We are almost finished installing our new wood floors. We will be putting down a few area rugs and runners but a lot of the floor will still be exposed. Atlas is already scratching up the floor by running or getting up too quickly. My DP is not happy with him about this and I would like to see our floors looking nice, so how do we stop him from running/scrambling?
In the living room we have a bed for him and that is where he lays most of the time. If he hears the neighbors dog barking, he gets up and scrambles quickly from the bed and is used to having the carpet for traction. We command 'on your bed' when we are filling his bowl and he eats after the release command. Same problem - he is too excited to eat so he scrambles off his bed (think scramble as in a cartoon) For a temporary measure on feeding, I've been making feeding him outside.
This also happens when he sees something to investigate, primarily the cat darting around the house so the problem does not only happen when he is on his bed.
So far I've tried to teach 'slow' by taking him by the collar and walking with him but it doesn't seem to be working. I've kept his nails clipped and filed smooth as short as they can go but it doesn't help when he digs his feet in.
Please help us before our floors are ruined!
In the living room we have a bed for him and that is where he lays most of the time. If he hears the neighbors dog barking, he gets up and scrambles quickly from the bed and is used to having the carpet for traction. We command 'on your bed' when we are filling his bowl and he eats after the release command. Same problem - he is too excited to eat so he scrambles off his bed (think scramble as in a cartoon) For a temporary measure on feeding, I've been making feeding him outside.
This also happens when he sees something to investigate, primarily the cat darting around the house so the problem does not only happen when he is on his bed.
So far I've tried to teach 'slow' by taking him by the collar and walking with him but it doesn't seem to be working. I've kept his nails clipped and filed smooth as short as they can go but it doesn't help when he digs his feet in.
Please help us before our floors are ruined!
