bubbley Posted November 12, 2009 Share Posted November 12, 2009 We own 2 adorable and cheeky toy poodles. They are almost 12months old. When we are at work we keep them in the laundry with a doggy door to the sunroom. There is enough room for them to play and run in the room so it’s not too small. When they sleep we have a dog bed in the bathroom with a child safety gate locking them into the bathroom. Overnight and during the day they seem to chew the door frame or anything made out of wood. It has gotten to a point where there are chunks missing from the frame so it has to stop. I have tried Bitter Bite gel and spray, also a Lime version each time the dogs would sit there and lick it all off… they LOVE it! So then I tried Chilli as suggested online… again they sit there licking it! I taped it up with packing tape only to find a puppy with tape on his ear and more of the frame missing. As there are open door frames in the Sunroom we can’t block them off from that area during the day. How can I get them to stop eating our house? Any suggestions would be fantastic.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poodlefan Posted November 12, 2009 Share Posted November 12, 2009 (edited) How much exercise and training do they get on a daily basis outside your home and yard?\ What do you feed them? Do they have access to bones or other chewables? Edited November 12, 2009 by poodlefan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bubbley Posted November 12, 2009 Author Share Posted November 12, 2009 Oh bugger I missed that I meant to type it then got side tracked. Exercise.. we have a massive yard so as soon as we get home we let them out for a run and play ball with them.. they will normally keep going until they are worn out. So anywhere from 30min – 3 hours! We are feeding them RAW BARF at the moment with Royal Canin Poodle dry food mixed in a tiny bit. They have a lot of toys, they had a Kong each and within 1 day it was destroyed! They have chewy rings and bones, soft squeaky toys, socks, bones about 6 Lamb Shank bones (we feed them a Lamb Shank on the weekends and they keep the bones for a while). If anything I think they have too many toys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
persephone Posted November 12, 2009 Share Posted November 12, 2009 (edited) What 'work' do they get? do they get nice long onlead walks, training sessions everyday...visiting different places..playing with different dogs? If the are destroying kongs- maybe you gave them the wrong size/type? Dogs which are 'working' for periods during the day- using their brains, having to obey commands, be calm, and think--- these dogs are usually MUCH more relaxed and happy to rest, as they don't need the stimulation chewing the woodwork brings Edited November 12, 2009 by persephone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poodlefan Posted November 12, 2009 Share Posted November 12, 2009 Bubbley, if these dogs aren't getting out of the yard, my guess is that they are understimulated (read bored) You've got one of the worlds smartest breeds and they need to have both physical AND mental stimulation. They need to get out and about and to have some regular training. Enrolling at your local obedience club and doing 5 minutes of training a day would be a good way to go. I would start walking them daily outside the yard AND provide more chewables like Kongs. You may not like seeing the Kongs destroyed (try the black ones, they are harder) but I bet it beats seeing the door frames chewed. How much time every day do they spend with you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kavik Posted November 12, 2009 Share Posted November 12, 2009 (edited) I find it interesting re the Kongs. I have Kelpies and a GSD and none of my Kongs have been destroyed Actually they don't tend to use them much unless it is moving in a game of fetch. Edited November 12, 2009 by Kavik Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bubbley Posted November 12, 2009 Author Share Posted November 12, 2009 When we get home we normally do obedience with them for 30min each per night. Then more on the weekends. We take them to my parents house 1-2 times a week to mingle... but we haven't had much of a chance to socialise them. Locky is unsocial and a barker (mainly territorial and fear barking) when we introduced him to my partners mothers toy poodle a few months back her poodle took a snap at Locky and I think this has had an effect on him the poor bugger. Pally is fine with other dogs though. The kongs were the medium sized material octopus leg toy…. These pups are so determined to rip the legs off they don’t stop until it’s ripped to bits. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kavik Posted November 12, 2009 Share Posted November 12, 2009 Ah - those aren't REAL Kongs (I have two of those - they only get used as a reward in training as they are material and would be destroyed. They are kept with the other soft prey and tug toys). Real Kongs are hard plastic and I have a hard time imagining a toy poodle could destroy one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bubbley Posted November 12, 2009 Author Share Posted November 12, 2009 Enrolling at your local obedience club and doing 5 minutes of training a day would be a good way to go. I would start walking them daily outside the yard AND provide more chewables like Kongs. You may not like seeing the Kongs destroyed (try the black ones, they are harder) but I bet it beats seeing the door frames chewed. How much time every day do they spend with you? They went to a 6 week puppy school a while ago so we have been keeping up with those tricks and teaching them new ones. I might try to take them for a walk around the area to see if that helps.... can't hurt that's for sure We normally spend time with them in the morning about 1 hour and then 4-6 hours at night. We leave them alone anywhere from 7am-6pm Mon-Fri but on the weekend we are home almost all day so we spend it with the pups. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
