Rebellious Stage- Help!

[milano88]

Hi All,

Valentina is now a year and 4 months and she's getting into her rebellious stage and really testing her boundries. She has free reign of my apt which is just the living room and kitchen as I close all the other doors. She's not allowed on any of the furniture and was really good with obeying this rule until the other day. I came home and found she had jumped on the couch and pulled a magazine off of it and proceeded to rip it to shreds! The next day she jumped on the couch right in front of me!! I yelled NO and gave her a time out in the kitchen which is gated off for 10 mins. She then did it again this morning. Any advice on how to break this habit fast? I'm worried she'll start testing some more boundries soon too so any advice of how to deal with the +1 stage of dogs would also be appreciated.

Thanks again!

 

[davidh]

Sounds like she is getting bored, and it is time to crate train her. We always crate ours when we are gone to keep them out of trouble.

 

[Alice Kable]

I would keep her blocked in the kitchen when you are gone if you don't want her on your living room furniture. She was probably bored when she shredded the magazine. Most Bulldogs feel entitled to be on the furniture with their people, but if she hears NO enough maybe she will quit trying.

 

[shortstuff]

Bisou entered into a rebellious mood a few weeks back. It only lasted about a week because I found that being as consistent as possible with her solved the problem. A lot of it, as mentioned, was boredom. We started taking her out more, initiating play with her and getting Shasta to join in, and we introduced her to an antler that she is now obsessed with. Just like a teenage human, you need to keep reinforcing that the behavior is unacceptable despite her constant need to push the boundaries. Give in just once and she'll continue doing it.