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Hello all,
As some of you know we brought home a rescued from the shelter, 1 year old terrier (we believe mostly Tibetan TerrierTrixie just over a week ago. She is so sweet and so smart and everything has been going great. I have a flexible enough job that I have been able to stay home with her most days long enough that she is only home for a few hours by herself before my oldest son gets home from high school. Here is the odd thing. When we are not home we come back home to a fine house, no piles or wet spots, nothing chewed on. However, in the past two days, early morning when we are home, but asleep, she will mess on the floor and/or chew things up. This morning I woke up to my good dress shoes ruined! If I am upstairs working and she goes downstairs in the living room during the day (she has free reign of the house as I do not believe in tyeing up/confining a dog) she will find something to chew on, caught her with the remote yesturday, and is so quiet about it! They funny thing is that she knows it is wrong because when I do catch her chewing, she drops what ever it is before I say a thing and PUTS HER SELF IN A CORNER! LOL. I kid you not! We do not hit her of course, but tell her "no, no, no" while holding the chewed object up for her to see. As I said, she is smart, I know she knows what we mean. She has lots of toys and plays with them a lot, carries them to where ever she is. We play with her a lot and pay lots of attention to her. With 4 people in the house, she is never board that is for sure. But isn't it odd that she only chews things up when someone is home? I could see if she did it when she was alone (which she really never is as we have an indoor cat and the two have become fast friends) but to have her doing this sneaky like when we are home??? What do we do? How do you stop a young dog from chewing on things?
I laughed when I read your post because it brought back memories. I have two dogs, a labrador and beagle/basset. Both were chewers.
I thought my labrador was bad---he ruined EVERY single pair of shoes I owned (I owned a lot of shoes). It was summer and the only choice of shoes I had for shopping for new shoes was a pair of winter boots and my slippers! Talk about embarrassing!
They say that labs are puppies for two years and I'll attest to that. He eventually outgrew his chewing stage. Until then, I had to keep everything away that I didn't want ruined, and we tried to buy enough interesting things of his own to chew. When we would catch him chewing something he wasn't permited to chew, we would sternly say "NO," take it from him and then hand him one of the toys he was permitted to chew. When he would take his toy into his mouth, we would praise him and say "Good dog." That's how he learend what he was allowed to chew and what he was not allowed to chew.
My beagle/basset was a rescue from a beagle rescue group. I had asked for a 3 year old because I didn't want to endure the puppy stage (and the chewing). Since he was a basset mix, the rescue miscalculated his age because bassets are bigger than beagles. He turned out to be 11 months old. He chewed EVERYTHING! He completely ate my stuffed furniture! He would pull the cushions off of it and chew the edges, rip the skirt of the sofa, etc. It was so destroyed that I simply decided to ride it out and let him mature it out of his system. And they do outgrow chewing---mine did at least. Again, whenever I would find him with the cushions off of the sofa or chewing a chair, I would simply take the cushions away and put them back on the sofa telling "NO," and then hand him something he was permitted to chew. He stopped chewing within a few months. I just waited a year before buying new furniture to play it safe.
People will tell you to spray the bitter apple on what they chew. I tried that with my labrador and it didnt' work---he'd just find something else to chew.
If you don't have the tollerance to wait until your dog learns the way I taught mine, then you're going to have to get over your belief that dogs shouldn't be caged up. That's the only way to ensure that your dog won't chew until he has outgrown the stage. You need to keep an eye on him the entire time he's out of the cage. If that means closing him into the bedroom with you when you're dressing, then that's what you do otherwise, you'll have to put him in the cage when you're busy dressing.
Letting your dog have run of the house isn't a good idea when you're wanting to teach him to not chew. How are you going to teach him if you are always catching him after-the-fact. You need to catch him in the act EVERY TIME so he can learn. That means keeping an eye on him when you're home, and containing him when you're too busy to watch him.
