My human, Hsin-Yi, will be taking over the blog today:
We get a lot of messages every week coming through the Contact Honey page (and also sometimes through my YouTube channel) - many of them asking for advice on training and behavioural issues.
I have been trying my best to answer every message individually but am finding it very difficult to keep up, especially with the other demands of Honey’s blog and Google Reader, not to mention normal emails and of course, work (never mind my ‘real’ life!) 
I have also been quite upset sometimes at the rudeness of people who do not even bother to acknowledge my detailed responses with a simple “thank you” and one man who even sent a one-line message saying “How do I get my dog to heel?” (no greeting, introduction or thanks) – followed the next week by: “Are you going to answer me or not?”!! 
People don’t seem to realise that I have to take time out from my own very busy life to reply to all their messages and I am not some free online dog-training consultancy! 
Furthermore, many dog behavioural problems are far too complex to try and advise on without seeing the dog/situation in real life and no reputable dog trainer or behaviourist would just suggest “quick fixes” over the internet.
Having said all that, I am keen to share any experience or knowledge that might help other dog owners - and I am lucky in that my job as a pet writer enables me to interview many of the top experts in the dog world. My own interest in canine behaviour and training has also led me to read and research widely on this topic. And it has been very rewarding to get updates from people who have found my suggestions helpful and made a significant difference in their lives with their dogs. (I hasten to add that many people do reply very politely with thanks for my time and efforts – but I am staggered at how many rude, greedy, arrogant people there are out there.)
Therefore, I have decided that I will no longer reply to questions individually – BUT instead I will start to publish my responses on the blog as a new series of ”Ask Honey” posts, so that the information is made accessible for everyone (and so I don’t have to keep repeating myself!). This way I will not feel that I have spent a lot of time for nothing if I don’t get a response from the original sender – at least other readers of the blog may find the information interesting and/or useful – and rather than me handing people information on a plate which they don’t seem to appreciate, they will have to make the effort to come and follow Honey’s blog for their answers.
So here is the first in the series of “Ask Honey” posts – and I will try to post at least one question each week (with Honey’s hard work and help, of course, as you can see in the picture above! )
* NOTE: I am not a professional trainer and I am not suggesting that my methods are superior over others or are the only way to do things. I do NOT wish to get into an argument over dog training philosophies. These are simply my thoughts and opinions, based on my own experiences, wide reading and knowledge gleaned from several experts in dog training & behaviour.
Any suggestions I give cannot substitute for the assessment of a professional trainer or behaviourist in “real life”, particularly if your dog has an urgent or serious behavioural problem.
******
Ask Honey #1 – My dog destroys everything when left alone!
Hello – Your Honey is adorable and you also 
!!! We are watching your videos and we are learning a lot from you, about the clicker method the most. We also have a great dane but the black one and he is 10 months old. His very sweet and fast learning dog, but we have some permanent problem. The problem is to stay alone at home, even a few minutes. When he is alone, he destroy everithing in house. Can you tell me what should I do, how to stoped that behavior?
Thank you in advanced and best regards from Serbia.
There are usually 2 reasons dogs destroy things when they are left alone: a) they are bored OR b) they are anxious.
You did not say in your message whether your pup does anything else when he is left alone – such as barking, crying, running around frantically, urinating or defecating, staying by the front door, attacking the front door… so it is hard to determine his exact state of mind and the reason behind his destructive behaviour.
1) First, with any dog, it is important to gradually get him used to being alone. It can be a bit of a tedious process – and this is a step many owners skip with their new puppies – but it is really worthwhile taking the time to do this properly. This means leaving your dog first just for 5 mins and then returning, then 10mins, 20min, 1/2hr, 1hr, 2hrs…gradually working up to longer periods of time. Only increase the time if your dog remains quiet and calm. If your dog cannot even cope with 5mins to begin with then you may need to start with an even shorter period of time (eg. 1min). The key things to remember are:
- Never return to your dog if he is crying or barking – otherwise he will think that he is being rewarded for that behaviour and that crying or barking will bring you back. Wait until there is a pause before going back into the house or making your presence known outside the front door. If he does not pause, make a noise to distract him (eg. throw a stone against the side of the house) so that he will stop for a second and enable you to return. Dogs are very easily & quickly conditioned by associations therefore if you walk back into the room at the same time that he is barking or crying, he will immediately link the two things together. Whereas instead if you suddenly appear the minute he shuts up, he will think that it is the act of keeping quiet & calm that brings you back.
