training question

Question
I own a neutered, male Shetland sheepdog puppy.  He is going to be two in a few days.  He is pretty well trained but still is a bit unruly at times.  Just the other day, Zack got ahold of some of my mom's potatoes.  We came home to find bits and pieces everywhere.  My mom wanted me to correct him.  I said that he wouldn't know what he did wrong and would think I was just mad at him or something.  She says that he knows exactly what he did wrong.  which one of us is right?

Answer
Hi Becka,

LOL!  To be on the safe side, You are BOTH right.

I guarantee that if you show him the potato mess and say bad dog that he will know that something has been bad and it related to the potato.  He might not remember that he did it.  Although for argument it sometimes appears that (one of mine does this-I swear he hides and knows when he's been bad; the other doesn't do that) he knows what you are mad about.

Most likely he will have no clue what was wrong was his action.  I would definitely suggest crate training and a lot of chew toys and rawhide to prevent these issues going forward.

The best answer is that the time to punish or scold is catching them in the act.  Afterward the reason for the punishment is too likely to be confused or not clear.  So Becka- you win.

'sneezes
Dave