Chewing Problem - Any More Suggestions

[Trisven13]

Hi all. We have a lovely 6-7 month old rotty x (maybe kelpie) pup on trial at the moment. Jay is in a wonderful new home with a maltese (who doesn't completely love him yet) and four kids. He gets walked daily and has toys to play with. He is, unfortunately, chewing the outdoor furniture. I have suggested the following and would appreciate any other suggestions you might have - the family who currently have him on trial will be checking in too to see what you all suggest :cool: so welcome to Jay's family!!!

Jay has a rope chew toy and a squeaky toy which he doesn't spend much time with (they came with him from his foster home). I have suggested a Kong (or similar) with peanut butter & cat food/cheese/dry dog food etc in it. I have also suggested a large bone (which he obviously enjoys). The kids spend a lot of time with him when they are not in school but I suggested that some more in depth training (Kennel Club or similar with M-J) would be good as he is very clever and this would hopefully tire him out with all that thinking :D . Also suggested chilli sauce or tabasco sauce on the garden furniture. Anything else?????

Trish

[noisymina]

Would he be interested in a rope - possibly with something tied to it - attached to a tree or fence - so he could pull etc?

Maybe tie a big bone to it to start with - would give him a challenge and maybe replace the garden furniture in his view! :D

:cool:

[sugar]

Dealing with Normal Puppy Behavior: Chewing

Puppies may be just as much work as human babies - maybe more so because puppies can't wear diapers and they have very sharp teeth! It's definitely true that, similar to infants and toddlers, puppies explore their world by putting things in their mouths. In addition, puppies are teething until they’re about six months old, which usually creates some discomfort. Chewing not only facilitates teething, but also makes sore gums feel better. Although it's perfectly normal for a puppy to chew on furniture, shoes, shrubbery and such, these behaviors can be a problem for you. A puppy won’t magically "outgrow" these behaviors as he matures. Instead, you must shape your puppy's behaviors and teach him which ones are acceptable and which aren’t.

Discouraging Unacceptable Behavior

It’s virtually inevitable that your puppy will, at some point, chew up something you value. This is part of raising a puppy! You can, however, prevent most problems by taking the following precautions:

Minimize chewing problems by puppy-proofing your house. Put the trash out of reach, inside a cabinet or outside on a porch, or buy containers with locking lids. Encourage children to pick up their toys and don’t leave socks, shoes, eyeglasses, briefcases or TV remote controls lying around within your puppy’s reach.

If, and only if, you catch your puppy chewing on something he shouldn't, interrupt the behavior with a loud noise, then offer him an acceptable chew toy instead and praise him lavishly when he takes the toy in his mouth.

Make unacceptable chew items unpleasant to your puppy. Furniture and other items can be coated with "Bitter Apple" to make them unappealing.

Don't give your puppy objects to play with such as old socks, old shoes or old children's toys that closely resemble items that are off-limits. Puppies can't tell the difference!

Closely supervise your puppy. Don’t give him the chance to go off by himself and get into trouble. Use baby gates, close doors or tether him to you with a six-foot leash so you can keep an eye on him. When you must be gone from the house, confine your puppy to a small, safe area such as a laundry room. You may also begin to crate train (OR A PUPPY PEN) your puppy . Puppies under five months of age shouldn’t be crated for longer than four hours at a time, as they may not be able to control their bladder and bowels longer than that. Make sure your puppy is getting adequate physical activity. Puppies left alone in a yard don’t play by themselves. Take your puppy for walks and/or play a game of fetch with him as often as possible. Give your puppy plenty of "people time." He can only learn the rules of your house when he’s with you.

Encouraging Acceptable Behavior

Provide your puppy with lots of appropriate toys (see our handout "Dog Toys and How to Use Them"). Rotate your puppy’s toys. Puppies, like babies, are often more interested in unfamiliar or novel objects. Put out four or five toys for a few days, then pick those up and put out four or five different ones. Experiment with different kinds of toys. When you introduce a new toy to your puppy, watch him to make sure he won’t tear it up and ingest the pieces.

Consider the various types of toys that can be stuffed with food. Putting tidbits of food inside chew toys focuses your puppy’s chewing activities on those toys instead of on unacceptable objects. If your puppy is teething, try freezing a wet washcloth for him to chew on.