persephone Posted November 12, 2009 Share Posted November 12, 2009 Oh- so not 'proper' KONGS 30 minutes is a LOOONG time to be doing obedience , I think. maybe split this up into two or three sessions... So- these two never get out to walk around the block? Dogs NEED to be smelling/hearing/seeing/feeling the world outside their yard... otherwise they stand a good chance of going stir crazy. You may benefit from meeting with a trainer one-on one...especially if you have a fear aggressive boy Are they desexed? Do you walk them seperately- or they always together? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bubbley Posted November 12, 2009 Author Share Posted November 12, 2009 Ah - those aren't REAL Kongs (I have two of those - they only get used as a reward in training as they are material and would be destroyed. They are kept with the other soft prey and tug toys). Real Kongs are hard plastic and I have a hard time imagining a toy poodle could destroy one. lol... ahh! I might try to find the hard kongs and see how they go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poodlefan Posted November 12, 2009 Share Posted November 12, 2009 (edited) Yep, take them for a walk. It doesn' have to be huge.. half an hour would be a good length to start. Let them explore new smells, sights and sounds. Edited November 12, 2009 by poodlefan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bubbley Posted November 12, 2009 Author Share Posted November 12, 2009 30 minutes is a LOOONG time to be doing obedience , I think. oh ok we try to teach them a few tricks and repeat them 3-5 times each, we sometimes do it all at once or in 2 lots.... but I can try shortening it into morning, arvo and evening So- these two never get out to walk around the block? they go out into the front yard (still fenced though) we only walk them once every 3-4 weeks outside the yard due to the weather recently. But we hope to walk them outside a min of once a week now the weather is better and my boyfriend is well again Dogs NEED to be smelling/hearing/seeing/feeling the world outside their yard... otherwise they stand a good chance of going stir crazy. You may benefit from meeting with a trainer one-on one...especially if you have a fear aggressive boy I am getting more concerned now that Locky is getting older, I thought it may have been a fear stage... but I really don't think so. We were going to try to find a good trainer in our area to stop the barking more than anything. Are they desexed? yes we got them desexed back in June. Do you walk them seperately- or they always together? They are ALWAYS together, this I can see as being an issue but it's hard to seperate them. if you take one away the other pup howls and wimpers and panics. They are brothers so they have been together from day 1. When we walk them it's together but we take 1 pup each Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bubbley Posted November 12, 2009 Author Share Posted November 12, 2009 Yep, take them for a walk. It doesn' have to be huge.. half an hour would be a good length to start. Let them explore new smells, sights and sounds. It's a bit hot today but not to sunny so should be a nice day to take them out... we have a great track at the end of our road that takes about 30min to do so it's perfect for the little guys... I might take them out tonight Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
persephone Posted November 12, 2009 Share Posted November 12, 2009 If it's hot- and they are unused to it- don't do it Once a week is nowhere near enough walking.... once a day is ok..twice a day is better Where are you situated?.. someone may recommend you a trainer who can help you make well-adjusted little soldiers out of these gorgeous guys Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poodlefan Posted November 12, 2009 Share Posted November 12, 2009 Wait for the cool of the evening Bubbley - or do it at a ridiculously early hour of the morning.. or both. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bubbley Posted November 12, 2009 Author Share Posted November 12, 2009 (edited) I live near Liverpool in NSW. lol the pups are going to the groomers to get a short summer cut next week so it shouldn't be as bad for them with the heat soon. Edited November 12, 2009 by bubbley Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poodlefan Posted November 12, 2009 Share Posted November 12, 2009 How confident are your dogs on lead Bubbley? If pulling out of collars in fright is likely to be an issue, you might want to invest in small martingales that won't pull off over their heads. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bubbley Posted November 12, 2009 Author Share Posted November 12, 2009 When we have walked them in the past they have been pretty good on the lead and collar. They like to walk next to us but pally likes to walk infront of Locky and Locky likes to walk behind him. The only issue we have is sometimes Locky gets a little fed up or freaked out and stops and doesn't move. It doesn't happen very much but that is the worst thing they do. I hadn't seen a martingale before. They seem like a good idea for them to become better trained on the lead. Another question... if Locky barks when we walk him should I get a soft muzzle for him for walks? or what other way can I stop this? (we would try the water bottle but THEY LOVE WATER they get so excited when they hear the bath that one jumps into the bath to get wet) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miranda Posted November 12, 2009 Share Posted November 12, 2009 We normally spend time with them in the morning about 1 hour and then 4-6 hours at night. We leave them alone anywhere from 7am-6pm Mon-Fri but on the weekend we are home almost all day so we spend it with the pups. 11 hours is a long time to leave these dogs locked in a sunroom, is there any reason why they cannot be outside? I also agree with the others, the dogs need to get out and about, they are lacking stimulation and are bored. Locky is probably 'unsociable' because he doesn't get out enough and hasn't had enough exposure to other dogs from an early age. It's also not a good idea to have two dogs constantly together, they have to learn that being alone is ok. Walking them separately a few times a week and training them separately should make them more independent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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