Guest Anonymous Posted January 11, 2003 Share Posted January 11, 2003 [i]Okay folks.. I really need your help with this one because I feel I have lost my patience at this point in time :-(... Today I was laying on the bed.. And I heard Isabelle biting on something but I have no idea what the hell it was.. I just ignored it because I figured it might have been food or something.. ANywho.. I kind of sat there for a second.. and then I thought wait a minute and I looked below the bed.. She was chewing on my Fiancee's Engagement ring box.. It scared the living hell out of me.. The first thing I asked Beth was if she had the ring or not.. She said yes why.. Cuz I said the Dog has your ring box. :-(.. And it was torn to shreds by then.. Now don't get me wrong we can always get another box, thats not a big deal at all.. MY question for you all is.. Beth was like its time to get rid of this dog.. She keeps destroying things.. Now I know I know .. The dog isn't even a year old yet.. SHe is in this puppy phase. and I went through it with the cat too.. When he was a kitten he did some crazy stuff.. but when I got him Nuetered He stopped.. Unfortnately with the Dog.. We got her fixed and she just kept going at stuff.. Ive heard like three different sides of the stories.. Ive heard basically up until 2.. The Dog will be crazy.. They get into stuff they bother stuff everything.. Its just a wait out period.. Then the other side tells me.. Once a Dog starts tearing and wrecking personal things.. Its time to get rid of the Dog.. THe other side tells me.. Shes an outside dog? I really don't know what to do.. I don't want to get rid of the dog.. I can't give her squeek toys because she ends up chewing through them and then eats the pieces and getting VERY SICK :-(.. I dunno.. What am I doing wrong?? Is this an obedience thing? Is this a training issue? Is this something she will outgrow before too long? Should I get rid of her? Is she an outside Dog?? What should I do with her when she does something bad?? Hit her?? No.. Put her in her cage?? Smile and walk the other way? P.S. The ring box was in Beths over night bag.. So she got it out of there... HELP!?!?!? :mad: [/i] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted January 11, 2003 Share Posted January 11, 2003 OK, I have to preach the pizzle preach. Get her some pizzle. The other two names for it is Bully Sticks or Bull Wrinkles. She will LOVE them and chew them like crazy. Trust me on this...I've never met a dog that DIDN'T like pizzle. She needs to understand what is hers to chew and what isn't hers to chew. Please let us know how it goes. My 2.5 yr old still chews things up everyonce in a while. He'll chew a napkin, paper towel, kleenex, etc any second he can get.....but rarely anything else anymore. The first summer we had him, I lost three pair of shoes in one week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DogPaddle Posted January 11, 2003 Share Posted January 11, 2003 Couple suggestions. 1. Buy at least 3 good solid dog chews. For example kongs, large knotted cotton ropes etc. Kong makes a chew that has knotted cotton rope in it - its reffered to as a dental kong and it keeps their teeth clean too. 2. Everytime the dog chews something its not supposed to tell it no and bad, immediately replace the bad item with a kong and if the dog makes any motion to chew it say good. 3. Buy a crate and put the dog in the crate when you go to sleep or if its going to be home alone. Leave one chew in there with the dog. Keep a very close eye on the dog and crate it if you can't watch it. If the dog cannot engage in bad behaviour ever it will not develop the habbit and eventually will be able to be trusted on its own. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carolk9s Posted January 11, 2003 Share Posted January 11, 2003 Please don't make her an outside only dog. She would not understand and with her youth, energy and desire to chew, might just eat the back of your house off. I too think a crate is a VERY GOOD idea. When she cannot be supervised, she needs to either be in a crate or in a secure area that has been dogproofed. This is absolutely NOT to say stick her in the crate for hours on end but you sound like a person who cares about your dog and would not do that anyway! I have a VERY aggressive chewer, with time and a boatload of patience, not to mention banging MY head on the wall, she learned what was hers to chew and what was not. This dog literally chewed the corner of the wall. Teeth marks still there. Also, suggestion, next time you hear her rummaging around and you cannot see her, get up! :lol: STOP the behaviour before she ruins a prized possession and redirect her to her toys. Big