best4koda

Yep, I would talk to the neighbour and see what can jointly be proposed to fix the problem. It's always a good way to start to help good neighbour relationships. That way you can do as suggested above and ask them to let you know if the pup is barking etc in your absence. We had newish neighbours and the dogs would bark non-stop when they left the house. My other neighbour was getting annoyed as she had a baby. I suggested to go around and talk to them or pop a polite note in the letter box letter them know the problem as they mightn't know and you wouldn't if you weren't told. Once they knew they at least lessoned the problem and when they went out at night the dogs were put in the garage which as least made the barking more tolerable for the rest of us as and they seem to quietened down as well. I would put the rocks back in and then fill on top and hope for the best. If there are dogs next door you tend to get fence digging more. That's the one thing we are lucky with is no fence running or digging to get out. But we have spontenous digging in the middle of the yard instea.....gotta love em!

Persephone, I'm checking out K9pro site. She's been walked today and I have started to train her to run next to the bike for some added high cardio. We've just started taking her bush walking as you couldn't trust her to recall. We have tried the local off lead park but it's got a trough of water that is awful and you can't keep her out of it and we ended up with Giardia. So we've now started the bush walking and getting her used to running a distance up and back but recalling when needeed. But I don't trust her on my own so I do this when my hubby is able to come until the trust is built. He runs well being in the army and can chase after her if needed. I think the trick training is what she needs for the brain. She gets bored with normal obedience in the yard so I keep that for my walks with her and combine it with some long lead walking so she can sniff, zigzag and wear herself out. Looking into K9pro, trick training and someone suggested http://www.schutzhundaustralia.com/ but their email is working today. Hopefully the kids can ride their bikes with me and Koda soon. I wasn't able to have the kids walk as they whine after 2 blocks and the youngest has just gotten a bike. I had to get Koda better walking on the lead as she was so excitable walking her plus watching the kids to make sure they weren't about to cross in front of cars was a bit difficult. Hopefully now the youngest is on a bike and is getting good at doing as his told on it he can ride while me and Koda can walk on the days my other is at school making 5 days of walking. But I think it's the stimilation is what we need to get hold of so perhaps the trick training will be the go. Megan, yes I was taking her to a quiet park and working with my friend with her. She has now graduated to walking the local area and as of today I successfully had her walk the local park with a huge duck pond, lots of birds and fellow dog walkers and she didn't disgrace herself. So it's small steps regarding that sort of thing but she's getting there. We currently have been training her to sit on her bed inside so she can come in and be part of the family. She used to run all over the place, so I did on lead training inside the house. Now she knows she's definitely not allowed past the kitchen and she is suppose to sit on her bed. She always gets off at a blink of an eye but she's calmed down and stays alot of time on it making it easier to have her with us. The fur we will just have to bare. So yes lots of good suggestions to put into place and we are definitely trying them out to see what helps. Thanks to all.

Freundhund, that's great that you were able to do that but sorry since you don't know my situation which is my husband is Defence, goes away without warning, for long periods, we don't have family near us and sorry I will not have my kids unsupervised while I am training my dog at our dog club. Perhaps you had people at your club willing to keep an eye on yours but I don't. I exercise my dog as much as I can while trying to fit it around the kids. I know she needs more, my point of me asking this question on this forum was for constructive suggestions to add to her routine or training to help with the issue of chewing. This dog does not slow down, I can have my husband run her 5-10km and then she comes home and chews something else, so perhaps she needs more mental stimulation that can be done at home or locally to busy her brain. I have increased her exercise with no avail.

Hi, thanks for all the advice. I am slowly plugging away thru it. I managed to walk Koda 3 times on the weekend so that's a start. New toys of been entertaining for her and I am slowly reading bits and pieces of the info people have put up. Hopefully we will ease the effect. Koalathebear, I think my koda is a similar chewing to yours. Koda has been found chewing concrete, the mortar from between the bricks in the house, she digs up the crushed granit to get to the blue gravel to chew, hoses, hose reel, pedals on all bikes left out, handles of the kids scooters, made tooth picks out of my sons wooden tool box which he left out but was inside the climbing castle so she really went looking for it. Not a tool survived and I had trouble seeing where they went, she had chewed them into tiny pieces and they were lost in the lawn, my first reaction was oh my god vet bill! Wooden frame around garage door, chewed the laundry door frame when pup. boots, my daughters headband which she found in 5 minutes of freedom.....arrrrgh...We usually put everything away within reason but I also think some things need to be left out so they learn what is not theirs to chew. I couldn't believe the effort she put in on the tool box and my son was devastated and wouldn't speak to the dog for a week, valuable lesson for Mr 4yr old though.

