HELP! New puppy chews into everything...including MY WRITING TIME!!!

Col B

I've blogged about it so for the full story go here...

http://colburysnewcrimefiction.blogspot.com/2010/03/bought-kids-dog-hes-chewing-into.html

Depending on your nature, some of you (like LeeH) will LOL n others (like Bored Robots) will offer advice... sarcasm, wit n sensible solutions are all welcome!!!

Ps. There's a photo of 'RILEY' on the above link as am not sure how to upload it onto here.

Liz

I left a post Col. And I've put the pic here...



http://img.skitch.com/20100305-grgfqxkkqqhsdrg7mqswq3imw3.jpg


How old is he? Mine's 10 weeks...

boredrobots

Awwww he's boootiful :D

Carol

A scamp obviously.
Okay Col have you tried limiting the areas Riley can access? Tell the kids to keep their doors shut and not leave things lying around- will hopefully reduce the chewing problem.
Invest in a stair gate- don't know if you can still get the moveable ones rather than fixed But it will keep him out of certain areas for a while.
When he does chew something he needs to know he has done wrong.
At the moment it sounds like Riley is in charge, you are top dog so ensure he knows it.
And a dog obedience class will be useful very soon...

And a chew toy, something that he likes.

Liz

We've got a stairgate which is screwed in the wall for the stairs (ones with just sucker cups, pressure gates, have a bar along the bottom and so can trip you up) and another for the kitchen. Every room I go through I shut the doors so she's only in the room I am in, or behind a gate. And the books vary but on average, especially for a lab which are the chewiest, 6 chew toys a day in rotation are suggested. Kong ones for labs stuffed with treats or kibble taken off food allowance. He'll have to work to get the treats and that means he's not chewing your shoes. And he'll love doing it, he'll choose a stuffed chew toy every time over a shoe or anything else.

Mine isn't interested in treats, only just before a meal so I've been training her with raw mince from her meal just before I feed her.

She loves loo rolls and kitchen rolls to tear apart as well. I went round the house and took everything off the floor and covered all the cables before she arrived. She still got hold of my model tiger from my desk (it must have fallen off) so that is now without an ear. But that's all she's managed in the ay of destruction and she's terribly chewy.

Plus a pen, best money spent, she goes in that when I really can't watch her... mealtimes etc, cooking that sort of thing. Leave chew toys in and shut the door with dog outside, he'll clamour to go in, put other treats in with door open till he loves going in, then shut door for 30 secs and build up, and then he'll like it as a den and go there to get away from stuff AND you can use it as relief for you.

Carol

One of ours ripped apart two quilts!

Tessadragon

My tip: leave some chilli peppers out for him to chew.

Liz

Might scare him away from chewing but he has to chew as he's teething...

Carol

Not sure if this is good news or not...;)


http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/men/article7045752.ece

Claudia

My solution from my dog days in Spain:
Build a kennel out the back and put 'em outside.

Col B

Just so you don't think I'm a total numskull - I did think it through and planned for his arrival (but obviously not enough!) and have already done some of the suggested things. However, the lady I got him off assured me he was really well behaved (liar) and I asked about chewing and she said it hadn't been a problem - she'd just had a baby and clearly wanted to get rid.

Many thanks for all your detailed advice n suggestions.
Liz - cheers for the photo!

Today has been better... so far!!!
;)

Joanne

We've always had retrievers, similar to labs in character and boisterousness, though as ours always come via Retriever Rescue we never had to go through the puppy stage with them. I have learnt however that you rarely get the full story off a previous owner! Yours is still a young dog, and Liz's and Carol's advice sounds just the ticket. Another friend had a puppy recently and she has hers in a crate (the proper dog kind) overnight as he was chewing at the furniture while bored.

LeeH

I am expected to do this.........

LOL

Also, don't you reckon he looks like Santa's Little Helper from the Simpsons?


http://www.blueonblackdogs.com/images/dogs/santas_little_helper.jpg

Col B

:D

Carol

:)

Liz

OMG! He does!

passionatepens

Having a puppy was quickest way ever of training the 'kids' (all over 20!) to stop leaving their shoes, clothes on the floor ;-)

Just a thought - if the woman you got him from had recently had a baby, maybe Riley was feeling pushed out and got a lot of attention when he chewed stuff up (even it is was bad).

I have a jack russell, and she went through the chewing stage, but soon got over it once her teeth had sorted themselves out. She still likes a good chew now, but sticks to her toys.

We dealt with it by removing stuff to chew (ie kids put their stuff away), and found a spray that she didnt like the smell of (from the petshop) for the furniture.

pp x

Liz

Sadly Lola loves the smell and taste of that...

passionatepens

lol isnt that always the way lizi!

We are biting the bullet and getting another puppy (we did think better of it after hearing my daughter was expecting) but are going to see a jack russell x paterdale tomorrow. Back to the chewing stage again...

ceka

Can you get hold of any of those special 'hide' chewy things that take about a day to demolish?

Carol

Got a Wilkinsons near you- they do reasonably priced doggy chews of all varieties, including the tough ones...
So how is the dog chewing now Col?

writebag

You need a Kong and stuff it with peanut butter!

Col B

Fortunately, they've just opened a new 'Pets at Home' near us so I've collated all the helpful advice from my fellow Talkbackers, plus other dog owners on our local park and the staff in the shop and bought numerous toys, rawhide, non-brittle bones, treats, etc and also got a large dog-cage as his base for food, bed n his toys, etc and things have improved greatly. He's settled in too, which is important. We only shut the door on the cage when we leave him for a couple of hours and ensure he's well exercised beforehand n as soon as one of us returns. We've been alternating the popping home for dinner to routine and although it's been hard work, it's been working a treat and he's a right 'little' happy chappy. He even goes into his bed of his own accord now and all in all things are looking up. I've even got some writing time back!
;)
The Kong toy is a Godsend!

