Bad Dog

What do you guys recommend to get your dog to stop chewing on things that he shouldn’t when you are away from the house? The dog has everything in the world to chew on, but some days decides he wants to chew on the couch or whatever.

Is kenneling him up the only way to fix this? It’s hard to catch him in the act b/c we are gone. He’ll be staying outside come spring and the fence is finished in the yard, but in the meantime he’s indoors.

He obeys just fine when we are home, but it’s like he freaks out when we are gone

Help

Slop, you have a garage, throw his butt in there during the day.

BTW, what did he eat this time?

I just got a new pup couple weeks ago and she chews on everything when she is out of her kennel!! I also bought some sour apple spray!!! That does help!!! She doesn’t chew on anything in which we sprayed! I had to spray it for about 2 or 3 days twice a day and it worked like a charm. Give it a try. I got it from the pet store or your vet!!!

I was told once that dogs don’t like the smell of their own “doggie po”, so maybe you should spread on all the areas that he chews on….

He ate the couch…literally

Sounds like you got a tough pup Slop!!!!
Disipline is also very important. I know you do it, but I have had some success with stomping my feet when I am mad at her for something I don’t want her to do!!! Or storming off like you are really POed!!! Give it a try you will be amazed how that hits home with your dog!!!

Get rid of the dog and get a cat. Problem solved!

Slop, I know the experts say if you don’t catch him in the act, don’t punish him cause they do not remember. I think that is total Bull. Your dog remembers. I would sugggest confronting him with the couch. If he cowards or lowers his head or acts weird(you will know), He knows he has done wrong and you should punish him. Mine has done stuff wrong and I have gotten home 3 days later and confronted him. He still knows. My guess is he is rebeling for you leaving. If you don’t confront him he will keep doing it. If you confront him by bringing him to the couch and ask/show him. If he doesn’t know he will just sits there wagging his tail, don’t discipline him, but if he knows he did wrong Whoop his butt! Your dog is old enough he should know wrong or right. Cal on the other hand is just a puppy and would probably have to catch him in the act. Good Luck! Right on Cal. You got it! Mine is over the berating stage, I jus have to raise my voice at him and he knows he is in deep stuff . It just takes that and a little swat to the behind now.

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He ate the couch…literally

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Dang….the poor dog will probably be bound up for a week.

I would recommend the spray also. Sounds like you have your hands full.

She knows who is boss!!!! Just wish I could train my pup to understand also!!!!

Dogs don’t like their poo-UNTIL-it freezes. Then it turns into a tasty treat.

I have a black lab that is now nine and have went through the same thing. He has eaten more pairs of shoes then I care to think about, a blanket, and some living room carpet . All when he has been left loose in the house by himself. He has been a house dog all his life due to where we live, and I originally had a kennel inside for him. As he got bigger I felt bad keeping him in there for any length of time and let him roam the house when we were gone. Bad move!!

The next dog will definately have a kennel of his own which he will stay in whenever we are not home.

He knew as soon as I walked in the door he was in trouble….He lowered himself and started cowering. YOu wouldn’t think a Lab could pull a couch across the living room, but they can .

I stuck him right into the mess and he new he had done wrong…..I’ll check into that spray for sure because if if I don’t nip this problem, i’ll never be able to buy new furniture

Slop, sounds like your dog is going through separation anxiety. Its quite common. Hes punishing you for leaving him alone and he knows he is in trouble and knows its wrong but he wants to get his point across. My now 7 year old springer has done this since day one. Medication is an option but I chose to get another buddy for him.
Alot of dogs may only have this problem in the fall. Just like humans, its believed thier serotonin levels drop with the shorter days and with kids going back to school or the owner not being home as often. You could try the spray but definately dont use force, your buddy may lose your trust. Remember hes doing this to keep you home with him, not to just urine you off and wreck your stuff.

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Slop, sounds like your dog is going through separation anxiety.