She's just turned 1. I know it's an age thing still, high drive, boredom but just need some ideas to distract her and alleviate the problem. I have topped up the toys today with a very tough squeaker made from stuff like the kongs that she thought was fab and one of those bell kongs as well to put kibble in. Off to walk her know to burn some of that nervous energy she has. She was busted eating the wood door frame on the garage again today.....arrrrrrgh. We also let her in when we can supervise her as well to help her feel part of the family as shepherds do better part of the pack. So much fur though.

Pigs ears a no go here either. Mine can't have the marrow bones as she demolishes them and then we have the runs and a vet bill. Where do you get the deer chews from?

SecretKei, that link is no longer. Do you have another or an outside link?

I was reading some of his info online a while ago, must get back to it I think.

Kavik, do you have a site about training in drive? I am interested in learning about it. Yes Koda will be getting walked in the rain today as hubby's home. It will break my cabin fever too. Well I chuffed off to the pet store today. I did see tug toys online that someone suggested that you could tie from trees etc but we don't have one in the yard. I maybe able to do similar but attach it too some steel posts in the fence...concerned she would pull too hard for the pole though. But I came home with a very hard squeaky ball with short legs on it, made of the rubber of kongs. I have to use 2 hands to squeak it so it should be good. She's going to town on it as I type. Also picked up a bell Kong to fill with kibble for her as well. While I was away Hubby busted her ripping wood off the garage door trim. Just standing there ripping away.....aaarrrrrgh! Hopefully I have relieved the toy issue a little, she also has a standard kong, assorted other softer toys, rope toy, milk bottles, a large stick as well. Will check out the antlersbones as well SecretKei.

Thanks Newfsie, She can't have large bones as she gets the runs real bad. The vet initially thought she was EPI but I had a hunch it was food intolerance and I was right unfortunately but better then EPI. I just checked out some hanging/tug a war toys from a link on one of the posts and it has giving me some ideas and will head off to the shops tomorrow to see what I can find. Yeah I do patches of obedience on my walks too and I tend to go out and I make extra effort in training at home when I see she's llooking for something to do.

Yep, several, also tried lamb based ones, chicken based and a salmon based one. Proplan chicken she was a bit better but still not satisfactory, salmon a little bit better again. I did alot of researching too and after reading some others using supercoat sensative with success I compared & really it was similar but without all the fancy ingredients (fancy is debatable but couldn't think of a better way to put it) and it had less fat and of course protein. I think part of the issue with her is a fat issue and lamb. But the change was within 24hrs of moving her across. It all started because I wanted to move her off Bonnie onto a better product.

No argument here, but I have small kids and hubby is defence so at least I reserve the 3 days the youngest is in preschool to walk her. They can't keep up with the dog and myself otherwise I would drage them along. If hubby is home I walk her at night. Taking to providing entertainment for herself is the guts of the issue. I will not disagree.

Yes, a kong house here. will check other link.

Don't worry we are very patient and loving owners. But I did catch her in the act so yes I used my angry voice but nothing more. Unfortunately this little lady can't have manufactured treats and still is on a restricted diet to a food allergy that sends her to the vet each time. Within the diet I try to give her interesting things to knaw on as she can't have bones. Since she can eat salmon I give her semi-frozen salmon head (may sound awful to some but she loves them) as an alternative for her to use her teeth on and chicken carcasses as well. I give her new milk bottles to chew daily with lids and labels removed. Can't leave lids on and fill with something noisy like dried pasta etc as she loves plastic and is likely to swollow the lids.