ole kongs are good, they are pretty darned indestructible, you can stuff them with some cheese, peanut butter, dog cookies, etc. Some people I know stuff them with a meat mixture and freeze them, then give them to the dog. They say it provides hours of chewing enjoyment. Please do supervise her just to make sure she is not one of the rare dogs who can chew hunks off of a kong toy. The compressed rawhide is good for a long chew session, my chewer will settle down and methodically work from one end to the other. I do not let her eat an entire bone at one sitting much to her dismay. Not regular rawhide or that silly crunchy stuff. Even a mildy aggressive chewer can chew a hunk off the regular bones and get it stuck trying to be a piggy and swallow it. I also like the 'mine...yours' game. Offer her or show her one of her toys and say YOURS in an upbeat voice. If she touches it or picks it up, praise and be silly about it. Show her something of yous-don't offer it to her, and say MINE in a stern voice. If she touches it or grabs for it, NO...MINE! Then offer her one of her toys and say YOURS. Proofing her on this will involve keeping one eye on her AT ALL TIMES 8) and saying a stern MINE should she touch or pick up something that should not be in her mouth. Lastly, or perhaps it should have been first, PUPPY PROOF the house! Get down on your hands and knees so that you will see things from her level. Try to think, what kinda sticks out or looks interesting to me as a dog would see it? If you can stick it out and continue building on the relationship that includes training her to be an excellent canine good citizen, she will repay you a thousand times over with her love and devotion. And she won't fuss at you for not putting down the toilet seat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted January 12, 2003 Share Posted January 12, 2003 Wow.. Thanks for all of the feedback guys.. This makes a lot of sense.. Seriously.. Do any of you guys know of a Squeek toy that is indestructable? :-).. I know that sounds crazy but I know Isabelle loves those little toys.. Just curious... Also the Raw hide things.. She loves those.. Ive heard of people doing that with their dogs.. basically if she is chewing on something bad.. Say no.. And then give them that.. But will that have a reverse effect of like That teaches them to chew on things to get treats?? Hmm :-) Just a thought.. OH Yeah one more question.. Getting ready to have a house built debating on how to do the fence for Isabelle.. Parents say electric fence.. I say start off with the elctric then get a real one.. My question is.. How durable are these electric fences.. Meaning if she sees something she wants.. Isn't there the possibility of her jumping right through the thing? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nancy B Posted January 12, 2003 Share Posted January 12, 2003 [quote name='NVMY03GT'] OH Yeah one more question.. Getting ready to have a house built debating on how to do the fence for Isabelle.. Parents say electric fence.. I say start off with the elctric then get a real one.. My question is.. How durable are these electric fences.. Meaning if she sees something she wants.. Isn't there the possibility of her jumping right through the thing?[/quote] I don't think electric fences are a safe way to contain a dog. If a dog is operating in drive (think chasing a squirel or rabbit or something like that) it will generally elect to take the shock and go on out of the yard. What happens then? Then the dog is outside the yard and will get shocked if it tries to come back in. An electric fence also does nothing to prevent other dogs (or people for that matter) from entering your yard and possibly harming your dog. I read a lot of great advise on your chewing problem. I've got a very aggressive chewer at home here, Mason. He's always been that way and, believe it or not, the only thing he's ever destroyed is one sandal. For me the key was to keep him supplied with a wide selection of things to chew on that he was allowed to chew on. Another thought....a tired dog is a good dog. See to it that she gets LOTS of exercise! :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hobbit Posted January 12, 2003 Share Posted January 12, 2003 Personally, these fences are way over rated. It does [b]NOTHING[/b] to keep another dog from coming into your yard and attacking YOUR dog. Put up a real fence, real chain link, wood, cinder-block, whatever you choose. This worked for one of my dogs....it may not work for you > so ...... We have pups / dogs that are chewers. The toys and bones didn't work, because whatever it was they wanted to chew on looked more interesting. So, everytime I saw one of them pick