What Not To Do

Never discipline or punish your puppy after the fact. If you discover a chewed item even minutes after he’s chewed it, you’re too late to administer a correction. Animals associate punishment with what they’re doing at the time they’re being punished. A puppy can’t reason that, "I tore up those shoes an hour ago and that's why I'm being scolded now." Some people believe this is what a puppy is thinking because he runs and hides or because he "looks guilty." "Guilty looks" are canine submissive postures that dogs show when they’re threatened. When you’re angry and upset, the puppy feels threatened by your tone of voice, body postures and/or facial expressions, so he may hide or show submissive postures. Punishment after-the-fact will not only fail to eliminate the undesirable behavior, but could provoke other undesirable behaviors, as well.

Other Reasons For Destructive Behavior

In most cases, destructive chewing by puppies is nothing more than normal puppy behavior. Adult dogs, however, can exhibit destructive behaviors for a variety of reasons, which can occasionally be the cause of chewing problems in puppies, as well. Examples include separation anxiety, fear-related behaviors and attention-getting behavior.

(sent by breeder of my boy)

[peibe]

I would take the outdoor furniture out of the yard until he is bigger

[jemappelle]

I would take the outdoor furniture out of the yard until he is bigger

I agree, or coat it in something bitter or unpalatable. I have a foster here that is chewing the ends of the cross beams on the verandah :cool: I am going to try spraying vinegar on the ends. I have a yard full of chewed up toys and other things (including wooden garden stakes) so don't know why she has picked these!

[J...]

I've heard citronella oil is a good chew deterrant, and a friend of mine uses tabasco sauce mixed with some water in a squirt bottle for her rottie.

[wagsalot]

We had a big issue when Riley was a pup with him chewing all the wood on the deck (it all had to get replaced in the end!!)

He's behaviour was triggered off when his best mate (our duck) passed away.

We tried everything from sprays to chilli powder, but he'd just lick it all off then keep chewing.

In the end we extended his walks in the morning to tire him out more, and also distracted him from the wood with a sand pit. We used to bury good - o's in the sand for him to find.

He still chewed the wood occassionally, but it did improve when we gave him something else to do, and aslo as he got older.

[Trisven13]

Brilliant ideas everyone - thanks for them all and we will try as much as is practical to solve Jay's chewing problems.

Trish

[charliehotel]

Hi there,

Minna (6 month old lab x) is going through the chewing stage at the moment too. Even with bones, toys, kongs, two walks a day etc she still finds something to destroy on a daily basis!!!!! but that's puppies I guess. I was doing an internet search on dog toys and found something called 'Home Alone' which is a hanging interactive toy that the dog can chew on, pull on, and get treats out of. It sounds pretty good, I don't know if anyone has used it already and can give a report???? I actually found it on the Save A Dog website under their toys section, which is uncanny because that's where I adopted both my dogs from in the first place!!!!! Anyway, it sounds pretty good, and it might be an option to consider.

Charlie

[Ashka]

Besides getting better toys and removing the furniture for a while. Vicks Vapour Rub has always kept my pups away from favourite chewing areas.

Best

[greydobe]

Hi Trisven

I am having a similar problem with our new dog Katie. She was SOOOOOO good the first few days, until we decided we would keep her!! :p Since she has settled in, she has been chewing anything and everything. Last nights effort was a $45 Big Dog leash (left over from my doby)! I am unsure how old she is, I assume around 12mths (vet agreed with this).

I have picked up what I thought was everything appealing to her...but.... she always find something. SHe will not jump into the car or anytime you want her to, however at night she is able to jump onto the outdoor table (footprints are a giveaway!).... So far, i have managed to hide the evidence from my OH but cant do that forever!!

I will take the advice above given to you and see how it goes too.

(she is so cute tho!)

[Keen]

Oh don't be such a woos! Lie down outside so he has something other than the furniture to chew on. He will only take off the sticking out bits like fingers, toes, nose and ears. Or better yet, tie one of the kids outside - you've got 4 of them! :p If you think the neighbours might complain about the screaming-in-pain-kids, try getting him to crunch ice. Make a big iceblock with something (a sardine is good) in it and let him go to town. Hours of fun and child welfare won't be bothering you with those pesky 'seize' orders.

Also, pine cones are good, as is a plastic drink bottle with a couple of pebbles in it. Don't give them directly to the dog - make the kids 'play' with them first, then 'accidentally' leave them outside.

[Dog_Horse_Girl]

I second the suspend things from a tree train of thought...you can buy "pup treads" which are tyre-shaped rubber toys fairly cheaply. Hang a few from strong branches, fill them with something tasty such as PB-laced kibble/biscuits, just above head-height. The pup will spend considerable time emptying the tyres of their goodies. You can do this with kongs as well, suspend them with the large hole at the top.

Freezing stuff at this time of year in Albury isn't very practical, it's too cold! But in summer, this is a great treat!

