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Puppy Problems


Gunny3688
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Hey all, havent been on here for quite some time, and im having some troubles with our little terror we have.

Harry is i think 9 months maybe a little older im not 100% sure, but he use to chew everything he could see. He stopped chewing stuff (bar his own toys) for about a month. But now just recently he has started again. Now in total i think hes chewed around $1500 worth of stuff, most recently being my $175 and $165 shoes and sunnies. I put my stuff out of the way, and out of reach of Harry, but somehow he always gets to it, whether they are on a table, in my cupboard, anyway. He gets them.

We really cant go on like this because he is just chewing so much stuff, very expensive stuff. I have bought him toys, hes rarely alone. If we dont watch him 24/7 he gets to stuff hes not suppose to chew.

With that said, i need advice :rofl:. I've bought him countless toys, hes walked everyday for an hour or more. What else do i have to do? I know its puppy stage but he has a weird taste for expensive things.

Any advice is welcome :laugh:

Gunny

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Oh :rofl:

Having never had pupies that chew things, I don't have too many suggestions...

but..pups cannot open locked doors(usually) or get things off high shelves.

If pup is either baby-gated to one or two rooms , in a crate, or outside..he also cannot get your things :)

His toys....

They have to be MUCH more interesting than your stuff...

Does he have INTERACTIVE toys ?

I am meaning Kongs, Treat balls, and the like...

this site has some good things ;)

http://www.aussiedog.com.au/index.php?main...968eb6e34181a6e

Or Kongs.... which our dogs LOVE :eek:

http://www.kongcompany.com/worlds_best.html

Does he have HUGE meaty bones to chew?

If he has to work to get his meal off a bone, that will take care of a lot of chewing!

Also...

Mentally challenging a pup will leave him in a much more relaxed mood..so instead of one walk/obedience session daily..try 2. It's not the length of the walk..it is how much he has to think in the time!!

learning new manners or tricks will then encourage him to just 'chill' for a while afterwards...

I am sure there will be other suggestions for you :D

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Harry is i think 9 months maybe a little older im not 100% sure, but he use to chew everything he could see. He stopped chewing stuff (bar his own toys) for about a month. But now just recently he has started again. Now in total i think hes chewed around $1500 worth of stuff, most recently being my $175 and $165 shoes and sunnies. I put my stuff out of the way, and out of reach of Harry, but somehow he always gets to it, whether they are on a table, in my cupboard, anyway. He gets them.

We really cant go on like this because he is just chewing so much stuff, very expensive stuff. I have bought him toys, hes rarely alone. If we dont watch him 24/7 he gets to stuff hes not suppose to chew.

With that said, i need advice :rofl:. I've bought him countless toys, hes walked everyday for an hour or more. What else do i have to do? I know its puppy stage but he has a weird taste for expensive things.

Puppies chew, that's how they explore the world. He's behaving like a normal puppy.

If your pup is chewing expensive items then you are NOT keeping them out of reach at all. If you were he wouldn't be able to chew them.

I guess this is a very large breed of dog to be able to take things off the table, unless you mean the coffee table. Is he also able to open cupboard doors or are you leaving them open?

Puppies don't know the difference between toys and your shoes. You need to look at where you are going wrong. He isn't the one leaving your stuff around where it can get damaged.

If as you say, you can't go on like this then you need to change your habits and put your things safely away where the pup can't get them.

The toys and the walking won't teach the pup not to chew. There's nothing quite like a young chewing puppy to teach us in quick time to not leave stuff lying around everywhere.

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My Dal is 14 months old and a rather intense young lad :rofl: He has adequate exercise for his age, plenty of mental stimulation and company for most of the day/night but you know what? I wouldn't trust him on his own in the house for more than 5 minutes! Seriously....if I or my OH can't watch him he's in his crate - that simple. Doors are shut, his soft crate forms a barrier to our bedroom so the cats can get in and out in peace and everything is out of reach (shoes smell loverly to a dog - after all they smell like you!). Apart from that I've taught him a "leave" command which takes a LOT of persistence and consistency to work. The only thing I've had damaged is the phone because I thought Zig was ready to be trusted in the house while I had a shower....boy was I wrong! But he had the biggest "grin" on his face when I found him quietly gnawing away on it - no point in telling him off either as he was way past the point of pinching it.