- Don’t make a huge fuss of your dog when you return. In fact, don’t greet him at all – no eye contact, no talking – ignore him completely for 5mins or until he has calmed down. Occupy yourself with other things (eg. taking off your shoes, putting your coat away). When you greet him, be very matter-of-fact. Same with leaving him – DO NOT make a big scene, give him kisses, tell him you’ll be back soon, etc, etc – just leave very quietly and matter-of-factly. You want your dog to think that being left alone is no big deal. This will go a long way towards helping to prevent separation anxiety.
- If your dog suffers from severe separation anxiety, you may need to desensitise him to the whole process – in other words, you will have to practise many “fake departures” several times, in between the real ones in (1) above – ie. pick up your keys/handbag, put your shoes/coat on – then just sit down in the living room. Or even open the front door and then shut it and take everything off again. Repeat many times so that your dog no longer knows when you are really leaving the house - and probably soon no longer cares!
He will become desensitised to these cues which used to work him up into the anxious state because they have become so “ordinary” and don’t necessarily mean anything.
2) Second, you must leave your dog in a “safe place” when you have to leave him unsupervised. Don’t just give him the run of the whole house…of course he will destroy things! 
Don’t leave him open to temptation. Remove as many household things from his environment as possible. And remember, destructiveness is a “self-reinforcing behaviour” – this means every time he does it, he is being rewarded and it is creating a habit – therefore don’t give him any chance to do it so that there is no chance for the bad habit to be formed.
To safely contain your dog, many people use a crate. If your dog is destructive, I would recommend a wire crate (like a cage). It needs to be just big enough for the dog to stand up and turn around comfortably. If your dog is not used to crates, you will have to introduce the crate slowly, with positive associations and gradually build up the time he spends in the crate – you cannot just put the dog in and leave him. The crate is not a “quick fix” – it is a lifestyle solution and you need to take time introducing it correctly otherwise you will just make the problem worse. The crate should never be used for punishment but should always be a safe haven where the dog feels comfortable and relaxed and associates it with good things like food and treats. Here are some links which give you more information about crate training:
- http://www.inch.com/~dogs/cratetraining.html
- http://www.humanesociety.org/animals/dogs/tips/crate_training.html
- http://www.cuhumane.org/topics/crate.html
Once your dog is happy in his crate, you can start to leave him in it when you leave the house. But again, gradually build up the time and again, don’t return when he is barking or crying. Being in the crate means that he won’t be able to reach and destroy items in the house. However, you will need to leave him other alternatives to occupy his time [see (3)] If your dog is consistently remaining calm in the crate for a long period of time, you could try leaving the crate door open when you leave him alone in the house and see if he will not destroy anything. This is the in-between step to leaving him completely loose in the house, which would be the final test.
You do not have to use a crate if you have an area of your house where you can safely leave your dog and he cannot do any damage – eg. a small laundry or even outside in a dog run with a dog house for shelter (if the weather in your country is reasonable). We never had a crate for Honey when she was young – we just used our laundry, where we placed her bed and some toys & chews. It had a door leading to the garden so she had access to the outdoors. I must point out, though, that Honey was never a destructive puppy (I never lost a single shoe! ) and she did not dig in the garden, so we were very lucky. However, I still went through all the stages of preparing her for being alone, exactly as if she was a destructive puppy with separation anxiety. It is so much harder to fix a problem once it is there – so it is always better to err on the side of caution and take the time to do things properly from the beginning and prevent the problem from occuring in the first place!
3) When you leave your dog alone – especially a young dog – you MUST leave him with something to occupy his time & energy, otherwise he will get bored and look for mischief on his own. Dogs chew things when they are bored – this is natural behaviour. You cannot stop this behaviour – but you can direct it towards something more appropriate. So when you leave your dog – whether in a crate or safe room – always leave some toys and chews and special treats for him. Interactive toys are the best as they will stimlate your dog’s mind, tire him out and keep him busy for longer.