up something to chew on --- I would go to him and say, "good boy, for bringing me that"..."you're a good boy for bringing me that" and I would take whatever he had. Now, he just brings me whatever it is that he wants to chew on. I take it, praise him and give him a treat. I almost have a female pup that will do the same thing. [b]It may not work for you and it's dangerously close to praising for doing a "bad" thing, which could lead to a BAD habit. [/b] It has worked for some of our dogs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cheetah Posted January 12, 2003 Share Posted January 12, 2003 The dog must not be left unsupervised with an electric fence. Besides the fact other animals can get to your dog, if your dog sees a squirrel or cat, no matter how well trained it is, it will most likely chase after it anyway. Once the dog goes through the fence even ONE time, you have to start back from the beginning training them. I have an electric fence in my front yard as a re-enforcement if my dog gets loose (she has a fenced in backyard to play in). However, I'd say that fence was more trouble than it was worth. Although Roxie appeared to be trained after the required 2-week training period, the first time she saw a cat and was offleash, she ran right through it. Once she figured out that she could run right through it without the shock really effecting her, she really didn't care about the shock anymore. It would have been impossible to re-train her to it, except that we bought a new $80 Stubborn Dog receiver which has 3x the voltage of a regular receiver. All it took was ONE time to feel a shock from that thing and she never left our property again. I felt so horrible and guilty because I felt like I was almost abusing my dog the first time I saw her try to go through it, then YELP and run back to the front door shaking. :o However, I kept it because I found that she never had to experience the shock again since she refused to leave our yard again offleash. Basically, although the fence eventually solved my problem of my dog bolting out the door after cats, it was a very frustrating and expensive experience. I highly recommend that you get a good, secure fence rather than an underground electric fence that is more trouble than it is worth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bullygirl29532 Posted January 12, 2003 Share Posted January 12, 2003 with strong chewers crates and kongs are the way to go. i had the same problem with lecter my dog and jay my husband. when i first got lecter i felt bad about crating him when i was at work so i let him have the run of the house. that last 4 days before i learned what a pit can due in a couple of hours. when i came home 5hours later (wish i had a picture of this) he had torn up a 48 pack of diapers to shreds,knocked over my easter lilly, pulled the table cloth of the table along with the vase (lucky it was plastic) chewed that into a mess, dragged out my recycle newspaper pile, as well as the plastic shopping bags i keep from the supermarket. I kid you not when i walked into the house the debris was an inch thick in the living room and kitchen and he was just so happy to see me he had to pee on it. i could have killed him right then and there but jay was due home in less than 20 minutes so i didn't have time to kill him and clean up the mess. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hobbit Posted January 12, 2003 Share Posted January 12, 2003 [quote name='bullygirl29532']kill him [b]and[/b] clean up the mess.[/quote] I hate those hard decisions! :lol: :lol: He was a very busy boy, having too much fun with redecorating your house. :P Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted January 12, 2003 Share Posted January 12, 2003 :fadein: just have patience with the poor puppy! some dogs are teething from four weeks or so until about eight months. sometimes during this time they can actually form a habit chewing on things. If you give her something that is her very own(you must let her know it's her's only) she will probably use the toy instead of your things. when you find her with something she isn't supposed to have, tell her no in a firm voice and offer her the toy. dogs are a lot like kids. you have to be patient and firm. she only knows what you teach her. :fadein: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted January 12, 2003 Share Posted January 12, 2003 after all my advice........let me tell you some of the things my dogs have chewed......and swallowed. Jakkob went into the bathroom one day and decided to help himself to a disposable razor i had carelessly left on the side of the bathtub. never thought he'd think to get something like that! he not only