How to prevent bored puppy from destroying houseplants?

[kittycat]

Ok so when my puppy gets bored he likes to destroy moms plants. We have tried telling him off with a NO, we have tried telling him off then ignoring him, telling him no then when he responds positively awarding him. Eventually he destroyed all of moms flowers and plants. A month or so passed by and mom got some new plants, she worked so hard to make them all nice and well you can guess what happened.
This morning i found him sleeping with all these...flowers and sticks and such around him..like a little kid busted with choclate on his hands before lunch..
He KNOWS he isnt suppose to do this, yet he still does it
This has been pretty much the only problem that we've had from day one..that we just cannot solve.

Please, some advice?

[moondog]

No, he doesn't know he's not supposed to do this. If you can't supervise him while he has access to the flowers so you can give him an "Ah! Ah!" and redirect him elsewhere, then you need to crate or otherwise safely contain him.

It takes SUPERVISION, it takes CONSISTENCY, and it takes TIME for him to learn what he is and is not supposed to do.

[kittycat]

also he isnt alone through out the day..he always has someone around. We take him out for play and walk in the morning and at night..and through out the day we play around with him, train etc.
Ive read that dogs tend to do these things when they're bored...but he has plenty of company.. he gets to go for a walk twice a day, someone always plays with him during the day, he isnt alone for long periods of time (2 hours or so MAX) Someone always checks up on him..(usually me). He has PLENTY of toys..but he just loves pulling plants apart.

[Judi W]

If you found him sleeping with all the plant mess around him in the morning, that means that he was out with them alone at night. Either safely confine him or build a little fence around the flower bed. Seems silly to spend a lot of time rebuilding the flower bed when you are still going to have the same puppy out in the same yard on his own.

[BostonRott]

He does not "know" he should not do that. And alone = for 2 seconds. Treat him like a 2yr old toddler. If you can't be ACTIVELY working with him or directly supervising him, he should be crated. That means, you go to the bathroom, he goes in a crate. You go upstairs to get something and he doesn't come with you, he goes in a crate. Otherwise, you leave him open to failure constantly and what fun is that??

[poohbearsmom]

Originally Posted by kittycat

Ok so when my puppy gets bored he likes to destroy moms plants. We have tried telling him off with a NO, we have tried telling him off then ignoring him, telling him no then when he responds positively awarding him. Eventually he destroyed all of moms flowers and plants. A month or so passed by and mom got some new plants, she worked so hard to make them all nice and well you can guess what happened.
This morning i found him sleeping with all these...flowers and sticks and such around him..like a little kid busted with choclate on his hands before lunch..
He KNOWS he isnt suppose to do this, yet he still does it
This has been pretty much the only problem that we've had from day one..that we just cannot solve.

Please, some advice?

No, he doesn't know, or he wouldn't do it. You can train a dog all you want, but if you're not there to SUPERVISE his actions, he cannot be corrected and redirected to the behavior that you wish him to perform.

Your expectations far exceed his abilities of logic and reason.

He's a dog, and he's behaving like a dog. Either confine the flowers, confine him, or supervise him when he's outside.

I've found a dandy way to have my garden, and dogs who are allowed to be comfortable in their own territory. My flowers and delicate plants are in the front yard, and hardy bushes are in the back. This is a win win situation for all of us - I can have my beautiful garden, and my dogs aren't constantly nagged, and are allowed to be dogs and can tear through the back yard to their hearts' content when they're outside.