A RMB daily is great.

A walk in the morning, incorporating some obedience work, is excellent.

A sandpit just for the dog and laced with lots of doggie niceties such as stuffed kongs, food treats, etc, is fabulous. Just cover it when not in use to keep the neighbourhood cats out of your dog's play area.

Hope these ideas help. :D

[ReXy]

Hi there,

Minna (6 month old lab x) is going through the chewing stage at the moment too. Even with bones, toys, kongs, two walks a day etc she still finds something to destroy on a daily basis!!!!! but that's puppies I guess. I was doing an internet search on dog toys and found something called 'Home Alone' which is a hanging interactive toy that the dog can chew on, pull on, and get treats out of. It sounds pretty good, I don't know if anyone has used it already and can give a report???? I actually found it on the Save A Dog website under their toys section, which is uncanny because that's where I adopted both my dogs from in the first place!!!!! Anyway, it sounds pretty good, and it might be an option to consider.

Charlie

hi C.H i have a home alone i brought it for my lab boy , and he loveeed it .. at about the same time. i also brought a new outdoor setting and was quiet worried about it... the cusions look very inviting and sooo comfy... and chewable...

but............ i can safely say that the $100.00 i spent on the home alone toy is well worth every scent... the dog really needs to enjoy jumping and tugging for it to be really successfull.. a friend of mine brought one for her rottie and he just looked at it it spent a year hanging from the tree and he never touched it.. i occasionally put dry food in it for the extra bonus,, hasnt been used for some time as my lab passed away... but i will get it out again soon when , staffy pup is old enough... love all the aussie dog products . i have a few now... and i think they are well worth the money. if you read up on them they are actually tested and used in the zoo with monkeys and lions, so they are virtually indestructable...

good luck with mina , some pics would be great and let us knw how u go with the toys... pm me if you want any more info on the homealone

[charliehotel]

Thanks for that ReXy, I think I will definitely invest in one!!! Minna and Donnie spend lots of time playing tug of war with anything big enough for them both to get a hold of so it sounds like it could really work for us. We've had to put ourselves in quarantine due to Donnie copping a bad case of kennel cough so I've been going through chew toys like there's no tommorrow....I tried stuffing Kongs with food treats but Minna just doesn't get it, which leaves Donnie getting twice as much food and Minna looking for other things to chew (the fence, the garage door, my plants..... !!!!) The citronella spray has also worked well for us.

As soon as I can figure out how to get my computer to accept the USB cable there will be photos of my two available!!!!

[ReXy]

what sort of thingsd have u tried in the kongs??? use something really smelly and yummy so they are tempted to take it... i put anything in mine.. mixture of meat cheese dryfood,, even a chicken wing in there is good cos they really have to work to get it out.. to tempt my little guy onto it all i need to do is smear some peanut butter over the hole to seal it after it is packed really tight with lots of yummy things..

good luck my dogs love the kongs its like a big lolly that they will spend ages on..

[Devo]

Tucker balls are also great for keeping them entertained!

THe aussie dog products are great!

[charliehotel]

I've tried cheese, peanut butter, raw mince, frozen mince, dry liver treats, etc. (And mixtures of all!!!!) The thing with Minna is that she'll take the kong because she can tell there's something good in it, but then she can't be bothered working for it. She gives up after a couple of minutes. Which then leaves Donnie to get two sets of treats because I give them a kong each, and being a kong grand master he can empty it of anything within 5 minutes!!!!! It's strange, she has a strong food drive, but when it comes to stuffed kongs she gives up. She has developed a digging habit and a great ability to prune plants, but I've managed to confine that to one particular garden bed. Scariest of all though was when she got into my recycling bin and broke all the glass jars and bottles across the yard :rolleyes: ..........my own fault completely, I always used to keep it in my garage because Donnnie never bothered it, but I moved it to my front yard when Minna came home as part of my puppy proofing. for the first two weeks I remembered to keep it away from Minna but on the weekend I forgot and came home to broken glass everywhere. Can you believe that she didn't cut herself (or Donnie) at all??????!!!!!!!! I feel like such a bad mum.... the home alone is being ordered next pay day!!!!!

[Maile]

I just spray bitter spray and it works brilliantly!

Ginger just hated the smell and the taste of it.

[Wazzat Xolo]

I would take the outdoor furniture out of the yard until he is bigger

At your local stockfeeders you can buy some horse non chew spray ( its used to stop horses chewing their balnkets) I used this a while back when I had big dogs, one of the horse people on DOL may be able to give you a brand name, sorry my memory fails me !! All the best