Molly the Adopted Beagle.

Meet Molly!

This wonderfully gentle Beagle was welcomed into her new home only a few short weeks ago. Her adopted family loves her to pieces, but Molly turned out to be a bit of a handful.

You see, Molly came from a home where she was able to do just about anything she wanted. She chewed on whatever she wanted — including the childrens' toys — demanded attention, jumped up on the couch, and jumped all over the toddlers!

Now, we knew this wasn't Molly's fault, but that doesn't mean her behavior was acceptable. Our goal was to help Molly learn what was okay in her new home. We also wanted to make this transition as easy as possible by simply being clear with the new rules.

The problem is, if Molly is allowed to jump on a human just every once in a while then she will never learn that jumping is not okay, so consistency is key! But with young children, visitors and, yes, even with Mom, having our dogs follow our rules is tough! That's why in order to train Molly, we had to find ways to Outsmart her.

To outsmart Molly, we asked her family to simply call her to them. When she ran up to them, her family rewarded her with praise and a treat. While they were doing that, they attached a drag line to Molly's collar so they could have immediate control. Another option was to simply attach a tether to both Molly and the sofa (or near to her bed). The next time Molly tried to bark at the window or chase after the kids, she was either quickly stopped by the drag line, or just tethered to Mom. This way this little Beagle can't get into trouble in the first place! We know that the fewer mistakes a dog makes, the faster they will learn.

By Outsmarting Molly, her family is able to help her behave correctly around the house more quickly, easily, and with much less stress!

To learn more about Outsmarting Your Dog, Drag Lines and Tethers, please visit Zen Dog Training Online.