chewed it(at first we never found anything but the handle) he actually swallowed the blade part and the plastic covering. when i found the handle, i pannicked and took him to the vet for xrays. they found the plastic part in his lower colon, but couldn't find the blade. he had hid it in his kennel under the bed cover. i later found it after i had worried to the point of a nervous breakdown. that cost us 350.00 a week or so later Julie, our 6 month old female swallowed rocks. she had 5 or 6 in her stomach. another 300.00. including antibiotics and tagament pills to take for a week. my patience was pretty thin..........no shelter thoughts, just knew i'd had it! since then, i am careful about what i leave out. They can also unzip zippers on make-up bags. they learn fast! relax, she'll grow out of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eggrolyn1223 Posted January 12, 2003 Share Posted January 12, 2003 Duck is an annoying chewer....she gets her mouth on anything in reach...so I put everything thats NOT ALLOWEd out of reach.Oh yeah, maybe your dog is bored...get her some more toys....Duck has a Kong stuffed with peanut butter, Greenies, squeaky ball, rope toy, and an old stuffed animal..she loves chewing stuff made of cloth...try to find out what your dog likes best, and get more of those...Duck has chewed off a chair leg, my bedroom wall, the piano pedals, and just about everything else.. :roll: And rotate the toys so she doesn't get bored..I think some places sell "indestructible balls"...she will just get worse if she is kept as an outside dog.. Oh!And I read somewhere that if you take the thing that your dog is chewing on that is not allowed and hit it(NOT the dog), say bad "whatever it is", then the dog will probably not chew it anymore..I'm not sure if it would work though :-? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eggrolyn1223 Posted January 12, 2003 Share Posted January 12, 2003 sasha, where do you get pizzle from?I've never seen any in my pet supply catalogs...or at the online Petsmart.. :-? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cheetah Posted January 12, 2003 Share Posted January 12, 2003 [quote name='eggrolyn1223']Oh!And I read somewhere that if you take the thing that your dog is chewing on that is not allowed and hit it(NOT the dog), say bad "whatever it is", then the dog will probably not chew it anymore..I'm not sure if it would work though :-?[/quote] I read that too in "The Idiot's Guide to Choosing, Training, and Raising a Dog". I tried that at some point...it really didn't work. Roxie looked very confused and after I put the object down, about a couple minutes later she proceeded to (cautiously) walk over, sniff the object, then pick up. :lol: Although that idea sounds good in theory - it really doesn't seem to work!(at least in my case it didn't!) They had the rotating toys suggestion in that book too. I find that idea works very well because some people have a gazillion toys laying around and then they can't figure out why the dog chews on everything but the toys! Besides the fact that the dog becomes bored with all the toys, it also becomes very confused as to which toys belong to it and which are YOURS. What worked best with Roxie was to teach her the "leave it" command and whenever she chewed on anything (whether it be hers or mine - I didn't want her to start to pick up forbidden objects for attention) I would just tell her leave it, then switch it with one of her toys or sometimes give her a treat and praise. She still chews on things sometimes - but not furniture anymore, just little things like gloves and napkins. She can't help herself! Although I know that she definitely understands what belongs to her and what is mine because she immediately puts down a "forbidden object" and looks guilty when I walk into the room. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted January 12, 2003 Share Posted January 12, 2003 [quote name='Hobbit']Personally, these fences are way over rated. It does [b]NOTHING[/b] to keep another dog from coming into your yard and attacking YOUR dog. Put up a real fence, real chain link, wood, cinder-block, whatever you choose. [color=red][b]EXAMPLE! My sister just thought her female lab was pregnant since she caught her and the neighbor's lab going at it....she would have been due last week, so they got lucky. Oh yeah, they have the underground fence.