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I agree…(my wife goes through this several times a year)…

Derek, is right on track IMO. Don’t beat him for this. There is a number of sprays available. It’s helped in my case to take rover over to the spot…or save a torn piece of material put it under there nose and say firmly NO! before leaving for the day.

I can’t remember exactly what a breeder told me once..something about a mouse trap in the area..(it was covered with material as to not hurt the dog.) Bottom line was it scared the dog when he was in an are he wasn’t to be in…or picking up a slipper…I’ll have to check into that further.

Slop: Separation Anxiety is your problem. I once had a male German Wirehair that chewed his way out of his chain-link fenced kennel at age 4 Mo. A month later we left him in the house for about 4 hour hours. He nearly chewed off the coffee table legs, destroyed my $140 Bostonion Wingtips, my wifes slippers and another pair of her shoes, and then chewed up a ballpoint pen leaving my wifes white carpet less than white. I agree that they do know when they have done wrong. My solution was to forcefully stick his nose into the ink, my stinky shoes, and everything else he destroyed and beat him almost unmercifully. He never did it again, but did give me twelve years of pure hunting pleasure and memories. Good Luck. Ribtickler

Wrap all furniture in an electric fence.

I asked this same question a few months back, my dogs a chewer too.

We tried crating him but he ate through the bottom of the crate and the berber carpet and the pad…nice bare spot in the living room now.

We tried the sour spray, but you really gotta use it a lot. Our dog just found stuff to chew that hadn’t been sprayed recently.

I opened a can of whoop on him a few times. I never hit him just let him know I wasn’t happy. He knew exactly what he did and said sorry in the way dogs do. I think this works the best.

We found that having his favorite toys available helped.

Finally, we have to close all our bedroom doors, and put anything away we don’t want him to get.

Good luck.

Actually…in thinking of a post back a ways…and CC’s post about haveing favorite toys available…

Maybe a couple cats would help.(?)

Just a thought.

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Maybe a couple cats would help.(?)

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I know where we can get one that’s really slow too!!

Slop, I was raised with a heavy hand as were our dogs. This style doesn’t always work, it depends a lot on your dogs personality. If you’ve ever watched cattle dogs get trained, I would have been qualified as a saint. However, when all said and done, I’ve seen cattle dogs do stuff you can’t imagine. Is this the right way to train??? Your dog, your call.

Good Luck!!!

SLOP,
FIRST OFF WHAT IS THE AGE OF THE DOG ?

SECOND, I HAVE HAD TWO SPRINGERS AND SPRINGERS ARE KNOWN FOR BEING A PAIN WHEN YOU ARE NOT AROUND, FIRST BUY A GOOD HOUSE KENNEL, AND MAKE IT COMFORTABLE (CAVE LIKE) FOR HIM/HER, PUT IT IN A SPARE BEDROOM OR SOMETHING AND WHEN THE LAST PERSON LEAVES THE HOUSE THEY ARE PUT IN THE KENNEL WITH A TREAT (REWARD FOR GOING IN), THEN SLOWLY START TESTING THE DOG, LEAVE IT OUT OF THE KENNEL FOR 1/2 HOUR WHEN YOUR GONE, COME IN IF THEY HAVE DONE ANY DESTRUCTION PUNISH WITH FORCEFULL VOICE WHILE POINTING AT WHAT THEY DID (LET THEM KNOW YOU ARE PISSED ) AND IN TO THE KENNEL THEY GO FOR A WHILE(WITHOUT REWARD) WHEN YOU ARE HOME.

SLOWLY EXTEND THE TIME YOU ARE GONE, BUT WHENEVER THEY DO ANYTHING WRONG START FROM SCRATCH AGAIN, THEY WILL LEARN NOT TO DO THIS STUFF OR THEY WILL SPEND TIME IN THE PENELTY BOX (KENNEL)WHILE YOU ARE HOME.