- Invest in a Kong (http://www.kongcompany.com/worlds_best.html) which you can stuff with a variety of treats and will keep your dog busy for hours. There are different sizes and even extra-tough versions for heavy-duty chewers.
- Also check out treat balls (eg. Buster Cube – http://www.bustercube.com/) – these are plastic balls which you can fill with dry dog food or treats and as the dog rolls the ball around, food will fall out of holes in the side of the ball. (* There have been some incidents associated with some types of these balls – please see Junior Babee & Orion’s comment below). If your dog eats kibble (dry food), consider putting his breakfast or dinner in the treat ball so that he has to work for it. This is what we used to do with Honey when I had to leave her every day to go out to work when she was younger. By the time they get all the food out and their stomach is full, they are usually exhausted and will happily have a nap!
- You can also try a variety of chew toys and treat chews – however, be careful with things like rawhide as they can become very sticky and soggy when wet and your dog may choke on it as he tries to swallow it. This happened to Honey and we have since never let her have rawhide unsupervised. If you don’t mind the mess, raw marrow bones can also be very good for keeping dogs entertained (and keeping their teeth clean!) – but remember, NEVER give your dog cooked bones!
- Rotate the toys – don’t always leave the same ones out for him – change them every so often so that they remain fresh and exciting. Also, don’t give him these toys and treats at any other times – save them only for when you leave him alone – so that he will actually start to look forward to his “alone time” because that is the only time he gets these special treats.
4) Try to tire your dog out before you leave him alone. Take him for a walk, throw a ball around the garden or play an exciting game with his toys. With a Great Dane, this is even easier than for most breeds because Danes have so little stamina and tire so easily. When Honey was a puppy, all I had to do was play an exciting game of tug or chase with her toys around the house for 10mins and she would be ready for a nap! Remember, a tired dog is a good dog!
5) Finally, it is also important to teach your dog how to behave correctly around the furniture and other items in the house. To do this, you have to let him loose in the house and spend some time supervising him, so you can interrupt/correct him when he is chewing inappropriate items (eg. furniture, shoes, etc) and re-direct him towards the appropriate items (eg. chew toys) with lots of praise.
Start with only letting him loose in one room so you can easily keep an eye on him. Many people make the mistake of allowing their puppies access to the whole house from the beginning – so that the pup learns to sneak off to the bedroom to chew shoes and there is no one there to tell him that is wrong. By the time you find out, it has already become a bad habit. Puppies have to earn the privilege to be allowed into all rooms in the house and they earn this by showing that they can be trusted. Honey was only allowed in our living room and hallway (+ laundry where she slept) – and never in the bedrooms or the rest of the house – until she was nearly 1 yr old.
Yes, it is a pain having to supervise your puppy as you may be constantly interrupted and distracted from what you are doing, every time he does something naughty and you need to intervene – but again, it is time worth investing in. There were many burnt dinners and missed TV programmes in our house when Honey was a puppy because I had to keep watching her, interrupting her behaviour and redirecting onto the apporpriate alternative. I would often purposefully let her “be involved” while I was doing something (eg. polishing shoes) so that I could show her what was ‘wrong’ behaviour in that situation and what was the ‘right’ behaviour. Yes, it would have been easier if I just put her away - everything took twice as long to do when she was involved and it required a LOT of patience (!) 
but it was worth it because I can now enjoy many years of an adult dog that behaves very well and can be trusted in many situations.
Many puppy owners can’t be bothered to put in that kind of supervision because they feel that it takes too much work and time – but when you consider the time and energy they have to spend for the rest of the dog’s lifetime trying to fix or re-arrange their lives around a problem behaviour, it is probably much more than the time they would have spent teaching the puppy good habits in the first place!
Of course, if you are really busy or doing something dangerous, then it is best to put your dog away in a safe place if you cannot trust his behaviour.
It is a gradual, slow process to making your dog trustworthy in the house alone and unfortunately, you cannot take any shortcuts! We did not start leaving Honey loose alone in the house (eg. in the living room) until she was about 18 months old.