[/b][/color] This worked for one of my dogs....it may not work for you > so ...... We have pups / dogs that are chewers. The toys and bones didn't work, because whatever it was they wanted to chew on looked more interesting. So, everytime I saw one of them pick up something to chew on --- I would go to him and say, "good boy, for bringing me that"..."you're a good boy for bringing me that" and I would take whatever he had. Now, he just brings me whatever it is that he wants to chew on. I take it, praise him and give him a treat. I almost have a female pup that will do the same thing. [b]It may not work for you and it's dangerously close to praising for doing a "bad" thing, which could lead to a BAD habit. [/b] It has worked for some of our dogs.[/quote] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted January 12, 2003 Share Posted January 12, 2003 [quote name='eggrolyn1223']sasha, where do you get pizzle from?I've never seen any in my pet supply catalogs...or at the online Petsmart.. :-?[/quote] [url]www.jbpet.com[/url] has them listed as bull wrinkles. I'm not sure if [url]www.petco.com[/url] has them listed or not, but they would be under bully sticks. I think you can get them from [url]www.whitedogbone.com[/url] too. Just go to [url]www.yahoo.com[/url] and search on bully sticks! You'll find a bunch! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pets4ever Posted January 20, 2003 Share Posted January 20, 2003 You can get the pizzle at different places but they're called different things. At Petsmart I think they are called bullies or something. At SitStay.com they are called Macho Stix. That I know for sure. They aren't cheap but dogs like them. Anyway, I have a hard rubber ball, made out of Kong type rubber with a bell locked inside. Not a squeaky but that thing is pretty indestructable and my dogs love it. Also, make sure she gets lots of excersize and make her tired! Then she'll spend some chewing time sleeping! :D Another thing I've heard is that you shouldn't give them too many toys to have at one time. Then they tend to play less with them. Give them just a couple of them and rotate so they get a "new" toy every so often. :multi: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sheesh Posted January 26, 2003 Share Posted January 26, 2003 You've received lotsa great advice!!! I am also taking heed of the good pointers. Wanna hear what my little 10monther cattle X has gotten into/chewed :o ? Let's see, where do I begin? 1. Last summer... 6 pairs of shoes ruined 2. 2 lbs of raw hamburger also last summer 3. Rubber landscaping siding in the whole yard -- pulled off and chewed up 4. 1 TV Remote Control chewed to oblivion. (Minus the batteries...thanks for small miracles) 5. 4 wrapped Xmas presents that were in a bag inside my office closet. The tragedy -- they were xmas ornaments my mom had got me from Portugal. She ate them entirely! All that was left were the golden hang cords! 6. My down pillow and pillowcase -- all that was left was feathers 7. My Nike Watch 8. My purse 9. 2 throw rugs 10. Her doggie bed. Now don't think i just leave all that crap all over the place. They were "put up" to where I thought were out of her reach. She is a little rascal. She hasn't chewed anything for a while. The remote control was the last thing and that was back in November. I have tons of toys for her including Kongs which are great. Also the rock hard shin bones are wonderful, too. Often times I wake up at night to hear her gnawing happily away on the shinbones. One trick I was taught was to always ask her "Where's your bone (or ball, or toy, or whatever you want to call it)" every time I come in from outside, or just anytime she is just looking bored and needing something to do. Everytime she goes to fetch her toy, I give her lotsa praise. It seems to be working really well. She knows that when she comes to me with a toy in her mouth, she will be praised. If she comes to me with something "naughty", then she gets a stern reprimand. I hope you can work it out -- in addition to the stress, dogs bring so much joy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eggrolyn1223 Posted January 26, 2003 Share Posted January 26, 2003 [quote name='Cheetah'][quote name='eggrolyn1223']Oh!And I read somewhere that if you take the thing that your dog is chewing on that is not allowed and hit it(NOT the dog), say bad "whatever it is", then the dog will probably not chew it anymore..I'm not sure if it would work though :-?[/quote] I read that too in "The Idiot's Guide to Choosing, Training, and Raising a Dog". I tried that at some point...it really didn't work. Roxie looked very confused and after I put the object down, about a couple minutes later she proceeded to (cautiously) walk over, sniff the object, then pick up. :lol: Although that idea sounds good in theory - it really doesn't seem to work!