and
physical exercise to work off some of that energy. The two go together. If
you wanted an animal who lays around 18 hours of the day sleeping, you
should have chosen a cat. :~) But, cats need training by their owner too,
as any pet will other than a pet rock.

Sunflower

"Tony Gilbert" ozplan2003 @ yahoo.com.au wrote in message
...
We have a Maltese-Shitsu cross, 8-9 months old. She is generally
well-behaved, but just lately has decided to get into mischief at every
possible chance. When we are not looking, she chews up papers, cards,
magazines, even books. She climbs up on tables and steals objects like
remote controls, etc. When scolded, she runs around like a mad thing. If
she
is put outside, she scratches at the door and whines until let back in. I
am
mostly alone with her during the day as I study at home, and she is
driving
me nuts.

Any advice to bring her back to her usual behaviour? She used to lie
around
quietly most of the day in the sunshine, waiting for the kids to get home.

Tony




Have her spayed and take her to obedience classes. Dogs aren't born knowing
what is acceptible behavior to humans and what is not. It is up to the
humans to teach the dog (if they are smarter than the dog). That "lying
around quietly" is the mark of a young puppy who needs lots of rest just
like a human infant needs lots of sleep. You should have begun training
then, and not waited until the difficult teen years. It will be a little
harder now, but with some effort on your part, modifying her behavior will
not be that difficult. She's entering her more social juvenile period and
needs more stimulation, and as head of her pack, she's looking to you to
provide it. You are providing reinforcement for her "naughty" behavior by
paying attention to her when she engages in it. She needs attention paid to
her while she is being good, and obedience classes will help you to figure
out how to do this and to extinguish the undesirable behavior. And, a tired
dog is a good dog. Even companion breed dogs don't lay sleeping all day and
will need exercise.She needs mental stimulation with the training and
physical exercise to work off some of that energy. The two go together. If
you wanted an animal who lays around 18 hours of the day sleeping, you
should have chosen a cat. :~) But, cats need training by their owner too,
as any pet will other than a pet rock.

Sunflower

"Tony Gilbert" ozplan2003 @ yahoo.com.au wrote in message
...
We have a Maltese-Shitsu cross, 8-9 months old. She is generally
well-behaved, but just lately has decided to get into mischief at every
possible chance. When we are not looking, she chews up papers, cards,
magazines, even books. She climbs up on tables and steals objects like
remote controls, etc. When scolded, she runs around like a mad thing. If
she
is put outside, she scratches at the door and whines until let back in. I
am
mostly alone with her during the day as I study at home, and she is
driving
me nuts.

Any advice to bring her back to her usual behaviour? She used to lie
around
quietly most of the day in the sunshine, waiting for the kids to get home.

Tony


Tie her up around the the side of the house? The back of the yard? Well
just until s/he realises that you aint gonna put up with it :-)

Keep the dog out the back [outside] all the time?

Everytime it chews something up, show the object to the dog and it a angry
tone smack s/he.

Our dog used to dig the garden's up ALL the time, until we put him in the
pound for a week, when he came home he was right as rain again :-)

Nat


Nat