The wonderful thing about having an OTT, destructive dog IMO is that they are just so easy to motivate when training - I use clicker training, tug toys and lots of praise to work that brain of his.....he throws himself into the training, gets confused and a little stressed trying to work out what I want but when he "gets" it - what fun! Then he's exhausted and happily goes to his crate or his bed for a snooze.

With regards to toys, do you rotate them or are they all lying around for him? Do you play games with the toys? It's not much fun playing games on your own! Zig also gets his food via training, stuffed in Kongs or in treat balls/cubes. Every day he has to work for his food and work for me to play games for him.

There's lots of ideas in the training forum too - do you go to obedience lessons with pup? It can be a frustrating "stage" but I think it's really important to work with your pup and channel that excess energy into something constructive.

Sorry for the long post :eek:

Edited by The Spotted Devil
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It was mentioned before but either gating an area or crating is great. We have puppy gates up (pup has not yet worked out she may be able to jump them...) to confine her to the lounge area when she is inside. People leave their belongings here at their own peril... She has her toys here. Most of the time she will opt for her toys rather than our items if we accidentally leave them in her 'area.' Granted she is younger than Harry. You could also try rawhide chews (hours of fun chewing) there is a brand available from the supermarket that is for 'persistent' chewers (sorry can't remember the name.)

What sought of dog is he? Friends of ours have 2 staffies - they buy their dog toys from Bunnings - 2 by 4 chunks of wood; keeps the dogs happy for hours!

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:rofl: our airedale pup has done major damage as well we make sure there is nothing important left outside and we puppy proof everything and just leave stuff out she is allowed to chew .we do crate her at night because that seems to be when she is most out off control.the good news is they do grow out of it(cant wait)she has also totally destroyed my hubbys garden so he has fenced off the back of our block for his flowers bushs and landscape.and the yard is for the dogs and kids to wreck. :rofl:
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our stuff is put away 90% of the time, and the same thing goes with my family, u leave it out its ur fault. But the stuff we put away, into cupboards e.t.c he still gets. He is a little houdini!!!

Ill go have a look at these dog toys, i think he will especially like the food toys :). No, we dont rotate his toys, but i will start doing that as of today. He has many toys, and we do play with him everyday, different things like outside with the ball, inside with the tug-of-war things like that, but he still is a very busy little boy hehe.

Thanks for ur input.

Gunny

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Best thing I did was get a puppy pen. I still use it even though they are older and because they are so used to it they never try to jump over it (although they do try to push around the sides). They can still see what is going on and have the room to play, eat in there, sleep, whatever. I leave mine opened up, coming off the laundry door into the dining room.

The good thing about the pens is they are portable and you can take them with you. I take them when we visit people.

A bit expensive but worth every cent.

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our stuff is put away 90% of the time, and the same thing goes with my family, u leave it out its ur fault. But the stuff we put away, into cupboards e.t.c he still gets. He is a little houdini!!!

So how is the puppy getting things out of cupboards? You are closing the door of the cupboards aren't you?

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Well i hope he hasnt learnt how to open to cupboards, but it wouldnt surprise me if he has.

So i've started rotating his toys around, but how long should i leave it till i rotate them again? A week? A few days?

He was given a bone 2 days ago, and hes still enjoying that, i also went to the pet store and bought him some food toys which are keeping him amused. We have only had a minor incident so fare since the change, which was my mates thongs which she stupidly left at the front door (which is her own fault which i explained to her). Since the change, I've noticed a difference in him and his toys. Harry seems to enjoy the food toys more than the others which was expected.

Anyway, thank you all for your input, you just saved me alot of money :)

Cheers,

Gunny

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