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Post by countrylady on Oct 16, 2015 6:22:34 GMT
About a month ago we adopted two 7 month old sibling puppies from the shelter (mixed breed) to be outside dogs. We live in the country, a ways off road and from nearby neighbors, so they won't have to be confined. They are sweet dogs and we're attached to them, but, they're chewing everything! They've chewed up their beds. They're chewing on my beautiful porch rockers. They've torn up my flower beds. We're beginning to get their jumping on us under control by having squirt bottles of water whenever we walk out the door. We've had dogs before, but it's been a while. I guess I'd forgotten things they have to grow out of or be trained not to do. If anyone has suggestions about the chewing or other bad habits, I'm all ears.
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Post by shellymay on Oct 16, 2015 12:59:36 GMT
Give your dogs a bone,  this old man came rolling home, remember that song? They sell a spray that you could spray on the legs of things you don't want them to chew on, pet stores carry it, I think I would make my own spray but not sure whats in the store bought stuff, maybe white vinegar will work??? really really Hot sauce?... but yes I would also give them bones to chew instead, does anyone hunt deer around there? do you have a cattle slaughter house near by? Do not waste money on the rawhide bones, real bones are so much better...... Digging place some kind of fence down with smaller holes/squares around flowers ect until they grow out of the habit, or you could run a strand of hot wire around plants until they learn to stay away  |
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Post by Maura on Oct 16, 2015 15:45:51 GMT
Actually, do give them a bone. Dogs that chew real bones chew less, I guess the bone is more satisfying than treats or rawhide or furniture legs. Size the bone to the dog (too small to be swallowed, small enough to be easily carried. Bone chewing helps to set their teeth. You can switch them to raw, or just find suitable bones.
Instead of using a squirt bottle, teach the dogs to sit. Everytime they come up to you, have them sit and give a treat and ear rub. Over time, you gradually omit the treat until they are only getting the ear rub. This will train them to let you put your hands on their heads and ears and put a leash on.
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Post by solargeek on Oct 16, 2015 15:58:22 GMT
We had goldendoodles who just JUMPED! Too much, too often. Our trainer showed us to grab (gently all of this is gently) their 2 upper paws when they jumped, spread them (not too far so to hurt them but to prevent nipping or licking of your fingers) and press gently on the pad (they hate this)all the while in a stern voice saying "off" or whatever your choice of words are for getting them to not jump.
Don't use "no jump" as too generic and we all tend to use "no" too much; don't use "down" as then when you want them to lay down it is confusing to them as to what you are asking.
3 days! 3 days and both were trained. 1 was 3 years old and still jumping, the other a puppy. Of course they would need refreshers every so often. But hey, 3 days! Just don't let pain be involved, just discomfort and clear disapproval.
Hope this helps.
BTW, my dogs all loved the store-bought "keep off the chewing" sprays. Made my own with a little tobasco, vinegar and sour apple store spray.
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Post by vickilynn on Oct 17, 2015 0:31:38 GMT
Jenny Wren hates the bitter apple spray. All I have to do is say, "Mommy's gonna get spray," and she quits chewing whatever.
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Post by countrylady on Oct 18, 2015 21:08:39 GMT
Thanks everyone. We're making progress with the jumping, but not so with the chewing. You should see our yard right now!!
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Post by kawaiitimes on Oct 19, 2015 12:31:27 GMT
Whenever you catch them chewing, say a command (not yours, no chew, back off... Whatever you will remember to say consistently) then immediately hand them their own chew toy or a bone. As mentioned above real bones work best.
On the issue with commercial sprays/hot sauce application:Dogs like the taste of salt which is why they like to lick our hands and faces after a long day of work. Many hot sauces have a bunch of salt in them, and some commercial "no chew" sprays do too. That means no matter how hot or awful the product seems to you, your dogs may actually like it.
Chewing is a normal dog activity. It is good for their teeth and gums, so don't punish them for it. Just redirect them to things that belong to them.
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Post by kawaiitimes on Oct 19, 2015 12:45:40 GMT
Adding: if they chew mostly on furniture/railings, get some 1 1/2" diameter sticks,about 2' long and dip the ends in bacon fat. Instant chew toy and will teach them to search out their own sticks on your property.
