Dog Chewing...

XJfreakHO

XJfreakHO

Triad Trail Junkies
Joined
Aug 26, 2008
Location
Greensboro/Clemmons
I mentioned a few months back I was getting a Rottweiler puppy. He is nearly 5 months old now, 50 lbs, and has begun to chew on everything.
I do my best to watch him, but yesterday I got home from work and fell asleep on the couch. Woke up after about an hour, everything seemed fine until I reached for the remote. Not ruined but chewed up for sure. Go to put my boots on... He's chewed threw one of the laces. He is normally very good but I suppose its that time for him to act out.
Ive been very pro active when I catch him chewing about putting a toy in his mouth and up until now it has been working.
I crate the dog when I am not home...
I am debating getting a shock collar, but was originally hoping not too.

Any suggestions?
Jäger
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I would question your accusations, from that pic he looks completely innocent to me. Probably a case of wrong place at the wrong time, had to be someone else. :). Good looking dog, nothing useful to add.
 
Im sure plenty of people will chime in to how terrible I am, but a couple of good and healthy ass-whoopins, as soon as you find the destroyed item will do wonders. The key is to administer the punishment, give him 5 minutes alone to think about his place in the world, then pour the love and attention on him so he realizes that his world is still a good place and you're his person, not his punisher.

As a service animal, dogs need to have a proper understanding that you are in charge, up to and including the point of physical domination.

This is not to be confused with abuse or neglect or anything else that the PETA members on here might claim.

Also remember, he is 1) a dog, 2) a puppy, and 3) desperate for attention. The more you love on him and wear his ass out during play time, the less likely he will be to seek out other ways to entertain himself.

I'd vote to stay away from shock collars unless you are doing a specific training program. Majority of the folks Ive seen use the collars are usually not using them correctly and it just becomes a quick and lazy way to "train" them. Because the shock is separate from your physical presence, the connection is not made to YOUR dissatisfaction with his actions. Yea, he might stop when shocked, but it is a reflex reaction, not a "whoa, let me think about what Im doing that might be pissing my person off" kinda thing.

As elementary as it may seem, the book, Dog Training for Dummies really is a great resource.
 
My rott chewed his share of shit. Thankfully most belonged to my wife :D

Yes remember he's at that age, its normal. Make sure he has some things that are OK for him to chew, rawhide bones etc.

You don't want him to fear you, but nothing wrong with an ass-whoop'n. Especially if you can catch him in the act.

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Not sure about your dog, but with mine, the chewing stuff was all for attention. I'd kennel her when I was gone too but she started chewing everything in that kennel, eventually getting out of the damn thing and wandering around the house. I stopped kenneling her and that seemed to fix everything. The only thing she's chewed on in the last 3 years was the ends to some cell phone charging cables, and both of those had fallen off the night stand and ended up in her bed so I can't really blame her for it.

She did once chew up a TON of stuff shortly after I stopped kenneling her the first time many years ago. She got yelled at for a long time and that seemed to work too.
 
Everything tkeaton said.

Add to that, when I beat my dogs ass for chewing something, I grab her by the nape of her neck used the item they chewed and shove it in her face while pinning her to the ground and leaning over her. That shows her the item, the dominance over her and that it was wrong.

She doesn't chew anything in the house anymore, and she's still the most loving dog I've had. With that said, if it's in the yard, she thinks it's fair game. Still working on that and picking of flip flop remnants of plastic bags. She's trained me to not leave my shit in the yard. But my kids are still learning that one.

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Guess its really my problem. Got home yesterday and was wiped out, should have put him in the crate and gone to bed. Didn't have the energy to play and wear him out like normal in the morning.
I have been crating him only while at work. I give him run of my bedroom while I sleep, he usually ends up in his crate anyway. He will tear up paper if I leave it out but that's it so far.
When I catch him in the act I am proactive about the ass whooping and showing him the item isn't okay. He has tons of chew toys, but he likes to move them all to the yard so sometimes there aren't many inside.
Gonna go stock up on some more today I suppose.

He listens pretty well unless women are around, then he becomes deaf suddenly until I whoop his ass. Women spoil him. Its a problem.
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I went through this with my two largest dogs. Its just something about that age, the chewing relieves the pain as the permanant teeth push out the milk teeth. The best way is to provide him with LOTS AND LOTS of his own toys to chew on and to teach him whats his and whats not. The problem I had was my two destroyed every chew toy I got them in a matter of hours. Hank (my largest) destroyed a Kong ball made for full size dogs when he was just a pup. The best toys I have found are made by Star Mark. I've hit these things with the lawn lower and the come out laughing!!!

Here's some links to the ones I bought....


http://www.amazon.com/StarMark-Everlasting-Ball-Medium-Large/dp/B003YHB8DO

http://starmarkacademy.com/products/treat-dispensing-football/
 
A tired and exercised dog will most likely not chew anything. Trust me on that one, we have raised malamutes for the last 13 years. He is probably acting out due to having a lot of energy and needs an outlet for it.
For teething, we gave our dog frozen carrots and Kongs filled with frozen soft dog food. The chilled items relieve gum/teething pains and give them something to chew on.
 
