Cocos a problem puppy

Question
I have a dachshund puppy named coco. He is really sweet and hyper, but he has an issue with destroying my shoes, other personal items, and he also eats the cats food. I picked him up from a private seller in mid march he was 7 months old. He gets along great with the cats, but the cats are getting frustrated by him their food when he has his own bowl of food. Please help.

Answer
Hi Pearl,

I'll try to help. It sounds like Coco needs a job. You describe him as "sweet and hyper" and that he destroys shoes and other personal items. These are indications that he needs something to do besides playing with your cats.

I don't know if you've owned dogs before but you must realize that their needs are very different then cats. Unless you challenge a dog with walks and training, you'll have a hyper, destructive animal. So my suggestion would be to give Coco more exercise and if you're not already doing it, train him.
A tired dog is a good dog.

Regarding him eating the cat's food, this is not a training issue for Coco. It is something you need to figure out. I'm sure there is a way that you can put up some type of barrier so that Coco can't get to the cat food. This is similar to the person who wants to hire me to teach their dog not to go in the trash. My advice is for them to simply keep the lid on the trash can. You really can't train or expect your puppy to respect your cat's property rights.

Good Luck!

Sandy
www.perfectdogtraining.com