dog behavior

[naila fahmy]

Hi, I have a golden retriever he is one year and seven months, I have been successfully able to train him for most of the commen orders however, my biggest problem is that when he is left off leash in the garden he targets for the roses and pulls them out from their roots then starts to chew on the stems. I have tried giving him a chewable bone instead but he hides the bone then heads for the roses or any other plant that he can pull out. When my boys run after him to try and put him on leash he thinks it's a game and starts doing it again. The end result is that he has to be constantly on leash when he is in the garden... Pls need any advice cause I hate having him on leash.........

 

[lizzybeth727]

The first step to stopping a behavior that you don't like, is to prevent it from happening for at least several weeks. This means always having him on leash in the garden for 3-4 weeks. You can use a long leash so that he can exercise better, but just make sure it's short enough to keep him away from the flowers. I know it's annoying to have to walk a dog on leash all the time (I don't have a fenced yard, I feel your pain), but a few weeks of inconvenience will be worth the next few years when the behavior is no longer a problem.

Next, I'd teach him a behavior to do besides pulling up the garden. Give him interractive toys to keep him busy outside, do training sessions outside so that he focuses on you rather than the plants, work on "leave it" with the plants, work on recalls, etc.