The concept of correcting your dog can create a contest of willpower between you and your pet. Anyone who has ever lived with a slightly mischievous dog can tell you that such creatures thrive in contests of willpower. A four-year-old whining at Walmart over a candy bar still doesn’t have the willpower that the average dog has.

For example, if you’ve ever corrected your dog not to get up from the couch or eat on the counter, he knows you don’t like him doing it. It stops? Hell no. It just does the behavior when you are not looking. Or maybe he even makes it in front of you with a look that says, go ahead, try to stop me.

That’s because Fido knows what you want. But he just knows he has a choice to do it anyway because maybe, just maybe, today is the day that mom or dad won’t have the strength to deal with me.

The answer is NOT to yell at or correct your dog louder or louder. That is a difficult lesson for most pet owners to learn. But as you may have already discovered, correcting more and more just becomes an enjoyable challenge for the dog. He thinks, “Go ahead, make my day, because today I feel lucky, punk.”

Let’s take the luck out of the training process!

Here is a set of simple instructions to follow to prevent your dog from engaging in indoor behavior such as climbing on the couch, gobbling food off counters, eating garbage, etc.

1. Don’t berate the dog. You will only teach him to wait until you are around if you do.

2. Instead, keep a supply of empty plastic milk jugs on hand throughout the house.

3. In each empty ½ gallon or gallon jug, place a couple of handfuls of dried beans and recap.

4. When you find the dog on the couch, or better yet, staring at it, pick up a pitcher so that it lands on or near your dog, depending on his size or temperament.

5. When throwing away the jug, DO NOT look at or say anything to your dog, and do not pick up the jug again in the presence of your dog.

6. Your dog will think, “Hmmm, God throws a loud bomb on my head every time I look at the couch.”

This process will not harm your dog, as it certainly does not hurt. In fact, he won’t even hurt his feelings because you haven’t yelled at him. However, it will make the behavior a lot less fun than it was before.

You may only have to do the above once or twice to make the couch (garbage or whatever) a “bad place” for Fido. But what you have taken away from the contest is YOURSELF. You’ve done the contest between Fido and God, and believe me, God always wins.