Chewing Deterant On Dog Coats

[reddobe]

Hi All,

I have a 12 month old Doberman and for the past 9 months we have been trying to get him to wear a dog coat, because of the cold, and wet weather Particullarly when walking.

The problem is that he dislikes the coat. When walking he is fine, but if he is left with the coat on he acts like houdini and gets out of it, then continues to chew it up. He bites the front strap and pulls it open then the rest is easy.

He is an outside dog mainly, so we would like the coat to stay on during winter but he keeps destroying them!

Does anyone know if there is a spray like DOG OFF, that can be applied to the strap that will not be too strong because it is only 10-20cm from his nose? perhaps not a sent spray but something that reacts to taste.

Or any other suggestions?

[Janba]

No suggestions but maybe he gets too hot in the coat if he has acclimatised to being in the cold.

[PAX]

I'm a Dobe owner as well and one of mine (a red one too) was a terrible coat destroyer. What I ended up doing was only putting her coat on after she had been outside at night and become cold, I used her Dobie ears as my guide, when they were freezing she got her rug on. It sounds tough but it made her appreciate having a coat on and saved me lots of money.

I would never rug my dogs while walking them or exercising them.

Once I used this tatic she never killed another rug except her lovely weatherbeater rug. I think it didn't have enough stretch in the shoulders when she layed down, so make sure they are of a stretchy material that gives when they lay down.

[poodlefan]

You could try Bitter Apple spray.

If it deters poodles from chewing each others coats, it may work on other sorts of dog coat.

[OSoSwift]

My Dobe bitch chew her front straps off often, I ended up getting a polar fleece coat, all sewn up with an extended neck, when she couldn't get her bottom jaw through a strap she gave up trying.

[bouncey boxers]

Hi there,

I had a foster dog that kept chewing all the dog beds and after trying everything - it was suggested to try a product called "McNasty" I found that it was very effective and stop all chewing.

Good luck

[reddobe]

thanks guys,

Bitter apple and McNasty.. might give that a try if I can find it.

generally I wouldnt put the coat on during exercise, however he sleeps inside at night and in the mornings and evenings we go for a walk, in winter it is sometimes bitterly cold at this time or/and raining. So i put the coat on to keep him warm and dry (same reason I where a coat ) however after the walk i leave him outside, inside is only for sleeping. That is when he destorys the coat.

thank you all for your replies!

Edited August 15, 2008 by reddobe