Also, on the beds, I had a dog who chewed up every bed he had until he was much older (6 or 7). I stopped buying bedding and instead his bed was a wad of towels that I bought at garage sales and goodwill. Eventually they get old and figure out it is more comfortable to sleep on a cushion than a floor. Doesn't mean you have to go broke waiting for their joints to ache.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 19, 2015 15:06:29 GMT
I feel your pain. Until now, I have never raised two pups at the same time. Here's a normal picture of the activity level. LOL  Both are Cocker Spaniels, picked them up at 6 weeks old. This past Saturday was the 17 week mark. I'm no expert, just trying to get through this as best I can. But here is my opinion/experience. They're gonna chew, all we can hope to do is to control some of it. On the deterrent side, Habenero. Not some barbie pepper like Jalapeno or Cayenne. Habenero, or even ButchT/Ghost if you can get it. Capsaicin, the main stuff that makes a pepper hot, is soluble in oil or alcohol. I minced one whole Habenero, added it to 1/4 cup of Olive Oil, and let it steep overnight, stir occasionally being well aware of what you do with the stirring device. Store it in the fridge,a little goes a loooooooooong way. That is my "Devil Rub". I use it on furniture, door jams, etc. Glove up with a surgical glove(I cannot stress just how important that is) and with a folded paper towel apply the "Devil Rub" to whatever you see fit. I have only had to reapply once, and that was to a shoe cabinet, the temptation must have been tooooooo great on that one. It should go without saying but, certainly do not use it in there bedding, toys, food bowls, etc. No salt, no preservatives, long lasting, cheap, and IT WORKS. Some prevention is to simply wear them out both physically and mentally every day. Certainly exercise, but change something up every day that will challenge them mentally. Even if it just moving something in the normal environment, it's funny to watch their curious, and sometimes lengthy, response. Certainly give them bones, but I have a few reservations. Do not give them cooked bones of any kind, it changes the mechanical properties of the bone(i.e. too hard, too soft). This next one is going to sound counter intuitive, do not give them raw bones. It is a dogs natural instinct to want to bury a bone. Part of that is certainly to hide it, but part of that is for bacterial growth that they just love. To a dog, it's water into wine, or maybe best put cabbage into sauerkraut. So what bone then? A smoked bone. You can do that yourself, or you can buy them. Do not allow them free rein with the bone, a half hour after meal/meals should satisfy and they're cleaning their teeth. KEEP THEIR NAILS TRIMMED! I honestly think that it reduces digging, it certainly reduces the damage. Don't know if you can follow this next one but, bed them separate. Mine are kept on an enclosed porch of the night, shut into separate beds. During the day, the beds are closed up, they only have rugs to nap on. They are free(through a doggy door) to run in an enclosed kennel during the day. The kennel is leaving in a month or so and they get "talking collars". The trouble I seen with common bedding, and leaving it open during the day, was watching the wrestling matches. They are pups, so the knock down drag out dominance squabble hasn't come yet. They wrestle until it gets heated, then break and take it out on the nearest toy, bed, cover (anything that won't fight back). Pet them one time for me? |
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Post by Deleted on Oct 19, 2015 15:41:58 GMT
When our Great Pyrenees was a puppy and he jumped up we turned our body sideways and said "no"
We put bones all over the yard so the puppies could find them and chew on them instead of furniture
Tries hot pepper spray,the dogs loved it.
I learned the hard way not to leave any shoes by the door, I now have 4 1/2 pair of shoes.
The spray bottle helps a lot.
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Post by countrylady on Oct 23, 2015 5:46:09 GMT
Using a spray water bottle has about broken them from jumping on us. They want to chase after us every time we drive off. They stay close around our place, but if we go over to work by the main road, they want to roam and explore. We have these things we are working on. We have no outside rugs left. LOL We did find the bones at WalMart, someone recommended. Any more suggestions for teaching these two with ADHD will be appreciated.
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Post by mollymckee on Oct 24, 2015 20:11:06 GMT
You need a fence or wireless fence to keep the home. Letting them follow you will get them hit by another car, shot or into all kinds of trouble. It is not okay to let dogs roam, even in the country. Even if the dogs survive, you are going to have problems with the neighbors. No one wants stray dogs in their pasture or pens. The more they run the harder it is going to get them to stay home.
We have raised 4 Westies at the same time when we kept all but one puppy in a litter. The key to well behaved dogs is to spend a lot of time with them and obedience training on their level. You can't just put a couple of puppies in the yard and expect them to be well behaved dogs by osmosis. It takes work and time. When our DD's dogs are here we have 10 dogs here. My DH walks them off leash, together on our property. They stay with him. They go outside and stay home but we are either with them or watching them. They chase deer and turkeys and deer to our pasture fence but stop there. The deer know that and jump into the pasture when the dogs go out, but the dogs don't cross the fence or even go through the gate to chase the deer.
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Post by countrymom22 on Oct 24, 2015 20:59:37 GMT
I recommend raw bones from the butcher, the bigger the better. And lots of exercise! A tired dog is a sleeping dog and sleeping dogs aren't chewing. The marrow in the bones is also great for their coats.
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Post by manygoatsnmore on Oct 25, 2015 2:23:38 GMT
Time and attention. mollymckee is right...there just isn't any substitute for being with them, working on training and socialization. A bored dog is going to get into trouble - digging, chewing, running off. You really need to work with them in frequent short sessions every single day. Once they are leash trained, taking them for a run to burn off energy and tire them out will work wonders. If you aren't a runner, you can ride a bike or rollerblade with them or even get them a treadmill to run on. Long walks will help, but might not wear them out like a shorter session at a full out run. |
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Post by countrymom22 on Oct 26, 2015 23:21:54 GMT
A rousing game of fetch with a stick or tennis ball will also work to wear them out without wearing out the human involved!
