Puppy vent!

[Liberty Belle]

and don't believe that saying "that you should not scold a dog if the damage was done a while ago. they say dogs don't remember more than 20 minutes"

Not true (with our smart one at least). If she gets into something at midnight... then I come downstairs in the morning... she will not follow as usual. She remembers that she is going to be in trouble.

Mikeeeee

I agree with that. Maybe young puppies are different, but if our lab gets on our bed or does something he knows he's not supposed to do when we're gone, as soon as we open the door his head is hanging down and he slinks away. Bed will be cool, so I know it wasn't recent, but the covers will be messed up.

 

[disneyfav4ever]

and don't believe that saying "that you should not scold a dog if the damage was done a while ago. they say dogs don't remember more than 20 minutes"

Not true (with our smart one at least). If she gets into something at midnight... then I come downstairs in the morning... she will not follow as usual. She remembers that she is going to be in trouble.

Mikeeeee

Thank you, that was exactly the point of my first posts! Except my one cat never seemed to feel guilty, he always gave a "what are you going to do about it" look.

 

[roliepolieoliefan]

Thank you.

I decided to ignore.

Just trying to help. Maybe I'm a little passionate about it but when you have to talk to 2 crying owners on the phone after their pups electricuted themselves because the owners "turned their backs for a minute, " maybe you would feel the same way.

When you vent you get all kinds of responses. And mine just happens to be a little more harsh because I seen first hand a tragedy could happen to a unsupervised pup, not just a couple of chewed up $60.00 bras.

But hey whatever, continue to ignore. I'm going to the outlets and to a picnic. Bye Bye.

 

[Simba22]

I soooo feel your pain! LOL We had a husky that chewed everything...she even tore open a cardboard box containing DVDs one day...she SHREDDED the cases and chewed all of the DVDs... Thankfully she didn't actually EAT anything.... One day she started pulling at the carpet and pulled up the ENTIRE carpet in an 8 hour period while we were at work. Thankfully we were planning on replacing it anyway and in the long run, she saved us a bit of work. After she passed away we got a Newfoundland with an affinity for shoes...sneakers, slippers, heels, flip-flops, you name it. He also had a thing for pillows. We had some construction done on the house and put in this really nice picture window with a seat. We had to have the cushion custom made...needless to say, he burrowed into it, shredded the foam pillow to bits...that was a waste of $800, I'd say.

 

[sunnyday123]

aren't puppies fun when they're teething?? My Newfie is very mouthy and chewy! She's also beginning to counter surf-although I'm sure very soon she won't need to stand up to see on the counter!

There is a wonderful product called Bitter Apple spray. It makes whatever they are chewing taste bad, really bad. This is also a really good time to teach "leave it" keep telling him leave it while you unhook from those sharp puppy teeth whatever he has, and then tell him "good leave it" when he let's go.

I've also taken some old dish towels, wet them with chicken broth, knotted them, and then frozen them. It feels really good on their little gums.

Good luck!

 

[Liberty Belle]

aren't puppies fun when they're teething?? My Newfie is very mouthy and chewy! She's also beginning to counter surf-although I'm sure very soon she won't need to stand up to see on the counter!

There is a wonderful product called Bitter Apple spray. It makes whatever they are chewing taste bad, really bad. This is also a really good time to teach "leave it" keep telling him leave it while you unhook from those sharp puppy teeth whatever he has, and then tell him "good leave it" when he let's go.

I've also taken some old dish towels, wet them with chicken broth, knotted them, and then frozen them. It feels really good on their little gums.

Good luck!

Oh, I like that idea!

I've bought him chew toy after chew toy, but they only last a day before my lab gets a hold of them and kills them. I'll go to the dollar store and buy a few dollar towels.

Thanks for the advice!

 

[jsaem]

I have a yellow lab named Griffin who will be 2 years old in October. When he was a puppy he chewed the keys off my lap top, not once but twice! The first time it happened he got about 10 or 11 keys gnawed off and boy was I MAD at him. Until I calmed down and realized it was my fault for leaving the room with the laptop open. I KNEW he was a puppy who loved to chew but it never dawned on me that he would go after my computer. So about a month later I stupidly left my laptop open again (a matter of minutes) and he chewed off another dozen keys!!!! Again, my own fault. So, I typed with the nubs that remained and the nice thing was that no one in the house knows how to touch type so no one EVER tried to use my laptop after that. I didn't replace it until a year later after I started having other issues with it. He is a great dog, who I love dearly, but he was a big trouble maker when he was little.

 

[JR6ooo4]

Oh, I like that idea!

I've bought him chew toy after chew toy, but they only last a day before my lab gets a hold of them and kills them. I'll go to the dollar store and buy a few dollar towels.

Thanks for the advice!

make sure you monitor the chewing. Swallowing something stringy like that, even in a small amount could be bad for a puppy. and larger amounts could cause problems for bigger dogs as well. the food flavor may make it too tempting to not eat.

Mikeeee

 

[daisax]

and don't believe that saying "that you should not scold a dog if the damage was done a while ago. they say dogs don't remember more than 20 minutes"

Not true (with our smart one at least). If she gets into something at midnight... then I come downstairs in the morning... she will not follow as usual. She remembers that she is going to be in trouble.

Mikeeeee

That's been extensively studied. The dog knows that you get mad when stuff is strewn on the floor, etc. -- not that she did it and it was wrong and she's ashamed of herself.

They set up blind studies where they'd rip something up on the livingroom floor, the people would come in, and the dog would slink over to them looking "guilty" in the owners' minds, when really the dog hadn't done anything at all and nothing to feel guilty about. The dog just knew that in that situation (ripped up mess on floor), Mom/Dad lose their cool, and was anticipating that.

Most dogs outgrow the destructive phase, the same way human babies outgrow sticking everything in their mouths. When they're in your sight, you keep things out of their way and snatch things away that they shouldn't put in their mouths. And when they're not in your sight, you make sure they're somewhere that's safe.

Everybody slips up -- I've told the owner of every single puppy I've ever sold that the dog will destroy something they value, and they need to accept it up front, the same way they'd accept that their 4 year old might take scissors to Grandma's afghan or draw in some valuable book. You hope it doesn't happen, you guard against it happening, but when it happens, you accept that the puppy/kid didn't know any better.

You can set the dog up to repeat the crime and catch them in it (put a piece of whatever was ripped up on the floor and when they approach it, scold them), but just pitching a fit hours later doesn't mean anything except that "Wow, Dad's mad -- let me slink over to him to show that I just want him to mellow out."