The Cone of Shame - Is it okay?

3170 Views 22 Replies 9 Participants Last post by PunkyPug, Jul 13, 2012

reimacram

Discussion Starter · Jul 12, 2012

Dear fellows. Recently, my puppy broke 4 mobile phone chargers, a usb connector, router connector, an Ethernet cable and just last night our Electric Fan short-circuited causing temporary power-off in our unit. I was really mad at her but then I can't do anything except stare at her and shout her words while pointing at the things she broke.
She chewed on the wires mentioned above though she already have a chew-bone, a toy ball, a pull-rope and a number of mats and rags. Every time she did it, I can't do anything to the poor puppy. I put her in her cage but her whining and whimpering is enough to let her out again after a few minutes.

Recently, I've been reading on how to prevent this but they doesn't seem to work. Just want to ask you out there if using e-collars or "cone of shame" is okay to use as punishment? I know I've spoiled her somehow but she's a dog and its natural for her to chew things specially while in the puppy-phase. Any advice would be great..

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PunkyPug

· #6 · Jul 12, 2012 (Edited)

Shouting at her isn't helping either. When you shout at her you're scaring her. Dog's don't understand most of our language. They really don't know that sit means sit. They just know that when we've trained them to sit. They either recognize the hand signal or the word that is given when their bum touches the floor.
When you catch her in the act firmly(not shouting) tell her "no". Use a low, deep tone of voice. Like a man's voice.

ETA: I just read you have a crate. Do you have mental stimuli toys or teething toys?
Moving crate may just make her more uncomfortable.

Be STRONG. Don't listen to her. Put some headphones on and blast some music to your ears. Do not give in! I know it's hard to not give in during the beginning. But it is for the best.

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PunkyPug

· #15 · Jul 12, 2012

reimacram said:
I've been doing the low-voice thing ever since but she doesn't get it yet. I know I'm part of the whole thing. I think I'll go with your suggestion of not minding her as long as I could. thanks for the insights!

Make sure you are using different tones of voices for different situations as well. If you don't then you may as well start confusing your dog.
Example when you're giving her praise have a high pitch happy voice!
When giving a command use a command tone of voice. http://www.dogtrainingbasics.com/dog_command.wav and http://www.dogtrainingbasics.com/dog_stay.wav
I found this website very helpful when I was starting on my dogs by myself. http://www.dogtrainingbasics.com/commands.html

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PunkyPug

· #21 · Jul 13, 2012

ThoseWordsAtBest said:
Hang in there. It's hard when they're young, and it's harder when they are separated from their litter too young. I found one of my gals at 5 weeks old at an animal control and little puppy things were very difficult. She's a fantastic nearly 6 year old now.

Aye
my pup was separated at 4 weeks. And we still have mouthing issues. Mainly because husband thinks it's fun >

She also "suckles" her toys.

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PunkyPug

· #23 · Jul 13, 2012

ThoseWordsAtBest said:
Smalls was a horrendous biter. I am a tough lady but she drove me to tears a few times. If you were a tree, she would just wrap her front legs around yours and bite your leg as hard as she could. It took until she was nearly a year old to get it over with and took some creative measures.

It gets so annoying with Emma
I have to keep her from people in public because you WILL get that random weird person that says "you're dog bit me! I'm seeking legal action!"
But husband CLAIMS that if I warn them before hand they can't sew us. Either way, I'm not taking my chances.

I mean, shes almost 4 years, you'd think she'd get over them by now

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