Preventing Chewing

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thabs
Posts: 13
Joined: Sun Jun 23, 2013 6:14 pm
Location: Denver, Colorado USA

Preventing Chewing

Post by thabs »

My 4 month old pup currently is not really much of a chewer thankfully! Every now and then he will attempt to chew just the laces of our running sneakers but as soon as you look at him and tell him no he stops. The one other thing he will try to chew on is charger cords every now and again but has not destroyed any as I have seen it and corrected it as quickly as I can. I do my best to put everything that is tempting to chew away or block the areas with cords so I am setting him up for success if you will, but I am wondering if there are any suggestions out there about how to keep a puppy from wanting to chew on things ie leather sofa, table or chair legs ect. I want to get to a place where I trust him to be in the house a lone eventually so he won't have to be in the crate during the day as he is going to be a big guy before too long. I know a lot of chewing happens out of boredom so we have lots of appropriate puppy toys around for him to play with. I guess I am wondering if there is a natural spray or something I can put on the corners of the sofa for example to steer him away from those tempting areas or I can put on the cords he may try to get to when I have my head turned. I prefer an all natural product to just help encourage him away from furniture and things that can hurt him if he chews on them while he is young so he can learn.

Thanks!
rachel540
Posts: 515
Joined: Wed Feb 15, 2012 9:31 am
Location: West Yorkshire

Re: Preventing Chewing

Post by rachel540 »

Hi there - what dog do you have? I have a labrador and know all about chewing. Yes dogs can chew out of boredom but its also relaxing and normal, especially when teething. Try not to correct the behaviour with "No" that word will soon mean nothing to him, the key is to redirect him to things he can chew. Start playing with a toy instead or get out a new chew youve been saving for such an occasion. Make sure toys are interesting, rotate them so every week he gets a new batch of toys that he hasnt seen for awhile. Kongs are a firm fave, theres all different sizes depending on your dog, stag bars and anco roots are natural options that are popular, nylabones worked for us when Pepper was a pup and teething but theyre plastic and can become sharp so change them often. Youll go through ALOT of toys - well we did haha! When it comes to leaving your pup build the time up slowly and leave him plenty to do - a favourite of mine are boxes stuffed with paper and treats - your pup will love shredfing it to pieces. Make lots of small ones and hide them in his designated safe area and it will keep him busy. Also before leaving him have a good energetic play to tire him out. The best advice i got from this forum was not to think about the things I DONT want my dog to do but the things I DO want my dog to do - and if left alone we want our dogs to sleep - how do we do that...tire them out both mentally and physically. Im babbling now :) hope that helped and planted a few ideas, im sure others will have more to add
Pictures of Pepper viewtopic.php?f=31&t=14364
thabs
Posts: 13
Joined: Sun Jun 23, 2013 6:14 pm
Location: Denver, Colorado USA

Re: Preventing Chewing

Post by thabs »

Thank you for the ideas i will use some of them for the short stints when he is alone.

He is a sweet 4 month old Black Lab/ Great Pyrenees mix. Luckily since he doesn't get into trouble very often and I don't have to say NO very much yet when I do say it he knows I am not playing around. When I remove something from his mouth he shouldn't have, like my arm earlier today, I always replace it with something he can/should have and give him a pat on the head and walk away to let him play with it. We walk every morning some days we have more time to walk longer then others but I also am trying to be conscious of his age and the fact that both breeds in him are prone to hip problems. We will play in the house with his toys, toss and retrieve his ball or stuffed monkey, then we walk in the evening after dinner for a while. The evening walks are always shorter and usually a good time to just enjoy being outdoors together as a family. My point he is getting exercise and when I am home during the day with him he usually sleeps most of the day with the occasional burst or energy that comes out of the blue and usually involves running around like a spaz (for lack of a better descriptive word) and sometimes jumping and nipping at me. When he does that I have been putting him in the yard alone to calm down for a few minutes then when I let him back in or go out to him, he has stopped and doesn't start back up. Usually after a 'time out' he just comes over to me and sits down next to me without any over reaction by either of us.
rachel540
Posts: 515
Joined: Wed Feb 15, 2012 9:31 am
Location: West Yorkshire

Re: Preventing Chewing

Post by rachel540 »

Sounds like youre doing a fantastic job. Youre right about the walking, we tried to follow the 5mins per month of age rule. Has he tried to chew any of the big stuff yet? We didnt really use any of the sprays and pretty much hoped for the best, and the damage wasnt too bad. Citrus is supposed to work, Pepper hates the smell of lemons. Sorry im not much help - youre doing everything right :D

