best4koda Posted July 22, 2011 Share Posted July 22, 2011 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teebs Posted July 22, 2011 Share Posted July 22, 2011 Let me now when you work it out! Atlas is 8 and still chews everything, he is only allowed inside when he is in the same room as me now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
best4koda Posted July 22, 2011 Author Share Posted July 22, 2011 Let me now when you work it out! Atlas is 8 and still chews everything, he is only allowed inside when he is in the same room as me now. Oh god! don't tell me that....what breed is he? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teebs Posted July 22, 2011 Share Posted July 22, 2011 Bull Terrier all his family are the same, big chewers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bully Posted July 22, 2011 Share Posted July 22, 2011 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. Stuffed Kongs. Aussie Dog environment enrichment toys Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
best4koda Posted July 22, 2011 Author Share Posted July 22, 2011 Yes, a kong house here. will check other link. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Staranais Posted July 22, 2011 Share Posted July 22, 2011 How old is she? All I can suggest is supervise her at all time inside the house so that if she starts to chew something inappropriate, you can immediately interrupt her & redirect her to something else for her to chew on. Plus, of course, provide lots of legitimate chew options for her in each room so it's easy for her to make the right choice. Just like toilet training, I guess. Never let her make a mistake. Mind you, who am I to talk, my current girl is not yet 100% trustworthy inside the house. She's pretty damn good, but I'd never leave her alone inside as she likes to make her own fun if she gets bored - and she has a very low threshold for boredom if I haven't completely tired her out (which is very hard to do!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
best4koda Posted July 23, 2011 Author Share Posted July 23, 2011 How old is she? All I can suggest is supervise her at all time inside the house so that if she starts to chew something inappropriate, you can immediately interrupt her & redirect her to something else for her to chew on. Plus, of course, provide lots of legitimate chew options for her in each room so it's easy for her to make the right choice. Just like toilet training, I guess. Never let her make a mistake. Mind you, who am I to talk, my current girl is not yet 100% trustworthy inside the house. She's pretty damn good, but I'd never leave her alone inside as she likes to make her own fun if she gets bored - and she has a very low threshold for boredom if I haven't completely tired her out (which is very hard to do!) 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nekhbet Posted July 23, 2011 Share Posted July 23, 2011 A tired dog is a quiet dog. She needs way more obedience and training to tire her brain as well as exercise in general from the sounds of it. Get up earlier, spend half an hour doing obedience and tricks then a nice long walk and more obedience and play in the evenings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freundhund Posted July 24, 2011 Share Posted July 24, 2011 I have a 2 year old GSD. Last year at 12 months of age she was getting a daily walk of a minimum of an hour a day, plus swimming 3 days a week in summer, or light biking to 8 kms. In addition I was going to obedience training with her 3 times a week and agility training once a week. I am very sorry but I used to have 3 children under 5 years of age, a husband who worked long hours, including frequent overseas trips and a full time job. I used to be able to manage this and walk 2 adult GSD's and attend obedience training regularly, taking the children with me. There is no excuse not to give your dog enough exercise of course she will be bored if you don't do enough with her. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
**Super_Dogs** Posted July 24, 2011 Share Posted July 24, 2011 My rotty chewed for years. If it wasn't bolted down she would chew it. I never added the amount of money we spent replacing items she chewed as I think I would have had heart failure. We had to keep everything out of reach. She is now 8 and will still chew occassionally!!! Some dogs take a loooonnng time to grow out of it. Sounds like you are going to have take the advice and increase the amount to activity and training to tire her. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
best4koda Posted July 25, 2011 Author Share Posted July 25, 2011 I am very sorry but I used to have 3 children under 5 years of age, a husband who worked long hours, including frequent overseas trips and a full time job. I used to be able to manage this and walk 2 adult GSD's and attend obedience training regularly, taking the children with me. There is no excuse not to give your dog enough exercise of course she will be bored if you don't do enough with her. 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poodlefan Posted July 25, 2011 Share Posted July 25, 2011 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. Why not train her at home, in your back yard more often. Trick training is one thing that may help. With such smart dogs, exercise alone is not enough. Mind you, my 13 year old toy poodle gets more exercise than your dog.. and I think you'd find that a few good offlead runs a week would make the world of difference. When does she ever get to run? How old are your kids? If you don't work you have the advantage of being able to get to offlead areas when they are very quiet/empty. Any reason you can't take a pram or stroller into the offlead with you as the only occupant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
