Last month, my family adopted a dog from the Wisconsin Humane Society. He’s a mountain cur mix and we named him Trail. He’s 4 months old now and, overall, a joy to have around.

Except, however, when he’s gnawing on one of my shoes or digging holes in the backyard.

We tried spraying bitter apple on items that we don’t want him to chew on, but he doesn’t seem to mind the flavor. As a big fan of Sour Patch Kids candy, I can relate. Also, we try to switch out the household item with one of his chew toys, but he seems much more interested in munching on wooden items. He is losing his baby teeth right now, so I know this will improve, but I'm still looking for an insta-cure for the chewies.

The hole digging is another issue. My husband read on the Internet that one way to stop hole digging is to bury their poop in the area where they like to dig. That sounds really gross, and we have not gone there, but might if we can’t remedy this via another plan. We are opposed to shock collars, but are trying spray bottles and voice commands.

My 7-year-old son and I signed up for a class at the Wisconsin Humane Society that starts in early January. Plus, we’re crate training Trail and doing our best to be consistent and clear with our voice commands.

It has been 14 years since we last trained a puppy, and we are doing our best to catch up on all the modern practices. I must admit that puppy rearing is a huge ordeal -- way more than I remember -- and not that much different from living with a toddler child.

It has been said before, but I must say it again: good thing they’re so damn cute.