When we first got Hef, ( he was 1 year old ) he would chew on everything!!!Door mats, regular toys - which is fine, rags etc. And he just stoppe!!!And from that day, I don't know what happened, but he just doesn't do it anymore. Maybe he got out of that "phase"...
Hello all,
As some of you know we brought home a rescued from the shelter, 1 year old terrier (we believe mostly Tibetan TerrierTrixie just over a week ago. She is so sweet and so smart and everything has been going great. I have a flexible enough job that I have been able to stay home with her most days long enough that she is only home for a few hours by herself before my oldest son gets home from high school. Here is the odd thing. When we are not home we come back home to a fine house, no piles or wet spots, nothing chewed on. However, in the past two days, early morning when we are home, but asleep, she will mess on the floor and/or chew things up. This morning I woke up to my good dress shoes ruined! If I am upstairs working and she goes downstairs in the living room during the day (she has free reign of the house as I do not believe in tyeing up/confining a dog) she will find something to chew on, caught her with the remote yesturday, and is so quiet about it! They funny thing is that she knows it is wrong because when I do catch her chewing, she drops what ever it is before I say a thing and PUTS HER SELF IN A CORNER! LOL. I kid you not! We do not hit her of course, but tell her "no, no, no" while holding the chewed object up for her to see. As I said, she is smart, I know she knows what we mean. She has lots of toys and plays with them a lot, carries them to where ever she is. We play with her a lot and pay lots of attention to her. With 4 people in the house, she is never board that is for sure. But isn't it odd that she only chews things up when someone is home? I could see if she did it when she was alone (which she really never is as we have an indoor cat and the two have become fast friends) but to have her doing this sneaky like when we are home??? What do we do? How do you stop a young dog from chewing on things?
All puppies are a handful, but terriers are a whole different story! lol! My husband and I own three American Pit Bull Terriers. Brooklyn, our 1 year 5 month old male, Destiny, our 8 month old female and Jayda, our 10 month old female. Brooklyn is out of the chewing stage.. thank God! lol! But the girls are still really big chewers!
Let me start out by saying, I do not believe in tyeing or chaining up dogs, but I do believe in crating dogs when someone can't be right there to watch them, for their own safety. Stuff can be replaced, but our fur babies can't be. It's not the stuff that they are chewing up that we are concerned about, it's that we don't want them to somehow get into something that will hurt them in anyway.
I'm home with them all day, so they are hardly ever in their crates, but if we go somewhere we put them each in their own crate while we are gone. They each have a doggy bed in their crate, they each have a blanket with our scent on it so they don't feel alone, they each have a couple toys in their crate and we leave the TV on Animal Planet for them. When we do go out we are never gone very long, so it's not like they are in their crates for hours and hours. They also sleep in their crates every night. When we first got each of them and they were getting use to their crates, they HATED their crates, but now they know that their crate is their own little safe place and they LOVE them! Dogs are den animals, so for them to have their own crates, it's like they have their own little dens. They know their crates are good and they feel safe there. We never use their crates for punishment because they are supposed to learn to like their crates. Anyway, so I'm with you in not believing in tyeing or chaining up dogs, but I do believe that is wonderful for a den animal to be able to have their own little safe den.
They all love their crates. They will just go lay down in their crates on their own and take a nap during the day. If we have the bedroom door closed they will go sit by the bedroom door until we go open for them so they can go relax in their crates. At night all we have to do is say "go to your crate" or "go to bed" and they will get up and run right to their crates, tails wagging! My husband has to go out of town for work every now and then. So, one night when he was out of town I decided to let the pups sleep in the bed with me, but as soon as they actually got ready to go to sleep for the night they got of the bed and went in their crates, on their own. Crates are not bad, they do not see them as a punishment. So, now that I have said all of that, the only way to make sure your pup doesn't chew things up and possibly hurt herself is to crate her when you can't be right there to watch her. She will eventually grow out of the chewing stage, but until then a crate is your best bet.