persephone Posted July 25, 2011 Share Posted July 25, 2011 perhaps she needs more mental stimulation that can be done at home YES, YES, YES !! all running 5 km does is make her fitter - it does not provide that feeling of mental weariness after 'work' ...that relaxed feeling .... ;) I still think that having a professional like K9pro assess the situation will be invaluable!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wuffles Posted July 25, 2011 Share Posted July 25, 2011 (edited) IMO exercise is not the be all and end all. Some dogs will still go and go and go no matter how much exercise they get. We don't have outdoor furniture. I can guarantee it wouldn't last long if we did We fence off things that can be chewed and we don't want chewed, and just ignore the rest. We've fenced off the hot water system and its associated insulation, plus the area where the hose lives. In our house when we leave I throw a cup of kibble all over the yard - she loves searching for it and it keeps her entertained for quite a while. Both dogs get a frozen Kong. The troublemaker gets an activity toy rotated each day so a Buster Cube, Squirrel Dude or something similar. I also often raid the recycle bin to redirect towards cardboard or plastic bottles - be warned though, this can encourage the destruction If my girl is inside with me she is an angel. She's happy to sleep and has never actually destroyed something in the house that is not her own toy. So maybe more inside time would help? Yes the hair is a pain but I deal with it She is nearly 20 months old now and she is getting better but I suspect she will always be a chewer, just like my other dog will always be a digger. Edit: Just saw your other thread, I see everything I said has already been covered, so ignore me :p Edited July 25, 2011 by wuffles Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weasels Posted July 25, 2011 Share Posted July 25, 2011 Some great suggestions on this thread. While of course plenty of exercise is great, I believe at some point dogs need to learn/be taught to be calm when there's nothing to do. My younger boy had a chewing problem when we first got him at 9 months, although he wasn't as bad as your description . Since he's a smart lad (kelpie), I started using cue words ("good chew" and "bad chew", although these are pretty bad ones in retrospect for a doggy brain to figure out). When he had a shoe he got a sharp "hey" followed by "bad chew" and the shoe taken away. After a couple of minutes I'd give him an appropriate toy and when he chewed that a "good chew" and praise, maybe a game of tug with it. After a while often if he found something new he'd bring it over to us to check if it was ok (cute). We leave our shoes on the floor all the time now with no issues. If it's the destruction they love, I find those annoying community newpapers to be perfect (but messy). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
megan_ Posted July 25, 2011 Share Posted July 25, 2011 (edited) I agree that exercise isn't the be all and end all, but young, healthy dogs need exercise every single day. Trick training isn't a subsitute for a walk in the park, seeing different things, smelling new smells etc. As PF suggested, are you able to walk her in a quiet park? I have a dog with issues so I need to be careful where I take her. Smaller parks tend to be best as people gravitate to the big ones. Two walks a day with a few 5 mins training sessions at home could do the trick. You could train her to "go to your mat" etc which will help with managing a your, large, powerful dog with small children. ETA: I live in Melbourne, if my dogs didn't get walked when it was a "wet week" they wouldn't get walked for 6 months in the year. I don a rain jacket, they don theirs and out we go. I now enjoy walking in the rain - we have the streets to ourselves and they love to sniff all of the new smells that come about when it rains. Edited July 25, 2011 by megan_ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
best4koda Posted July 25, 2011 Author Share Posted July 25, 2011 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poodlefan Posted July 25, 2011 Share Posted July 25, 2011 One more thing - what access to large meaty bones does she have? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
best4koda Posted July 26, 2011 Author Share Posted July 26, 2011 One more thing - what access to large meaty bones does she have? Poodlefan, she doesn't get large bones as we've had to deal witha stomach issue with this one. She can't have lamb bones, or marrow bones or we end up at the vets. She's that bad she bleeds. So I feed her chicken carcasses which she's fine on and semi frozen atlantic salmon heads which she can tolerate as well. She loves them. She completely destroys large marrow bones. None of our previous were able to do that but she can't have them. I have put all her toys in a milk crate so she has to pull them out one at a time. Today she has decided the milk crate is far more satisfying. Lots of damage on the crate but thats better then the house. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now