How To Train Sleeping Dogs

Sleeping dogs look real cute. Most dogs appreciate some little nook or comer of the house­hold that they can call their own. This can be provided by a "bed" to which the animal may retire at the end of the day, or in which it may rest or relax whenever it gets the notion. The bed need not be elaborate, but it should be easy to clean. In most cases, a simple carton box of suitable size, with one side torn away so that the animal is free to enter and leave the box as it pleases, will serve the purpose quite well. The bot­tom of the box should be covered with a mat or with shredded newspaper. The mat can be washed whenever necessary and the paper can be changed daily.

During the cooler seasons of the year, or in places where the climate is generally cool, very young puppies can be en­couraged to stay in the bed by placing a heating pad or a hot-water bag wrapped in a towel into the box. This is very com­forting to the animal. The sleeping dogs should be placed in the bed several times a day, always with the heating pad or hot-water bag, so that it comes to associate pleasantness with the experience. In a very few days the animal will enter the box of its own accord. In warmer weather, the associaton of pleas­antness may be achieved by giving the animal a tidbit every time it is put into the box.

Not only will the animal be happier with a bed of its own, but to manage sleeping dogs will be easier as well. The pet will be discouraged from sitting on furniture and will be less apt to howl when left alone. This is especially true if the bed is placed in a room where there is not too much household traffic.

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