To add my dog chewed as a puppy, but only my roommate that he didn't likes stuff. Still to this day he will pick up one of my shoes and carry it to his crate, doesn't chew on it just takes it to his crate and only does it when I've been gone all day
 
tkeaton said:
Fact:
Women will F-up a dog-in-training up in a heartbeat.
Click to expand...
My dogs learned not to jump on me by getting punched in the nose when they did it, not very hard as it doesn't take much to get the point across. That happened maybe twice to each of them. My wife doesn't want to "hurt" them so.....if you're a female and come to my house, expect a 105 lbs of furry love to lay paws on you. Guys, you have nothing to worry about and your clothes will remain clean.
 
Half his toys are Gatorade bottles because he likes them and they are tough as hell. I have a bunch of gummy toys... Soccer ball... Even gave him a hippitt hop (hilarious, killed it in moments)
I've been debating getting him like a 33 on a rope. Just for laughs.
Jody Treadway said:
A tired and exercised dog will most likely not chew anything. Trust me on that one, we have raised malamutes for the last 13 years. He is probably acting out due to having a lot of energy and needs an outlet for it.
For teething, we gave our dog frozen carrots and Kongs filled with frozen soft dog food. The chilled items relieve gum/teething pains and give them something to chew on.
Click to expand...

Frozen carrots is a good idea. I've never been huge on the kongs because my brothers dog always splits then in half the first day. Waste of money.
Like I said, its probably my fault this time. was gone 10 hours for work, came home played for 30 minutes and passed out. Normally play for about 2 hours before bed.

tkeaton said:
Fact:
Women will F-up a dog-in-training up in a heartbeat.
Click to expand...
Yes... He's begun to jump... On females. He knows better with me. She also encourages him to get in the bed and likes to call him when I'm trying to make him do things. She likes to say how he listens better to her... No shit. You gave him donuts, acp, and some gravy... And that's just what I've caught! Lol

Loganwayne said:
Or a well trained dog for that matter. My dog never begged for food till my girlfriend started giving him stuff when I wasn't looking.
Click to expand...
Exactly. He didn't know what people food was, one day I open a bag of chips he gets all excited. Turns out female room mate has been feeding him chips almost every morning when she let's him out.
 
I like cheap toys for my dog cause well he trys to destroy them, but only his toys. I go to dollar store and get a couple rope toys let him go at them till there is nothing left sweep up what's left and give him another. Deer antlers are good to and last FOREVER if you got a buddy that hunts you can probably snag some from them. The ones from a store are expensive and don't last long don't ask me why but they don't. Don't get the water buffalo ones they stink when they get wet
 
What helped ours was to take a old sock tie in a knot, soak in water and freeze. The other thing that REALLY helped was "bully sticks" don't ask what they are made of! Lol just get them!
 
One thing a trainer told me is that when you find them chewing on something and take it away while giving them one of there toys they think they are being rewarded for the chewing. He said to scold them and wait about 5 minutes then love them and bring the toy. Don't know if it works yet but I've been trying to get better at doing this.

The monster....
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And his helper...
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Nice new doggie bed...well it was
 
A tired dog is a good dog. That's the best piece of advice I can give you. My beagle puppy likes to chew stuff, the bluetick never had that issue. I get them antlers to chew on and they last a long time. I don't give them rawhides because their farts smell horrible!

As bad of an idea as it sounds like (and sometimes it is)...get another dog! They'll tire each other out so you don't have to. Then when you have time, walk them a few miles and they'll sleep HARD. I usually walk mine on Friday afternoons with my sister and her two dogs and once we're back home and I feed them supper, mine are out until the next morning and they're not very energetic the next day either ;)
 
Delta our 1 year old shepherd has destroyed almost every toy she has had since we got her last June.

The toys that have been the cheapest have lasted the longest.

Went to lowes and got some 1" clear tubing with the reinforcement string in it. She loved this when teething. She would eventually bite off small pieces of it that we would grab before she are them.

Also got the strongest rated nylon rope from lowes and tied some knots in a 2 foot section.

Also take and put the rope through the plastic tubing. That's a great brain game for the puppy to untie the knots to get the tubing off the rope.

Super cheap compared to other toys that only last minutes. Also buys you a few minutes of peace while the puppy is concentrating.
 
My Shepard mix that's almost a year old now started chewing on my deck and digging holes in the yard in the last month or so. She's an inside dog and it wasn't a huge deal until she started chewing on the furniture in the house. I figured out she wasn't getting enough exercise, so I started walking her daily a couple weeks ago. Twice daily, about a mile and a half total, and no more chewing or digging since. She's much better behaved overall now. If you aren't walking your dog, try that first. It worked for me.

I also give her antlers to chew on. She'll destroy a chew toy in a couple minutes, and raw hide bones don't even last 15 minutes. A ~6" long antler takes her about 3 weeks to chew up, and I take it away from her when it gets small enough that she can fit the whole thing in her mouth (don't want her to swallow it and choke).
 
My dog loves to chew on power cords, so one day she will learn real well. But I have to echo the exercise thing, I know if I cant take her outside and run her before work something will be chewed on when I get home. I also gave her 2x4s as a puppy to chew on, which may or may not have been so smart.
 
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