Dusty had been all but blemish free for the last 6 to 8 weeks, then tonight he goes and for no reason whatsoever starts chewing on my blanket, pulling the stuffing out of it. This after I'd worked with him on not doing that exact thing... I'll admit I lost my cool, partly due to other stress, but partly because he'd been a nearly perfect dog for almost 2 months.
He doesn't get it...
- Thread starter adamwehn
- Start date
tessa_s212 said:
Perhaps he was bored?
Dusty is still just a baby. When you cannot supervise him, crate him. Of course, that doesn't mean he gets shoved in a crate all day(which I wouldn't think you'd do anyway
).
Dusty is still just a baby. When you cannot supervise him, crate him. Of course, that doesn't mean he gets shoved in a crate all day(which I wouldn't think you'd do anyway
).
T
One thing we must remember as loving dog owners is that dogs do *not* have morals, nor do they come knowing what we humans percieve as "right" and "wrong".
Has anything changed lately that might have triggered him into chewing on it again?
With that said, perhaps always have some type of chewie available to him until he gets a bit older and becomes a bit less aggressive with his chewing? Kongs with peanut butter, raw bones, bully sticks, balls? When you do catch him chewing on a forbidden item, I would just say "uh oh"(not in an angry voice) and give him something else to chew on(I would probably crate him with his chewie at this time so that he could not do any more damage to anything, and you could calm down).
As for your blanket, *sniff* it is so sad that you lost him. He had a good life.
Has anything changed lately that might have triggered him into chewing on it again?
With that said, perhaps always have some type of chewie available to him until he gets a bit older and becomes a bit less aggressive with his chewing? Kongs with peanut butter, raw bones, bully sticks, balls? When you do catch him chewing on a forbidden item, I would just say "uh oh"(not in an angry voice) and give him something else to chew on(I would probably crate him with his chewie at this time so that he could not do any more damage to anything, and you could calm down).
As for your blanket, *sniff* it is so sad that you lost him. He had a good life.
Well, good for you Adam. There's nothing quite so frustrating as an unruly, destructive puppy! Honestly, I came home the other night and found my coffee table book - a beautiful hardcover of 100 years of New York photography, that my fiance gave me for my 30th birthday, in bits on the floor.
Now, my dogs have walked past that darn book every day of their lives and never looked at it once!
When I got home and found it all I could think of was murder and revenge!. What I DID was calmly put the dogs outside until I had cleaned up the mess, and let them back in and pretended it never happened.
They weren't being naughty, they were being dogs. If I didn't want my book chewed, I shouldn't have left it there - even though it had been there for months without a whiff of interest.
Older dogs are much easier to teach boundaries to. Puppies will be puppies, and you just have to wing it and teach them their basic manners, obedience and commands.
As my vet says, they will `grow a brain' at around 18 months, and then you can start relying on them a little more.
Get `The Dog Listener' by Jan Fennell - you said you are still learning, well, it's the most valuable learning tool I have ever, ever read, and in my work as a trainer I implement it's principals all the time.
You were raised under the `spanking' method as you say - well, this book will help you understand why that doesn't work with dogs. You don't do it, clearly, but I get the feeling that deep down you don't really understand why it wouldn't work. This book is will explain that in a way so you go, `Ahhh NOW I see' - it's amazing, and I can't recommend it highly enough.
Good luck with your pup, you're doing a good job.
Now, my dogs have walked past that darn book every day of their lives and never looked at it once!
When I got home and found it all I could think of was murder and revenge!
. What I DID was calmly put the dogs outside until I had cleaned up the mess, and let them back in and pretended it never happened.They weren't being naughty, they were being dogs. If I didn't want my book chewed, I shouldn't have left it there - even though it had been there for months without a whiff of interest.
Older dogs are much easier to teach boundaries to. Puppies will be puppies, and you just have to wing it and teach them their basic manners, obedience and commands.
As my vet says, they will `grow a brain' at around 18 months, and then you can start relying on them a little more.
Get `The Dog Listener' by Jan Fennell - you said you are still learning, well, it's the most valuable learning tool I have ever, ever read, and in my work as a trainer I implement it's principals all the time.
You were raised under the `spanking' method as you say - well, this book will help you understand why that doesn't work with dogs. You don't do it, clearly, but I get the feeling that deep down you don't really understand why it wouldn't work. This book is will explain that in a way so you go, `Ahhh NOW I see' - it's amazing, and I can't recommend it highly enough.
Good luck with your pup, you're doing a good job.