Liz

It certainly is! But don't use peanut butter. It's too high in salt, unless you make your own.

Carol

Glad to hear order has been restored.

Woll22

Dogs are like children, they need apart from food, a comfortable bed and people, a bit of firm discipline and stimulation. When he is naughty, a firm hand is needed, a tap on the nose and a firm voice that says 'no' I know this sounds like Barbara Woodhouse but he has to know that you own him, not the other way around. Would you allow your children to take you over? Of course not, same applies to the dog. They see you as the parent figure in much the same way your children do I am sure, you are boss whether they like it or not, they secretly glad of the security deep down. I never had children but I know enough that children need to know, however much they hate being reprimanded, when they have done something wrong, that you are there as their guardians. Now your dog is a labrador and I know from my days at prep school, we used have a labrador dog reknowned for chewing things. It was a Church of England convent at St Leonards on Sea, Hastings. As with all gun dogs, they pick up game that has been shot, a game keeper would lick him into shape if he is a kind but firm and could be used for fetching game, that is what I mean by stimulation. If you don't keep him stimulated, he or she gets into mischief. Think of it as a furry child because that is what it is. If your child is not gainfully occupied, what is he or she going to do, that's right, get into mischief. The devil finds work for idle hands and minds. Where your dog is concerned, it is idle mind, paws and jaws. When he has not chewed or whatever, then make sure you praise him.

Liz

Tapping on the nose is wrong. It's too easy to do it hard and unless you time it exactly the dog doesn't know why it's been done, it just becomes fearful, maybe of you. 'No' is sufficient, and guiding to the correct behaviour with a treat for correct behaviour. You still have to say 'no' as otherwise the dog knows what good behaviour is but doesn't know what bad behaviour is. Hitting is not needed ever.

dorothyd

My best friend has a lurcher/Saluki who thinks he is top dog in the house. Last week she told me they had a row when he refused to come in from the garden. When he did finally come in after much calling, sulking, he got in his bed in the kitchen. "No," she told him. "Upstairs!" (she, like me, lives mostly on the first floor.) He stalked across the kitchen, grumbling all the time under his breath ... but he did as he was told! They constantly battle for who is 'top dog' and she makes sure she wins every time. If she didn't. he would take over completely. She has never ever hit him. It's all in the voice.

Liz

She's doing very well there dorothy, lurcher/salukis are meant to be the very hardest dogs to train.

dorothyd

she's a dog person through and through and never tolerates bad behaviour. He is 4 1/2 now and still like a puppy with his rope toys, empty lemonade bottles to crunch, burying things over and over but he walks to heel, sits at the kerb, is wonderful with children and if she stops longer than 5 minute anywhere, he just lays down! He's good in the car, too. She just has to watch all food as he is a born thief, as all lurchers are. But you get in the habit of putting all food where he can't get it.
She met the owners of his sister one time who asked her if he thieved as well as his sister Daisy did. Apparently the husband sat down with his steak in front of the TV one night, Daisy walked past and gently lifted the steak off the plate and ate it...

Carol

:D
Our first dog, Bonnie, liked strawberries. We grew a few plants in the garden, and you'd see that a strawberry was ripening up, but just as it was perfect for picking it would disappear- the stem nipped off.
One day we caught him, when he turned round he was hiding the strawberry in his mouth, expecting to creep away out of sight to eat it.
Couldn't leave a cup of milky coffee within his reach or he'd drink that too.

Col B

Thanks, Woll, for your detailed advice - spot on, but Liz raises a very good point too. When he misbehaves (basically chews something) it's very tempting to become angry (especially when it's a costly item he's chewed) and I do think the 'tap on the nose' can sometimes be just a little too hard by some as it's a vent of anger from the annoyed owner, and I certainly don't want him to grow scared of me. I'm opting for the strong voice - he certainly knows who's boss, but he still has his moments. I think the key is to burn him out with exercise, as when he returns from a long walk or bout of play in the garden, he's not interested in chewing!
Getting there, but it's been harder than I anticipated.
I do appreciate all the advice - thanks.

Liz

We're getting there too Col. We met a 4 month lab the other day and I realised how much harder it would be if Lola was bigger... it is at least easy to contain her wriggly self and stop her jumping up. The person with the lab wasn't having much success...

Our main problem is we aren't supposed to do much exercise till she's a year old. In fact only 5 minutes for each month of her life - friends with a labrador were told the same. It's because if they are over-exercised the hip joint (ball and socket) becomes loose... the ball wears away at the soft puppy bone and is always left just a tad loose. As the ligaments and muscles become less able to hold it in place in later life the dog suffers from hip displacement. This can be an inherited condition anyway (but neither of Lola's parents or back relations have had it) but it is a weakness of her breed....and of labs and some other dogs. so by limiting their exercise, especially on hard surfaces, you are saving them from pain in later (and not much later in some cases) life and you from a lot of worry.

The BIG problem comes when you have a dog with a lot of energy.. if we let Lola off the lead she will race like a little engine from one end of a field to the other, certainly doing twenty mins of exercise just in one run! Friends with a collie said if they had limited him their house would have been destroyed. So it's a hard choice!

Col B

Tell me about it!
Cheers for all that info though, Liz.
Mine is exercised on grass so that should help re' the hip issues - he loves football! And not just playing it, but also eating it!!!
;)

Liz

Lola too.. we thought being a refined girl dog she would eschew balls, but no. She throws herself at them, over them, after them... eats them... in fact will do anything for a ball. PAh!