Remember, the secret to successful dog training is:
- don’t give the dog opportunities to do the ‘bad behaviour’
- give him an appropriate alternative behaviour to do and reward him for doing it.
- Dogs always repeat behaviours which are rewarded and if they repeat it often enough, it becomes a habit. And once formed, ’good habits’ are as hard to break as ‘bad’ ones – so help your dog develop lots of good habits!
Hi Hsin-Yi. The bad human behaviour you describe is one of the reasons we all love dogs so much! Often they are far more polite. I’m glad you have found a solution and not giving up on this. I find reading your stuff so interesting and informative, thanks so much for sharing. I hope you delete anyone who is rude, they are not worth bothering about. Take care, hugs to Honey.
Hsin-Yi, I am so thankful for this post I have been wanting to ask you this exact same thing, but I know you are a busy woman!
I am sorry people were so rude, I just cannot imagine.
I have learned soooo much from reading you and Honey’s blog, and I very much appreciate it!
Hsin-Yi,
I love reading about Honey and I smile every time I see a new entry on this blog. Reading this blog got me interested in clicker training and feeding raw. My dog, Buster, and I just recently completed an Intermediate course using clicker training. We had never done any formal training prior to that class, but we received such positive feedback from our trainer because of what I learned from watching your videos. She said that we had a very strong bond and that my body language was very good for training.
Even though there are some very rude people out there, I wanted to let you know that there are also a large number of people who appreciate you! Thank you again!
People feel a remarkable sense of entitlement when they are online and/or anonymous, don’t they? Good advice for destructive dogs. It took us a long time to get Dennis crate trained during which period he destroyed an incredible variety of furniture, pillows, home decorations, drapes, blinds, etc. But he’s much better now!
Yea! Im very excited about these “ask Honey” posts!
Darwin was a very easy puppy. I was worried since we fostered her since she was 5days old that she would have a serious case of separation anxiety, but she was actually pretty good about being left alone. She would come to work with us until she was about 2-3 months old (she’d be crated at work), then we started leaving her at home (in a crate)… as she got bigger we would leave her in our kitchen (small kitchen) blocked off by a baby gate. We left her Kongs, and other treat balls/toys. Now that she’s 15months she gets the whole condo to roam about in while we’re gone and she doesn’t destroy anything. Only once she’s chewed one of my heels, but that was my fault for not putting them away and watching her more carefully. You learn from your mistakes!
Looking forward to your next ask Honey post!
GREAT idea! I am glad you won’t end up reinforcing bad human behavior by answering questions for people who end up being rude! Sometimes people want to be spoon fed an easy solution and do not want to bother doing any work (like when they email you with vaccine questions they don’t even need the answer to ha ha ha).
I think you did a great job as always of explaining what and why. I really think #4 can not be overstated. My Moose is very well behaved except for his occasional foraging expeditions (kind of big ‘except’ I suppose). But I have noticed those increase dramatically when he is not getting enough walkies. Even if the walk was not right before I left and he does not seem any more tired than normal. I think the mental stimulation just keeps him happy. Sort of does not matter why exercise helps though, just that it does and it is so important.
p.s. thanks for the heads up on Dennis’ rabies post. I do follow him but have been underwater all week so might have missed it. What a horrible law. Hope they never do that in Florida.
p.s. A friend was asking me about how I got Moose to do some of the tricks and I sent her to your training page and she loved it and said she learned a lot. Then a month later she said she lost the link and wanted me to email it to her again. I doubt she left any comments or asked questions but just thought I would let you know that the 3rd group of readers (besides the rude and polite ones) are the quiet ones who really do appreciate your helpful tips!
Dear Hsin-Yi,
My dog Loki likes to hog my computer all day and drool over pictures of Honey. The drool has cost me many keyboards (it’s a good thing my keyboard isn’t attached to my notebook PC). What can I do to stop the drool? Is it healthy for him to be so infatuated? Does he need to see a psychiatrist?
Signed,
Slimey Keyboard
Wow. you put a lot of time into answering this question. great advice and information!
