Dear King: Your detailed question offers several interesting insights about how you relate to your dogs and where you might be able to make improvements in the Kong department.

First, I’m intrigued as to what type of “private training” the Chessie is in. Does this mean you have sent her away to be trained by someone else or that you take private lessons with a trainer? If you have sent her away to be trained by a stranger, you are putting yourself at a disadvantage. Your impressionable puppies need to know that you are the leader of your pack. What you, and no one else, have to say is the law. Until you can demonstrate to them that you’re the boss, incidents like this will continue.

Be the Trainer

Do yourself a favor and immediately enroll both these pups in puppy kindergarten or basic obedience classes. Bring both dogs to class and take turns with them for each of the routines you go through. Also, bring the family to help out with the training. You should be the head hound, but you can teach consistency to the other family members when it comes to training the dogs. Without consistency – and this is most likely what is happening with a private trainer using one method and you either not following through or using another method – the puppy will not progress as far or as quickly with her training.

Another interesting clue you leave in your question is the comment “but I feel bad for they do both like them.” You feel bad, who cares? You should be focusing on what is best for the puppies. Do you think they feel bad that you have taken away their toy? They need you to be in charge and take away toys from them if they are showing inappropriate behavior. Release your inner alpha bitch and do your puppies a favor.

Kong Lives

Rather than waste your money on pull toys, which sometimes promote inappropriate behavior among dogs if not used correctly, throw them out. Buy your dogs an abundance of Kongs instead of one, which they may fight over, or two that they also may fight over. Buy a dozen of them in all different sizes and pack them with tasty treats, like mini biscuits, peanut butter or frozen vegetables. This will promote them to stick with the Kong they have rather than trying to get each others.

And finally, if they get occasionally snippy with one another, let them. They are trying to establish their own pack order. This is another example of how as an absentee pack leader, they are trying to do the job themselves. And as young puppies, they are clueless about establishing such dominant positions since they lack their mother or other authority figure to teach them.

Once you take charge of your rebel rousers, show them the way and give them an abundance of training, by cutting out the middle man, and lots of love and things will improve immensely.      

Lisa Peterson, a long-time breeder of Norwegian Elkhounds, is the Club Communications Manager at the American Kennel Club. Contact her at ask@lisa-peterson.com or Dogma Publishing, P.O. Box 307, Newtown, CT 06470.