Help! How Do I Stop Her Chewing Stuff!

[Sherridin]

Hi everyone.... I'm new here.

I have a seven month old australian shepherd and she's OUT OF CONTROL!

Hubby has a project car, and as you can probably imagine, it's in bits in the yard that Jess owns. She has last night, chewed part of the roof lining (the bit that runs down the door pillars) which is very expensive to replace and he's hopping mad, threatening to be rid of her.

Has anyone got any suggestions as to products I could use to keep her away from the car?

She's going to be a good dog if we can only survive the puppyness - any hints or tips to steer her away from what we see as distructive behaviour, but to her is a way to relieve the boredom when we're all in bed?

Anything would be helpful....... Thanks, Sherridin.

[Weeacre]

hmmm let me see...lol i have a 14 mth old boxer bitch who im gunna kill if she chews anything else or digs another crater!!!! we have tried tabasco sauce (she liked it) pepper (she sneezed abit but continued) we have now bought BITTER BITE (used to be called bitter apple) spray and she hasnt gone to chew anything it is sprayed on..(tastes like shit trust me it must have gotten on my fingers and later i licked sauce off my finger and was nearly sick as it tasted of the spray. i bought it from petbarn.

[sas]

At 7 months she could possibly be finishing off teething.

You need to remember with dogs, puppies in particular not to set them up or faliure and I think this is what is happening with leaving stuff out, she's not a human child that understands they shouldn't touch certain things. If it's laying about, it's fair game to the dog especially a puppy.

Aussie Shepherds are highly intelligent dog that require a lot of execise and mental stimulation, are you providing this?

Edited September 23, 2007 by sas

[Monah]

At 7 months she could possibly be finishing off teething.

You need to remember with dogs, puppies in particular not to set them up or faliure and I think this is what is happening with leaving stuff out, she's not a human child that understands they shouldn't touch certain things. If it's laying about, it's fair game to the dog especially a puppy.

Aussie Shepherds are highly intelligent dog that require a lot of execise and mental stimulation, are you providing this?

:rolleyes: Very well said. I ( ;) ) have 2 'pups' exactly a year apart, one 8 months, one 20 months. Nearly 2 years of chewing. All I can say is , wear them out, supervise, supervise supervise. Where I am the dogs are (for their safety too), otherwise they are in their crates (indoors), yes I work, but am able to pop home, very lucky. With any dog, esp young - out of sight = IN trouble ;) IF anything is chewed here (someone doesn't supervise) it's the human @#$^%^ who is in trouble for being slack and lazy. Sorry, I don't know any magic way of stopping chewing.

[sas]

There really isn't a magic way, it's mental & physical exercise required with active breeds and keeping them safe when you can't supervise them.

[Kavik]

I make sure that anything that is valuable and I want in one piece is out of reach :rolleyes: The dogs have the run of the backyard, and the front yard is for vegie patch and anything else we don't want chewed! Luckily trees are pretty hardy . . .

With mental and physical stimulation and plenty to do they do usually grow out of being really destructive. Kaos at nearly 18 months still chews his bedding, but no longer tries to chew furniture or anything like that. I supervise when they are inside, if I can't supervise they are outside or in their crates.

[oakway]

Have you ever told your OH that the dog means as much to you and his car means to him. Tell him if he is unhappy about the dog to go and purchase a run for her/him. Available at bunnings.

If he doesnt like that, you could always show him the door. I did and Ive never missed him at all.

:rolleyes: ;)

[Monah]

Have you ever told your OH that the dog means as much to you and his car means to him. Tell him if he is unhappy about the dog to go and purchase a run for her/him. Available at bunnings.

If he doesnt like that, you could always show him the door. I did and Ive never missed him at all.

:rolleyes: ;)

;) xxx

[Poodle wrangler]

The dog doesn't know any better!

You can't stop a dog chewing, but you can give them more suitable things to chew on e.g. raw bones, kong toys (or similar).

Even adequately exercised and stimulated dogs will sometimes chew. Though you should make sure you're attending to this, too.

If getting the project car out of the backyard is impractical, get the dog a run and use that. Better still, put the car bits in the dog run or fence them off.