Great advice! When my cat first died and I had to leave my chihuahua, Shiver, alone, he would just cry and cry and cry when I came home. I felt so bad for him because I knew he was so lonely while I was gone for 11 or more hours. I got another dog to keep him company which immediately fixed the problem but I wish I had some of this advice!
We love that you want to help others Hsin-Yi! May we suggest being careful with balls. We knew a dog who got his tongue stuck in a ball, he tore a hole bigenough to get his tongue in there, but he had no way to get it out. You can imagine the results. So those balls with places to put treats in make us nervous. We haven’t seen those balls, so they may be fine. We just wanted to give a heads up to be safe.
You can go here to read the story of the dog, but it is heart wrenching. http://thechaistory.blogspot.com/2008/08/chai-story.html
Wow what an awesome idea honey!! Your so well trained. It’s a great thing to help other doggies people. It’s never the puppies fault that he or she has bad habits. its their peoples!! It’s great that you try and help educate people.
Kaj hates it when people say things like. Sorry she’s dosnt like people with hats. Or sorry he not used to people on bikes. Or. Sorry. She just really loves people. ( when a doggie jumps on him with muddy paws)
The world is full of buttheads, and you are very kind to take your time to answer so many questions. I’m a fan of big dogs, and I just love Honey! She reminds me of my beloved Thor.
Sorry I have been away so long Honey, but I will catch up with you soon. For now, I think your Ask Honey posts is a great idea! I can’t believe that one man who sent your human a one-liner and then later sent another one asking if she was going to answer!!! How RUDE!! Hope you have a wonderful week!
Kisses,
Nala
we hear you on the rude behavior. mom complained to dad all the time “after all that time I spent answering their questions, not even a thanks??” sigh…
we got rude comments on youtube and our blog too. we try not to let those people get to us but it is tough. Sometimes, mom had an urge to send a nasty reply but decided it wasn’t worth her time.
great post!
wags,
Preston
Hsin-Yi I am so sorry for all the rude two leggers in this world but as my mum says there are more good ones that read your blogs and admire your abilities and talents so just keep up the great work you do.
Jeannette says just by watching your videos and reading your blogs lets her know what great Danes are all about(thats Me) and all is good in the world!!!!
or ‘HOUSE’(thats me)
Hang in there you are special Hsin-Yi
hugs and leans
I think this is a great idea, Hsin-Yi. I’ll be reading the weekly information with great interest.
I hate rawhide chews also, because Penny gave me a huge fright one night when I thought she was choking on one. I leapt across the room, heaved her up in my arms to run to the car and go to the nearest vet (forty kilometres away, as I was up the bush). Suddenly she was ok and I’ve always wondered whether I inadvertently did the Heimlich manoevre on her! She then calmly swallowed it down and I was too stressed out to get it away from her. So I’ve never given her one again!
Me again. I actually came across to ask you whether you think Honey is listening to the actual words when you are teaching her to spin on a verbal cue, or whether she confuses spin and twist.
Also, by the way, I noticed your Blogger profile says you’re in NZ. Maybe you don’t want to change it?
Too many unpolite people around… sorry about that… but there are hundreds of us that really believe you are great and doing a better job for us than many trainers. Ciao Nicoletta & Lucille
by the way… you know it was the first thing I told Mario when I started thinking about my blog… I know that I would immediately get issues for the fact that I use this or that… And I was wondering if around the world people were better, so I would make things easier by doing it in english only… but than I see your blog and I realise it is the same everywhere… good and bad… so I must say you are really brave, very generous and may be, since your blog is so widely known, it would be fair if you found a way to get some advertisment on the web… you know, we all have to make ends meet…
(ever had a look at Eric Lethendre’s work? he is turned a blog (or sort of) into work. He is also a very kind person, but in the way he acts he also get some benefit…). Think about it, guess we would all understand!
It is so ridiculous how rude people can be. We always appreciate all that you teach us here and hope that you know that. there is rarely a post that goes by that doesn’t show us something new to consider and adopt. Thanks to you from all of us.
Woos -- Phantom, Thunder, and Ciara
Ha roo, Hsin-Yi! This was a great and helpful post. Before I comment, may I just say that I’m a bit concerned that Honey might be working too hard. I think she needs tummy rubs and cuddles right now! OK? Please? And ear rubbies.