She also might be trying to get attention. I know she probably gets lots of love and attention, but she might need even more. Also, exercise, exercise and exercise some more! Exercise is a huge thing for any dog, but especially terriers! If terriers don't get enough daily exercise they can be very destructive! We walk our dogs at least 2 times a day every day and we try to walk them 3 times a day. Each walk is 45-60 minutes long. We take them to the beach a few times a week, we take them to the park whenever we have a chance and we play with them a lot at home! I also try to take time out of the day to work with each of them on their own with training. They are all well trained, but the training time is a good way to spend some quality time with each dog individually. It helps me bond even more with each of my babies and they get exercise and have a lot of fun. Terriers are not for everyone. They are very smart, very active and can be very stubborn, they need a strong pack leader to properly raise, train and socialize them, show them who is in charge and keep them in line. They need to be challenged both mentally and physically to be happy and healthy. I'm sure you have heard "A tired dog is a good dog!", that is very true, especially with terriers. You would be surprised at home much daily exercise even a small terrier needs! lol!
I would suggest that you make sure your pup is getting a lot of daily exercise and keep up the love and attention. I would also strongly suggest that you get a crate and at least crate her at night. It would be best if you could crate her at night and whenever she doesn't have someone right there to watch her. She shouldn't ever be in her crate too long, crates are not cruel if used correctly. She will love it once she gets use to it. I'm not sure if you have ever crate trained a dog or not, but if you haven't here are some tips.. Make sure you don't crate her as punishment and keep the crate in your bedroom and close enough to the bed that she can see you. That way she won't feel alone. Make sure she gets plenty of exercise and goes potty before she goes in her crate, every time, and give her a nice, yummy treat every time you put her in her crate. To reinforce that her crate is a good place. Make sure her crate is nice and comfy for her, make sure she has something that has your scent on it in the crate with her and keep a couple toys, bones, etc in there for her so she has something to do. I would suggest taking any hard toys or bones out of her crate at night though. They can be pretty loud and it's hard to sleep with all of that noise! lol! If a crate is absolutely not an option, just make sure she gets plenty of daily exercise, love and attention and make sure you properly train and socialize her, show her who is in charge and keep her in line as much as absolutely possible.
It also might help to stick to a set schedule. Dogs do really well when they are on a schedule! Like we get up at the same time in the morning and take the dogs straight outside. Then we feed them at the same time every morning, take them on their morning walk at the same time everyday, work on training at the same time everyday and for the same length of time with each pup everyday. Then we let them out a few more times, feed them in the afternoon and take them for their afternoon walk. We try to keep everything on schedule. Of course things are a bit different on the weekends and sometimes they will go for an extra walk or go to the beach or the park, but all of the normal everyday things always happen at the same time everyday.They are just more confident and comfortable when they know what's going to happen and when it's going to happen.
Anyway, I hope this helps some. Good luck and enjoy your new little family member!
I remember the days :-)
First, we didn't "believe" in crate training our dog at first either. We finally did it because she was chewing, etc, and she did WONDERFULLY! They need to learn the rules, and it sounds like this is what your dog needs too. It's been almost 2 years and she voluntarily sleeps in her crate and loves it.
Also, they generally chew because they are bored. Drs Fosters Smith has some good toys for dogs that chew. We created a "toy box" full of rawhide chews, bones, regular toys, etc to entertain her. Getting our dog a lot of exercise also helped with this!
Remember though that most rawhides are leather. So leather shoes might need to always stay in the closet!
Oh, we also tried the "bitter lime" stuff for furniture. Our dog managed to lick it all off the furniture! We might as well of just rubbed candy on the furniture! Bitter apple worked better though!
I appreciate all the input. I am sorry but I just can not bring myself to do the crate thing. All the dogs that I have had never even needed a leash, let alone a crate. I have never even had a fenced in yard but the dogs just stay (of course we are out with them) but even when we walk around the neighborhood, my dogs would just stay with me and listen to me if I said no.
But anyway, we have put up all the shoes in the house out of reach and did a good dog level and just above look through of the house today and took everything up out of reach and see how it goes. She has a bunch of toys and we are going to pick up some raw hide bones tomorrow and see what happens.