[persephone]

Hi..

but to her is a way to relieve the boredom when we're all in bed?

Yep..

have HER inside, in a crate or safe room, or if she is not allowed inside, you may well need to build her a pen/kennel, with a roof, then give her lots of toys and chews to occupy her during the night . :rolleyes:

As said, she is only a puppy, and a clever one at that. Have you tried giving her her obedience session and run before bedtime?

Does she play with her toys when she is alone?

OR, maybe

your hubby needs to lock his valuables away, fence them in or something ;) !!!!!!

[Sherridin]

Thanks to everyone for their comments and you are all completely right.

Countless times I've told him that if he didn't want stuff chewed he should put it away after he's finished with it.....

So far she's gone through:

the car;

my son's shoulder pads for football;

his football boots;

hubby's air line for the compressor;

about 5 black garbage bags of garden waste;

approximately 10 of my daughters stuffed toys..

Oh and she LOVES ripping the towels off the clothes line. But nothing of mine - I PUT MY STUFF AWAY!!! (heeheehee) And digging holes in the yard - I can handle in the garden for burying bones & chicken wings, the bushes all hide the holes but in the lawn!?!

She has a kennel under our deck with blankets (that she doesn't chew) and I suppose that this could be meshed in so we could secure her there of a night. She also has about three different kong's that I stuff with peanut butter before I go to work. The kids take her over the park and she runs wild each afternoon. She has ropes and balls but I guess those toys are for two. I even found a chewed up coke can the other day!!

I think the answer here is more excersize - god knows I could do with it too!!

Thanks again to everyone who's offered their suggetions.

[KOE]

Have you ever told your OH that the dog means as much to you and his car means to him. Tell him if he is unhappy about the dog to go and purchase a run for her/him. Available at bunnings.

If he doesnt like that, you could always show him the door. I did and Ive never missed him at all.

;)

that is a classic and what a great dandy idea

[sas]

Thanks to everyone for their comments and you are all completely right.

Countless times I've told him that if he didn't want stuff chewed he should put it away after he's finished with it.....

So far she's gone through:

the car;

my son's shoulder pads for football;

his football boots;

hubby's air line for the compressor;

about 5 black garbage bags of garden waste;

approximately 10 of my daughters stuffed toys..

Oh and she LOVES ripping the towels off the clothes line. But nothing of mine - I PUT MY STUFF AWAY!!! (heeheehee) And digging holes in the yard - I can handle in the garden for burying bones & chicken wings, the bushes all hide the holes but in the lawn!?!

She has a kennel under our deck with blankets (that she doesn't chew) and I suppose that this could be meshed in so we could secure her there of a night. She also has about three different kong's that I stuff with peanut butter before I go to work. The kids take her over the park and she runs wild each afternoon. She has ropes and balls but I guess those toys are for two. I even found a chewed up coke can the other day!!

I think the answer here is more excersize - god knows I could do with it too!!

Thanks again to everyone who's offered their suggetions.

Yep, sounds like you have a very bored dog. She may need 1-2 hours of exercise a day and then on top of that mental stimulation.

If she's burying food that means she's not hungry.

Edited September 24, 2007 by sas

[dogchuk]

Dogs are natural chewers and diggers. Its part of the history and inherited traits of all dogs. To help break the cycle of chewing things you don't want your dog to chew, have actual chew bones to offer every time she starts to chew something you don't want her to chew on. When you see her chewing on something you don't want her to, just switch the bone for the item, if you do this consistently, she will get the idea and besides the bones taste better than the other things, especially if you get the flavored ones. In addition, there is a spray you can spray on things that does taste bad, I wouldn't spray it on everything, just the things she keeps going back to the most, but again when she goes for that item, offer the bone instead. For when you leave her alone at home, have you crate trained her? If you train her to go into a crate at night, when you leave the house and what have you, make sure she has plenty of clean water, a toy or two and the chew bones in there with her. If this doesn't work, I would try a dog obedience class, usually held at the "Petco" and "Petsmart" chain stores several times a year, as well as several privaate trainers that you can probably find in the phone book, or through your vet.

I wish you good luck, and happy training.

Edited September 24, 2007 by dogchuk