Born to chew, chew, chew

Just like every other puppy we've raised, Sparkle is a compulsive chewer. Her gut reaction to almost anything she encounters is to grab it up in her mouth.  Out in our fenced backyard, she'll go for sticks, leaves, stray toys and balls -- anything that catches her roving eye. Yesterday, she brought a taped-up Wiffle Ball up onto the deck. I'm sure it was from the neighbors' backyard and got accidentally batted over our fence. Luckily, she "retrieved" it rather than chewing it to shreds.

The trick here is constant observation and consistency. When she grabs anything, we say firmly: "Drop."  You don't have to yell or even really raise your voice. She knows, and she'll drop it. She is also very slick at grabbing up debris in our neighborhood walks. She can go nose-down, swipe up a Big Mac wrapper, and not even break stride. Again, the command is: "Drop."

The other big puppy no-no is jumping up. She leaps high to try to snag food off tables and counters as well as mobbing visitors with affection. "I know, you came just to see me!" seems to be her welcome to everyone who rings our bell. We tell her "Off!" and gently push her down. Then, we can give the "sit" command, which she already knew when she came to us.  For good measure, "rest" is the command that Seeing Eye uses for the dog to stay put. We're still working on that one! Of course, always praise, praise, praise when she does things right.