Mutt_Lady Posted May 27, 2004 Share Posted May 27, 2004 K is no spring chicken, she's 7 years old and she has been chewing things up like a maniac lately. Kevin left his favorite shoes by our bedside and when he came back into the room they were in pieces. Not only does she chew them, they're gone in like 60 seconds. :-? I don't know what to do. Yeah, I know..try to remove objects that she is chewing. But when I catch her chewing how should I go about it? What should I do? TIA. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drjeffrock Posted May 27, 2004 Share Posted May 27, 2004 Hi Eileen- I never replied to your questions on your intro thread. So, I have a 7 year old Akita named Kira, and a 1.5 year old American Pit Bull terrier (APBT) named Dexter. Yes my girlfriend and I are psychos who like to bake our dogs birthday cakes :stupid: Ok, now to the problem at hand. Dexter is a chewer also. It doesnt matter if its shoes, socks, panties, whatever. The only real success I have at getting him to stop this behavior is to make sure he is well-exercised. When I take him on strenuous hikes, he doesnt have the energy to misbehave. Working him out makes a HUGE difference in his behavior. Wish I had more advice, but thats it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kidsanddogs Posted May 27, 2004 Share Posted May 27, 2004 Eileen, My favorite way to deal with stealing items or even chewed items is similar. If the item is stolen and my dog is in the process of running off with it. I call him to me, greet him cheerily, and say "Thank You, Bailey!" No matter how mad I am, I always make him thrilled to approach me, rather than run the other way. If I can, when he comes to me, I trade the item for something he CAN chew. It's making a great deal, and my dog is always happy. If he has already chewed the item, I truly regard it as my fault and just chalk it up to a lesson learned. You said that you realize the objects should not be available, so you're aware of the error. I train my dogs with a 100% positive approach. Destroying something is always something that I neglected to take care of in the environment. I can't promote some type of punishment because I don't use it. But my little thief is always happy to have another happy activity to choose from. Good luck, and I hope this helped. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drjeffrock Posted May 27, 2004 Share Posted May 27, 2004 Good advice! If Dex is in the process of chewing a sock (or about to pick up a sock) I will just grab whatever is closest to me and act very interested in it. Dex immediately has to come over to see what is so interesting :wink: and forgets all about the sock. I still think that certain dogs can benefit from a correction every so often (water from squirt gun, etc.) but it must be done at the right time or it is useless. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xavierandrea Posted May 28, 2004 Share Posted May 28, 2004 We used the water squirt gun methond. We also sprayed "bitter apple" on all the items the dogs go into. My guys hate bitter apple. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mutt_Lady Posted July 15, 2004 Author Share Posted July 15, 2004 I just realized I never thanked you all for the fantastic suggestions. So...thank you! I took all of the advice into consideration and decided to start off slow. I used your method, drjeffrock, when you suggested I should make sure she's pretty tired. And you're right, a busy bee of a dog doesn't have the time to chew. She's been going on hour walks with me during the day and then 15 minute jogs will me at night. K is one tired dog by bedtime. 8) We've also increased her playing selection. She received about 20+ bones this week and has had one helluva time chewing them all to pieces. Thanks again for all of your expertise. It was greatly appreciated. :thumbs: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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