(at least in my case it didn't!) They had the rotating toys suggestion in that book too. I find that idea works very well because some people have a gazillion toys laying around and then they can't figure out why the dog chews on everything but the toys! Besides the fact that the dog becomes bored with all the toys, it also becomes very confused as to which toys belong to it and which are YOURS. What worked best with Roxie was to teach her the "leave it" command and whenever she chewed on anything (whether it be hers or mine - I didn't want her to start to pick up forbidden objects for attention) I would just tell her leave it, then switch it with one of her toys or sometimes give her a treat and praise. She still chews on things sometimes - but not furniture anymore, just little things like gloves and napkins. She can't help herself! Although I know that she definitely understands what belongs to her and what is mine because she immediately puts down a "forbidden object" and looks guilty when I walk into the room.[/quote] I tried that too...and it wprked...I think I looked really stupid when I did it..I mean, what normal person would be hitting a toy and screaming at it? :roll: Duck never got near the forbidden thing again.. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mydogroxy Posted April 2, 2003 Share Posted April 2, 2003 my boyfriend has owned two of the most aggressive chewers i've ever heard of. both were pit bulls. once he left the dog alone for a while, came home and found the dining room table to be toppled over because the dog chewed off an entire table leg! his other dog destroyed all of his living room furniture, including a couch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosebud Posted April 3, 2003 Share Posted April 3, 2003 :D Everybody has given you some great advice. Here's something that worked for me pertaining to squeaky toys. My 2 RR's decided that they really needed the squeaky out of the toys, I can't let them tear up the toys because they have to share them with my IG and she doesn't tear up her toys. I decided to teach them the reprecussions to tearing up the toys. Whenever they gutted one I would say in a firm voice "You Broke It" take it away from them take the toy and both dogs to the trash can. I would show them the toy again and the insides of the toy let them sniff at the insides, I would again say "You Broke It" then I would throw it away right in front of them. They already knew that nothing ever returnes from the trash can. I did this 5 times and when I did it with the most top favorite toy they stopped tearing them up. Oh the pouting hurt me but it stop the destructive chewing. :angel: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bubblezzz Posted April 5, 2003 Share Posted April 5, 2003 Wow. I'm getting lots of good advice from reading this! I'll start practicing "Yours and Mine" ASAP - that seems to make sense! The next time I get angry about something my puppy has chewed up, guess I'll just think of some of the posts I read here! :) Mine isn't so bad, just loves only NEW, expensive shoes! Also, I noticed that nobody mentioned using bitter spray. I bought a bottle after my puppy chewed through electrical wiring (nearly gave me a heart attack because I saw the chewed-up wire before I saw my puppy! thank god we were diligent with switching off the switches) Bitter Spray works for us! After a liberal spritzing on all the surfaces I didn't want him chewing, I kept an eye on him, and sure enough, he started on a chair leg. Almost immediately, he stopped, looking startled. Tried chewing again, looked disgusted and stopped. And that was that. :) I tried the teensiest little bit of the stuff and it's INCREDIBLY bitter and totally horrid!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted May 3, 2003 Share Posted May 3, 2003 Hi Well your dog souns like a twin of what mine used to be. I got a Tri Tronics xl 100 E collar and got a guy near me to give me training lessons with it. I tell you, my troubles were al over within about 10 days, I'de recomend an E to anyone and the dog benefits cause he is totaly free now, he runs where he wants when he wants and I just call him when I wana go, something unexpected seems to have happened he is soooooo much closer to me now. Go for it is what I'de suggest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ellieangel Posted May 3, 2003 Share Posted May 3, 2003 Hi Doogdog and welcome to dogo :) Everyone here is real friendly :hand: I've never used an e-collar but I know a lot of people do and have had good results. Maybe you should start a new thread so that we can discuss them further ! Look forward to hearing from you. Don't forget to post piccy's of your furbabys in in pictures forum !!!! Chat to you soon !! qoth x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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