Anyway, sadly a lot of bipeds don’t put the time into training their pups and think they’ll just automatically do what they want! (I know with us Siberians, your #4 up there is EXTREMELY important!) I hope your post helps a lot of owners; we are going to mark the page with “Instapaper”, so we can refer new dog owners to it!
Our mom, too, has responded to questions in great detail -- only to either be ignored … how do we put this? It’s as though the person doesn’t want to know how they can fix a problem (with training, etc.), it’s as though they want Mom to come fix it for them. Does that make sense? Or “no, that’s too hard”.
We look forward to your “Ask Honey” columns and truly appreciate you sharing your time and knowledge with us!
Tail wags,
Storms
PS: I think Honey is due some more tummy rubs ….
My big hugs to you Hsin-Yi. I was raised to say nice things sincerely. Rudeness hurts my feelings too. I appreciate your hard work and your unconditional love to pets.
Honey, please kiss Hsin-Yi’s hand for me, all of us doggies love her very much.
Muahhhhh!
Sure is not nice to get those messages from rude people!
Thanks for sharing all this info!
Kisses and hugs
Lorenza
Hi Honey and Hsin-Yi,
We’re quite astounded at how rude some people can be -- we hope the rude chap
who e-mailed you is reading this and feels ASHAMED -- ha!
We always love reading Hsin-Yi’s advice and we love knowing that you’ve ‘tried and tested’ a lot of if -- in other words, we like reading about how you’ve trained your human to show her what works and what doesn’t, he he he!
Big schnauzer snuggles to you all -- we think you’re fab, you’ve helped so many people and made so many more smile! We’d like to ban all rude people from the World and especially your blog -- if we were in charge of everything that’s just what we’d do, he he he!
Schnauzer snuggles -- JD and Max.
If people were only as nice and sincere as dogs, we’d all be happier.
I think your solution is perfect!
And I thank you for all the information I’ve received from your blog.
K & K
I really love this idea of answering training questions for everyone to see. All the training tips I pick up from here to use on my family’s new puppy are what keep me checking your blog four or five times a week.
Everything you said about destructive dogs tends to match up with my own recent experience as well; especially in regards to boredom and lack of exercise. Sadie, our puppy, is always much better behaved on the days when she’s had a good run, but tends to want to rip things up when she’s bored. Her favorite occupation is de-stuffing the stuffies, but a couple weeks ago we had 3 days of constant rain so she didn’t get out as much as usual, and she discovered the exciting fact that couch cushions have much more stuffing in them than her eagle toy does. It took us quite a bit of work to re-teach her that cushions are off limits and really recommitted us to getting her out no matter what the weather is.
If you’re ever in need of a new training topic, I know I’d really love to learn how you taught Honey close walking. Sadie does extremely well at staying close when she’s off leash, but she’s developed the habit of pulling hard when she’s on leash and there’s a delightful scent right out of reach, and if you don’t let her get to it, she’ll sit down and lean, or lay down and dig her claws into the dirt and try to belly crawl towards it.
Hi Hsin-Yi,
I am glad that you found a solution not to waste your valuable time, knowledge, and effort for those arrogant people who try to use you as free information source.
I don’t know how to say thank you enough for all your help and advice on so many things including dog training! I am glad that I started blogging last year and found your blog soon after. You have made a huge difference in our life in a way that strengthens the relationship between us and our dogs.
Actually Cinnamon still has separation anxiety problem. I think I haven’t made enough effort to gradually increase the time that she has to stay alone. She used to keep barking in her crate when she was left alone. She doesn’t bark anymore, but she often digs her bed in her crate to deal with her anxiety, which I know because I sometime have a camera’s video running while we are out. I have just ordered a Kong Extreme (tougher than ordinary Kongs) for Cinnamon, which I hope will help.
Also, thank you for your lovely comment on Cinnamon’s heeling. Yes, we had only two training sessions with Flip last November, but that was enough to make a significant difference in Cinnamon’s behaviour in general!
