Unsolicited Advice Column

People in NYC are not shy. They will not hesitate to stop you to give you unsolicited advice about how to train your pup. Here is a smattering of the weirdest advice we've gotten. Please feel free to send in your questions, and Biggie will try to find an answer from the bizarre people who stop to talk to him. Can't guarantee that any of the answers are right, but they will be weird:*


***Puppy nipping and teething:***
"If he bites you, bite him back; I did that with my puppy. Just a nip on the nose will do. He licked my face all the time too. I licked him back." Ewww!
...
"He's doing that because he had a taste of meat. Don't give him any meat or anything that tastes like meat." I guess that raw diet isn't so hot after all.

***Teaching your dog not to run away/reliable recall:***
"Tie a little bell to his collar. Then when he runs too far away [off leash] he will hear the bell and it will annoy him and it will remind him to come back." And you found this worked after you lost the other 14 dogs?

***And best of all, Barking:***
"If he barks at someone on the street, it's because he thinks you [the pack leader] should be barking at him. So if you bark first then he won't bark." I'll fit right in the neighborhood if I just start randomly barking at people on the street!
...
[Biggie is barking at 9th Avenue and 34th Street - taxis honking, buses and cars passing at rush hour, and what sounds like 10+ dogs in a 2nd floor apartment barking at him, I step on his leash and ignore him as this man walks up.]
"Do you watch the dog whisperer? You know, Carlos Millan? You have to go, "sh!" to the dog to make them stop. Watch - sh! sh! sh!"
[Biggie ignores the man]
"sh! sh!"
[Biggie continues to ignore the man, but eventually stops barking and sits quietly because he's getting ignored by me.]



*For real training advice, try a puppy class or visit www.clickertraining.com.