Yep, I too walk in the rain and actually prefer it as less dogs are out walking too but haven't been able to this week, I was sick and also had my 4yr old home with suspected pneumonia (spelling). I'm a stay at home mum so I spend quite a bit of time with her on a daily basis. I'm aware of K9pro and have contacted previously but thought I would post on here to see what everyone suggests or perhaps it's an age thing and I just got lucky with my previous males before spending money which of course maybe money well spent in the end but there is a budget as well.

Oh god! don't tell me that....what breed is he?

She was doing Obedience with GSD club but she was hard to control due to high drive and her not responding to any collar we used. Since then I was able to consult with a friend who trains dogs professionally. Which has helped heaps with the lead work and we now can walk her behaving within reason. I try to walk her 3 times a week or more. We have been working hard on her being allowed in and sitting on her bed instead of running all over the place, teaching her fetch etc. Yes this week she is bored as in sydney it's been teeming with rain all week. Mind you the more exercise the more off the planet she seems to be and we also get more destruction as well. We've always obedience trained our dogs but this one is a different kettle of fish (dog).

Hi, my GSD has had issues too and can't have most bones. I also found she doesn't do well on the expensive kibbles and bones then tip her over to full on runs. I actually tried SuperCoat sensative and she was heaps better and now can tolerate chicken carcasses, roo mince, small amounts of beef mince, turkey mince, salmon. Lamb mince is a no no for her. It all started when I tried to move her to better kibble. Another thing I tried to give her variety and another bone source, I was reading about someone feeding Salmon Heads to their dog. I tried it she loves them. I remove the fins and toss it on the grass for her. She eats it entirely and I haven't noticed her smelling from it either but she is an outside dog. So anyway perhaps look at the kibble as an issue as well.

I'm a very frustrated GSD owner at the moment. Lover her but she is driving us nuts. I know it's a wet week and not only she is suffering with cabin fever so to speak. She is chewing greatly still. I mean I have just come inside from going made at her for destroying one of outdoor wooden chairs again. One problem is her bite seems far stronger then our previous male dogs. As in she destroys things within a minute or too, really crunches things. Wood she just can't seem to leave alone. I thought she was getting better until the last week or 2. I'm sure our other 2 had started to stop chewing by now, yes sure if you left something obvious out they might get chewed but most things were safe. I've gone mad at her for it. Busted her in the act. Used bitter spray, chilly paste to try to stop her. She is also crated during the night or when we are out to lesson the destruction. Does anyone have suggestions? so frustrating.

She is also crated at night and when we aren't home to limit her destruction as well.

I'm a very frustrated GSD owner at the moment. Lover her but she is driving us nuts. I know it's a wet week and not only she is suffering with cabin fever so to speak. She is chewing greatly still. I mean I have just come inside from going made at her for destroying one of outdoor wooden chairs again. One problem is her bite seems far stronger then our previous male dogs. As in she destroys things within a minute or too, really crunches things. Wood she just can't seem to leave alone. I thought she was getting better until the last week or 2. I'm sure our other 2 had started to stop chewing by now, yes sure if you left something obvious out they might get chewed but most things were safe. I've gone mad at her for it. Busted her in the act. Used bitter spray, chilly paste to try to stop her. Does anyone have suggestions? so frustrating.

Yep! Go it too! Mine gets a spoon full in her morning kibble each day.

Mmmm...well since GSD's were used for herding and guarding sheep, I would take a guess as what ever the farmers of the time ate including lamb cuts, table scraps, small game etc. But she does seem to love fresh salmon off cuts....mmmmmm.....

Hi, I've found I always only use the guide to have some idea then I adjust the amount whether my dogs putting weight on or losing it. The sloppy poos may mean that the progression onto the new was a little too quick, or perhaps it's too high in fat or protein they are used too. Grain free usually is higher protein and fat then ones with grain. And yes, it could mean it doesn't agree with him too. You could back off a little and see if they settle again. You could try to add raw slowly by just a little at a time to see how they go. I have read that you need to do it slowly if they are not used to raw meat and if you need to lightly cook is ok too. Try to do the changes slowly to see what's going on so you hopefully don't end up with it getting worse. It would be so much easier if our pooches could talk! ;)

I think I was given Luci's number as well by my breeder, who she highly recommended as well but can be hard to get into sometimes.