Any chance of a pic I bet he's a cutie :)
Pictures of Pepper viewtopic.php?f=31&t=14364
Sanna
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Joined: Mon Jan 07, 2013 4:02 am
Location: Stevenage, UK
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Re: Preventing Chewing

Post by Sanna »

Grannick's Bitter Apple spray works well on things like table legs and corners of the wall etc ;)
thabs
Posts: 13
Joined: Sun Jun 23, 2013 6:14 pm
Location: Denver, Colorado USA

Re: Preventing Chewing

Post by thabs »

Image
Not sure why it is gigantic but this Moses. He looks mostly Lab but his tail curls and he has whiskers around his snout as well as a white spot under his chin so it looks as though he has a beard! The vet thinks there may be another breed in there but not sure what! I left him confined to the upstairs rooms for a little bit today to go to the store and he was not destructive at all just cried and yipped so that is promising!

Sanna I found that spray on Amazon so I will try it out! I mostly worry about the cord thing since furniture can be replaced but if he chews on a cord it could really hurt him!
Sanna
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Location: Stevenage, UK
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Re: Preventing Chewing

Post by Sanna »

What a cutie :D for exposed wires you can get plastic tubing from a DIY shop to cover them- unless he likes crunching on plastic (like mine), in which case the best approach would probably be to make all cords and wires inaccessible for the time being. We charge phones and computers etc in a different room, and for lots of wires like behind the tv/ sound system I actually slid a bit of plywood in between the tv stand and the wall so all the wires are behind that and completely out of reach. It's covered by the furniture so doesn't look too awful neither. This in combination with teaching him what he CAN chew on and having lots of these wonderful chewies around should help prevent any major disasters- but then again if he's part lab... :lol:
rachel540
Posts: 515
Joined: Wed Feb 15, 2012 9:31 am
Location: West Yorkshire

Re: Preventing Chewing

Post by rachel540 »

He is gorgeous! And with that face, anything he does destroy I'm sure he'll soon be forgiven hehe :lol: With wires we have used plastic tubing and careful placement - having them running behind furniture, etc. Like Sanna we charge things in a seperate room to avoid any incidents. Its a case of careful management. Let us know how you get on with things.
Pictures of Pepper viewtopic.php?f=31&t=14364
thabs
Posts: 13
Joined: Sun Jun 23, 2013 6:14 pm
Location: Denver, Colorado USA

Re: Preventing Chewing

Post by thabs »

I got the spray suggested and sprayed it on the cords he has a tendency to 'hide' his bone by and he has stopped going back there almost totally. I have gotten it pretty well blocked off as well, our house is pretty well baby proofed because we have 10 month old nephew that comes over frequently so it wasn't overly difficult to move a few things to puppy proof as well. He doesn't even try to chew on the leather sofa yet so I haven't sprayed it on there if he starts in on the sofa or table/chair legs at any point I will be using it. I did leave him alone in the house today for close to an hour, blocked off the rooms/basement that i wanted him to stay out of and the only thing he did was get his leash off the table! YAY! He didn't even realize I had left I gave him a fresh raw hide to chew on and walked out no barking when I left or came home and no chewing on anything! We did go to the dog park this morning and he was pretty exhausted when I left but I am still so happy that he did so well when he was alone! I definitely have a good deal of hope that we will not have to keep him in his crate during the day for very long now that I have left him alone a few times the past few days and he has not destroyed/chewed/pottied on/gotten into ect anything! Thanks for all of your advice I appreciate the feed back and information!
~Tiffany
doggiedad
Posts: 152
Joined: Mon Jul 04, 2011 5:25 pm

Re: Preventing Chewing

Post by doggiedad »

when you can't watch your pup crate him. when you go to work crate him and find
someone to come in and give him a break.
rachel540
Posts: 515
Joined: Wed Feb 15, 2012 9:31 am
Location: West Yorkshire