Cinnamon’s mum
Hey Honey! This is a great idea to share your wisdom with other doggies (even if piggy Hsin-Yi wants to pretend to write your words for you). I get anxious too, especially when momma takes stupid PeeWee someplace without me, but I find that meditating in my happy place really helps. I think this is a special skill that only us full sized doggies has.
Slobbers,
Mango
Hsin-Yi,
Thank you so much for sharing with us your wisdom!!!
I have found it to be so helpful! Especially being a first time Great Dane owner!
It is so wonderful of you to take time to do this in Honey’s blog!
It is a great service to all of us!
Kadie sends wags and kisses!
Jenny and kadie
Great post! I love the idea of a weekly Ask Honey post. Most of it is stuff I’ve already read because I LOVE to read about dog behavior and training, but I bet there will be a lot of new dog owners who will get a lot out of these. And I love reading them just to refresh my memory and I might pick up something I didn’t know! Looking forward to the next one.
Thank you very much again for such good advice and the great effort! Love the blogs too!
I couldn’t find the comment with the problem about treat balls. We use treat balls, kongs and some sort of a purple saucer type thing to keep our puppy busy. She is none destructive with her treat toys so once the treats (well we use actual kibble) are gone in the treat ball she is finished with it. Just curious what the problem was and if it was a safety issue. Thanks so much love your videos and this site!! Keep up the great work!!!!
We appreciate ALL of Honey and Hsin-yi posts. And are very grateful for the time they take to do this. I recieved a very detailed e-mail about a question I asked, and I could not thank Honey and Hsin-yi enough for all the help they have given to not only me but everyone else.
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Wow!
Thank you so much for this response! Your time and effort in answering these questions is very helpful!
I am a new owner to a Great Dane and she is currently almost 11 weeks old. I am one of those people that has the time to watch her every move so that I can correct when doing something wrong. I test her with things like me eating my dinner on he floor in front of her… (Now I know this is not something I would usualy do, but it gets her used to not begging or pouncing on me or others while eating near her) So I know what its like when it takes double the time to do things when it could have been easier to put her up in her crate while I eat or clean the house. I also use a baby gate and she is only aloud to be in the same room as I am and she really doesnt get a free moment unless she is crated. I also think this is the best thing for the pup and the human because things are fixed in the beginning and not when the pup has formed a habit.
Anyways, I thank you for all your videos and Honey’s blog. I know its a lot of work on top of everything you do with your family and honey already. I love watching all of you and honey’s dancing and all the wonderful things you teach her!
Hello again Hsin -Yi. I first corresponded with you just before I got my blue dane Quincy Wallace. He was a wonderful happy puppy and we got him a playmate, female dane when he was about 10 months. For the last 6 months, he’ll be 2 in December he has been extremely nervous. I’m thinking it has something to do with the female. They have both been fixed. She’s very sweet but is very agressive with Quincy when they play outside. I hate his nervousness and would do anything to help him. I know you aren’t answering individualquestions any longer but I’m hoping you can find the time to adress this issue on your blog. I am trying to increase his excersize which seems to be helping a bit.
Why, hello! I love your videos! I am purchasing a puppy soon that will be my first indoor pet. I was wondering, after crate training, how long before you were able to leave Honey by herself while you worked? I work five days a week, 8 hours each day, and am wondering if it is okay to leave a dog (that is properly trained) alone while I work. (Should I keep the TV on while I’m gone?) I was just wondering how long Honey is okay by herself and how well it goes for you. I appreciate your time!
I need to comment on one of your suggestions. We’ve just recently adopted a couple of retired racing greyhounds, and we’ve been told never to leave greyhounds shut in a laundry room, bathroom, or other small room without a good sized window to see out of. As sighthounds, they can freak out in that situation. Crates seem to be fine (if they’re properly crate trained), but not small windowless rooms. I’ve heard multiple stories of greys who tore apart rooms — one who got accidentally shut in the laundry room for just a few minutes, and by the time they realized and opened the door, she’d done some serious damage to the door and walls in her panic.
I would say, before you leave any dog in any kind of enclosed space, definitely test it out while you’re home first, starting with just a minute or two. Some dogs might need to work up slowly to get used to a space.