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Post by manygoatsnmore on Oct 27, 2015 0:53:57 GMT
A rousing game of fetch with a stick or tennis ball will also work to wear them out without wearing out the human involved! That works great if you have a dog that will retrieve. My dog might be part retriever, but when you throw something for him to retrieve, he just looks at you like you're an idiot. It looks for all the world like he's saying, "Um, you dropped something...maybe you ought to go over there and pick it back up." Tessa, my old Golden Retreiver mix , was the same way. Lovely dogs, but not the brightest bulbs on the Christmas tree! |
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Post by mollymckee on Oct 27, 2015 3:16:59 GMT
The oldest Golden here is a retired service dog. She can do a lot of chores, guide you home from walks , push you away from danger and many other things. She learned to play soccer, can dribble, head a ball, leap into the air and grab a ball with her front paws, and will run and dribble a ball into the goal. I guess I should say she did, she is 17and her soccer days are over. If anyone has a soccer ball she will still try to play but her speed is gone and she tires easily. Anyway, she is quite bright!
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Post by manygoatsnmore on Oct 28, 2015 6:14:58 GMT
mollymckee, I didn't mean to imply that ALL Goldens were dim bulbs, only that my 2 are, when it comes to retrieving, lol! Your old gal sounds wonderful - of course, service dogs also have to be the best and brightest to do what they do, too. 
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Post by snoozy on Oct 29, 2015 3:24:44 GMT
A friend who had a golden used to say she was then dog-version of a dumb blonde...
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Post by countrymom22 on Oct 30, 2015 0:38:03 GMT
I've had dogs that wouldn't retrieve, but if I threw a stick they would all run after it and then stand there wondering why I did something stupid like that? I got just as much exercise as they did because after I threw 4 or 5 sticks to various areas in the yard, I had to go around and collect them so we could start over.
But those silly dogs never did stop chasing those sticks!
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Post by aoconnor on Nov 11, 2015 17:10:17 GMT
Unfortunately, with two pups, they will feed off of the behavior of each other...so if one is being naughty, more than likely two will be naughty. If one is jumping, two are jumping...if one if chewing...well, you get the idea. I would separate them for a while, teach each one individually to obey commands, and once they are both obedient every time, then you can start putting them back together for short periods of time until they BOTH are obedient simultaneously.
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Post by countrylady on Nov 14, 2015 18:53:11 GMT
You are so right, if one is naughty, both are naughty. They are so full of energy, but we're really enjoying them. DH will drive his tractor out in the open field and let them run. When they come back home, they crash. We have a little stream on our property and they love to hit that water along their way. We have no outside rugs left. They've chewed them all up. Their beds we bought them, all chewed up. We're beginning to have chilly nights. We don't dare put them in the garage. We have too much stuff out there. Everything would be chewed up. We have some pet heat lights we could put on the porch, but they'd chew up the electrical cords. DH keeps them in a variety of chews, but they still chew everything. How old will they be when they grow out of some of this?
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Post by manygoatsnmore on Nov 15, 2015 12:17:53 GMT
You may need to consider crate training them.
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Post by aoconnor on Nov 15, 2015 13:33:13 GMT
You are so right, if one is naughty, both are naughty. They are so full of energy, but we're really enjoying them. DH will drive his tractor out in the open field and let them run. When they come back home, they crash. We have a little stream on our property and they love to hit that water along their way. We have no outside rugs left. They've chewed them all up. Their beds we bought them, all chewed up. We're beginning to have chilly nights. We don't dare put them in the garage. We have too much stuff out there. Everything would be chewed up. We have some pet heat lights we could put on the porch, but they'd chew up the electrical cords. DH keeps them in a variety of chews, but they still chew everything. How old will they be when they grow out of some of this? Crate train them now. Don't let them cry their way out! Give them a nice bone and leave them in, starting in small increments and working your way up. Put something yummy in each crate and let each pup find his/her own treat the first couple of times. Close the gates for a few minutes, then release. Make it a quiet, happy place,for them. |
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Post by countrymom22 on Dec 2, 2015 2:25:08 GMT
Absolutely, crate training is a must! You can crate them in the garage. I always start out with feeding them in their crates, so they learn that crates mean good stuff. It's also good in case you ever need to medicate one but not the other. It also prevents food aggression and bolting their dinner.
That will prevent them from chewing on anything in the garage and give you some time where you don't have to be hyper vigilant or worried about what they are doing. All dogs should learn to accept crate training.
All my dogs have loved their crates, reminds them of a den.
Good luck!
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this old man came rolling home, remember that song?