Re: Preventing Chewing

Post by rachel540 »

thabs wrote:I got the spray suggested and sprayed it on the cords he has a tendency to 'hide' his bone by and he has stopped going back there almost totally. I have gotten it pretty well blocked off as well, our house is pretty well baby proofed because we have 10 month old nephew that comes over frequently so it wasn't overly difficult to move a few things to puppy proof as well. He doesn't even try to chew on the leather sofa yet so I haven't sprayed it on there if he starts in on the sofa or table/chair legs at any point I will be using it. I did leave him alone in the house today for close to an hour, blocked off the rooms/basement that i wanted him to stay out of and the only thing he did was get his leash off the table! YAY! He didn't even realize I had left I gave him a fresh raw hide to chew on and walked out no barking when I left or came home and no chewing on anything! We did go to the dog park this morning and he was pretty exhausted when I left but I am still so happy that he did so well when he was alone! I definitely have a good deal of hope that we will not have to keep him in his crate during the day for very long now that I have left him alone a few times the past few days and he has not destroyed/chewed/pottied on/gotten into ect anything! Thanks for all of your advice I appreciate the feed back and information!
~Tiffany
That is fantastic. A good walk beforehand, a yummy chewy treat to keep him busy - sounds like you did everything right :) also glad the spray works. Shows that you really dont need to crate him. Keep mixing it up until you feel confident, slowly leaving him longer out of the crate and building that trust and routine and youll have no problems. Keep us posted :)
Pictures of Pepper viewtopic.php?f=31&t=14364
thabs
Posts: 13
Joined: Sun Jun 23, 2013 6:14 pm
Location: Denver, Colorado USA

Re: Preventing Chewing

Post by thabs »

I want to Thank you all again for your advice! We have been working, a few hours(or less) at a time, on leaving Moses alone and he has been doing really well! I got a few mentally stimulating toys for him that have helped a lot! We have been changing up our exercise routine regularly and making sure Moses is getting lots of good exercise and interaction with other dogs on a regular basis! In the past few weeks we have only had 1 accident in the house and 1 tissue (not even torn up) taken out of the box and left on the sofa :lol: ! Longest time alone has been 3 hours so I think we are pretty safe on the chewing! We don't know if he is barking or not when we are gone right now but most of the time when I get home he is not barking...I have a good feeling he usually eats the frozen peanut butter out of his Kong or gets the treats out of the other toys then sleeps on the sofa! We(my husband) said when we first got him that he would not be aloud on the sofa but the longer we have had him the more my husband sees that when he gets up on the sofa he just stretches out and sleeps because he likes the soft cool leather surface! We have a few other areas that need improvement ie getting crazy energy and attacking mom at random times! But over all he is such a good boy and mostly wants to just walk, play, eat and sleep on my feet! Thanks again! I didn't want to have to keep him in the crate for long periods of time if I could avoid it and I feel like the information I have gotten visiting this forum has helped me out a lot!
doggiedad
Posts: 152
Joined: Mon Jul 04, 2011 5:25 pm

Re: Preventing Chewing

Post by doggiedad »

crate your dog when you can't watch him closely. when you go to work crate your dog and
find someone to come to give him a break, snack, let him out, etc.
thabs
Posts: 13
Joined: Sun Jun 23, 2013 6:14 pm
Location: Denver, Colorado USA

Re: Preventing Chewing

Post by thabs »

doggiedad wrote:crate your dog when you can't watch him closely. when you go to work crate your dog and
find someone to come to give him a break, snack, let him out, etc.
I appreciate that you feel carting is the best option but for MY personal situation it is not ideal and does NOT work well for my dog! I work a very odd schedule and he is rarely home for more then 3 hours alone. When he is crated and is alone in the house it causes extreme stress and anxiety for him leading to excessive barking to the point of nearly losing his voice after being in the crate for even short periods. I live in an attached home and this barking not only causes him extreme stress but also put us in a position to receive noise complaints which could lead to far bigger problems including a court ordered bark collar(which has happened to a neighbor who's dog rarely barks to begin with). On days we need help we have it in place and have a dog walker come by to take him out ect but I refuse to place my dog in position that causes unneeded stress and anxiety when I am able to provide a safe and comfortable environment for him. He is much more relaxed and significantly happier when he is not forced to be in a crate and I have much less anxiety leaving him to take care of things I need to so he no longer picks up on my 'departure stress' because there is none.
Sanna
Posts: 466
Joined: Mon Jan 07, 2013 4:02 am
Location: Stevenage, UK
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Re: Preventing Chewing

Post by Sanna »

I think it sounds like you're doing great :) I'm also of the opinion that being able to leave your dog uncrated is the ideal, but as to when to start doing this obviously depends on the dog- yours sounds like he's doing really well already!

Just a couple of thoughts- beware there's a second chewing phase coming.. For mine it was around 8 months old.

And I would keep up with the crate training and slowly try to achieve him being ok with being left in it- purely because you might find yourself in a position where he has to be crated, at the vets for example (hopefully not but I'm sure you'd feel an awful lot better in a situation like that if you knew he was ok to be crated).
Keep up the good work ;)
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