Yes, she is full of energy and loves to play, between the 4 of us someone is always paying attention to her. That was seems so odd about the chewing on things just the last few days, she only does it early in the morning when we are home, she doesn't (hasn't) messed with a thing when no one is home.
Go figure!
I appreciate all the input. I am sorry but I just can not bring myself to do the crate thing. All the dogs that I have had never even needed a leash, let alone a crate. I have never even had a fenced in yard but the dogs just stay (of course we are out with them) but even when we walk around the neighborhood, my dogs would just stay with me and listen to me if I said no.
But anyway, we have put up all the shoes in the house out of reach and did a good dog level and just above look through of the house today and took everything up out of reach and see how it goes. She has a bunch of toys and we are going to pick up some raw hide bones tomorrow and see what happens.
Yes, she is full of energy and loves to play, between the 4 of us someone is always paying attention to her. That was seems so odd about the chewing on things just the last few days, she only does it early in the morning when we are home, she doesn't (hasn't) messed with a thing when no one is home.
Go figure!
Our dogs, are like that as well. They are so well behaved! Especially Brooklyn! The girls do still chew a bit, but they don't chew on anything they aren't supposed to. Brooklyn is completely over the chewing thing, he hardly ever even touches his bones for some reason? lol! Like I said, their crates are not a punishment, so we don't have them because of behavioral problems. We have their crates so that at night and when we aren't home we can be absolutely sure that they don't somehow get into something that would hurt them, and because they love them!
I'm sure she will grow out of the chewing. I think that doggy proofing your house and making sure she has lots of toys, bones, etc to chew on will help a lot! Good luck!
I adopted my now six year old dachshund/toy poodle mix when she was 10 months old. She is still a chewer. I don't give her access to any of my shoes or anything I value. She likes to eat the carpet....yes, the carpet. I think it's a combination of separation anxiety and a way to get my attention when I'm home and not paying attention to her. She has access to plenty of chew toys, squeek toys, chewing bones, etc. She has a doggie door and access to all living spaces in my house when I'm not home.
I have found that she likes to chew on empty toilet paper and paper towel rolls. I figured these were better things for her to chew on rather than things I valued.
my terrier also ate the carpet, and chewed books. she has stopped doing this now.
however, if i leave she is not happy, and barks and whines. she still is missing my other dog. When I had the 2 I did not crate them. Now I do, since she loves her crate.
When we have thunder, and rain, she gets so nervous, so I put her into the crate
and she feels secure. I feel crate traing is good, and a terrier I would never trust
without being on a leash, or fence in the backyard. They, will because of the breed
run after a lizzard, etc. this one did that, and would not listen, it was way too much fun
but that is in her breeding.
Update! Well on Sunday hubby went out and bought raw hide chew bones and she loves em! She hasn't tried to chew anything else......so far.
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My husband and I own three American Pit Bull Terriers. Brooklyn, our 1 year 5 month old male, Destiny, our 8 month old female and Jayda, our 10 month old female. Brooklyn is out of the chewing stage.. thank God! lol! But the girls are still really big chewers! 
Dogs are den animals, so for them to have their own crates, it's like they have their own little dens. They know their crates are good and they feel safe there. We never use their crates for punishment because they are supposed to learn to like their crates. Anyway, so I'm with you in not believing in tyeing or chaining up dogs, but I do believe that is wonderful for a den animal to be able to have their own little safe den. 
My husband has to go out of town for work every now and then. So, one night when he was out of town I decided to let the pups sleep in the bed with me, but as soon as they actually got ready to go to sleep for the night they got of the bed and went in their crates, on their own. Crates are not bad, they do not see them as a punishment. So, now that I have said all of that, the only way to make sure your pup doesn't chew things up and possibly hurt herself is to crate her when you can't be right there to watch her. She will eventually grow out of the chewing stage, but until then a crate is your best bet. 
Thanks all!