GIVE IT A TRY, IT MIGHT WORK, IT HAS FOR THE SPRINGERS I’VE HAD.

P.S. IF THEY DID GOOD PRAISE THEM, THEY KNOW WHEN YOU ARE HAPPY WITH THEM AND WHEN YOU ARE

When you leave, the dog thinks he is head of the pack and can do what he wants to do. Garvi knows his stuff. Give him her a little territory of their own. We crated our border collie for the first year or so and then we gave her a little room to see what she would do. She erred one time and got a week in the box. Hasn’t chewed a thing since unless I tell her she can.

I whole heartedly agree with this method.
It worked on my now 2 year old springer. When he was first a pup he could not be trusted alone even if i was home at the same time. Once in a while ( like once a week) I would leave the house for no more than an hour with him running loose. When i got back and nothing was harmed he recieved a treat and some play time outside. If i came back and he chewed something he would get scolded (NEVER did I smack him on the head) I once read that to scold a dog you have to grab him/her by the throat and look into its eyes until it looks away. This shows that you are boss just like when two dogs are playing the more aggressive one will grab the other by the throat to show who’s boss.

After a while my springer can now be left alone in the house all day while im at work (10 hours) without any problems. Him being able to be out of the kennel also curbed his non-stop barking.

Dogs, or at least mine need to see whats going on and they don’t like being locked up in a kennel when they can hear that they are missing out on something.

Good luck on the dog, The ex-girlfriend lost 4 pairs of shoes and countless undergarments to the wrath of gunner!

Slop,
my son got a yellow lab in August, 2004 and he literally would chew on everything in sight including a rather expensive carpet. However, as he got older the chewing slowed down and at about 9-10 months the chewing stopped. In the interim either I would take him during the day (retired) or my son would put him in a metal cage, which is available from Fleet Farm. Evenually, the dog lost his desire to chew.

THEY ARE CHEWING AT THIS AGE BECAUSE OF TOOTH GROWTH.
KEEP PLENTY OF THINGS AROUND THAT THEY CAN CHEW ON, COW BONES AND ECT. (BOY THOSE COW BONES ARE FUN IN THE DARK BAREFOOTED )

WHEN THEY START CHEWING ON SOMTHING YOU DON’T WANT THEM TO, GRAB SOMETHING THEY CAN AND PLAY WITH THEM WITH IT. PRETTY SOON THEY WILL JUST GRAB THE ONE THEY KNOW THEY CAN CHEW ON.

SIDE POINT MY 8YR OLD SPRINGER STILL HAS HER FIRST COW BONE AND STILL CHEWS ON IT (IT’S ABOUT HALF THE ORIGNAL SIZE BUT IT IS STILL AROUND) I THINK SHE LIKES MY BLOOD ON IT BECAUSE SHE ALWAYS LEAVES IT WHERE I HIT IT , NOT MY WIFES, BUT THAN AGAIN SHE ISN’T WALKING AROUND IN THE DARK TO MUCH

I have a valid source sitting next to me that says that mutt of yours made a poo poo all over the floor last Friday night. So much for having gunner trained. You should cut your losses and get a real dog. It’s sort of like having a “good” Ford truck, it’s an oxymoron. There ain’t no such thing as a good springer, Get er done.

Awe Joe!! I’m with ya on the Fords…but to dump a springer…you are not a 2005, caring, sensitive, male!

I just got a yellow Lab and she is 10 months old. She used to chew as well. What I did is leave some shoes on the floor and go outside and
spy on it for a few minutes. When the dog starts chewing on the shoes or whatever I left out…I fly in and scare the living #$%# out of her. Grab her head and push it to the floor where the shoes are and say NO!!!!!!! Do this a few times and the dog will always think you might be right around the corner…waiting. Worked like a charm. The in-laws and the neighbors think I’m a wierdo but the dog knows exactly what could happen. Careful on smacking it on the head. Give it lots of praise when it acts properly. Good luck.