A Short Story

There is a good reason dogs should be given toys with which they can occupy themselves. That is, when they get bored, just like humans, they go find things to entertain themselves with. Prada went without a nylabone for a few weeks, and she developed the habit of dragging articles of my clothing out into the common room of our dorm to get my attention. If I didn't have any clothes within puppy-reach she substituted items from our trashcan. Well, she has a new nylabon now but every so often she would relapse into the former habits so my roommate, in a moment of genius, laced the trashcan with hot sauce to provide immediate consequences to unwanted investigations. This has worked beautifully. My poor little girl's eyes watered up the first time (and so far last time) she checked out the trashcan and my roommate felt quite sorry for her but kept herself steeled against the onslaught of sympathy-mongering, knowing that it was better for Prada this ay. It seems to have worked, she's not nearly as interested in the trashcan, so thanks, roomie!

The thing about consequences like this is that Prada won't remember WHY she gets sick if she tosses up a bit of undigestible trash or food. The consequences aren't immediate enough for the dog to link them with the action that spawned them. So, like with very small children, the results of misbehaviors, and praise for good behaviors, must be as immediate as possible, or else just forgone.