Dog/puppy problem

[danzig6767]

I bought a puppy for my daughter in April and for the most part,he's been a pretty good dog.He is nearly potty trained,every once in awhile if Tyson has to wait to long he'll pee on the carpet,but it's much more rare than common.

 

One big problem i've had with Tyson though is he likes to chew through cords.So far he's chewed through

 

Cable cords twice behind my TV

TV cord in the bedroom

My beard trimmer recharge cord

Hair dryer cord

Two hair straightener cords of my daughter

Speaker wire twice

Playstation cord

 

I was hoping at least once Tyson would get a nice shock without hurting him badly,but things generally haven't been plugged in or on when he chewed through the cords.

 

He did most of this earlier on,but last week he chewed the TV cord in the bedroom and today got another one of my daughters hair straighteners.I thought he was over this phase,but obviously not.

 

I'm not one to beat my dog,but when Tyson does this stuff,i strongly yell at him and make him look at the cord.As i do this,he tries to look away and cries.When i saw the chewed cord in the bedroom today,i called him into the bedroom.As soon as Tyson saw the cord in my hand and the look on my face,he ran and hid under the bed,so he obviously knew right away that what he did was wrong.

 

Tyson is my first dog and i'm at a loss how to handle this.It's not possible to keep all cords out of his reach and i along with my daughter just forget at times to put other things with cords away so he can't get to them.Plus,i shouldn't have to fear that in my home anyways.

 

Any ideas how to get Tyson to stop doing this?He'll ignore cords for 2-3 weeks and then for whatever reason,i'll find another one chewed through.Some cords i've been able to fix,but other items i've needed to buy again and i'm sick of it.

[Crazyk1294]

I had the same problem when my dog was younger. Bitter Apple worked really well for me. Just spray it what you don't want the puppy to chew on. You can get it at any pet store...

[sbrylski]

How old is Tyson? He'll get over it, eventually. Incredibly annoying. My dog chewed through both my N64 controllers when I was in high school, ugh.

 

Just make sure he has his own chew toys, and if you ever catch him chewing on something he shouldn't, yell at him and give him what he should be chewing on. Puppies are going to want to chew, but they get over it.

[dadofandrew]

Chew toys, and crate him when you're not home. Some people think it's cruel, but a box is a natural home for a dog, and keeps them safe as well.

 

Yelling does no good, though it might make you feel better. Provide chew toys, one in each room or at least one per floor, and reward him when he chews on a "good" toy. Also, you can use the leash method. Put a wire on the floor, put him on his leash, and then walk past it. If he shows interest, give his leash a firm tug and say "No". Then, pull him along, and let him sit a few feet away. Then, walk over and yell at the wire (I know, it sounds stupid). Now, walk your dog past that wire again...almost no chance he'll show any interest.

 

Finally, do not chase your dog if he has a wire, he'll think it's a great way to get you to play.

[danzig6767]

I had the same problem when my dog was younger. Bitter Apple worked really well for me. Just spray it what you don't want the puppy to chew on. You can get it at any pet store...

I'll have to try that

 

The frustrating thing is he has multiple chew toys and flavored rawhide stuff that he's always chewing on.For weeks he'll ignore every cord in the house,then for whatever reason,he'll chew through a cord he's ignored for weeks or longer.Even today,one of his rawhide bones was on the floor next to my daughters bed,but he chewed up the cord instead.

 

How long does the spray last after you put it on?Plus,i swear my dog seems to find anything tasty,i could picture Tyson finding the sour apple to be yummy.

[craigharmann]

Are you giving Tyson enough exercise? If you watch the Dog Whisperer on National Geographic, that's one of the things he talks about. Exercise, discipline, affection.

[mothershipconnection]

Spoken like a true behaviorist, Al. Behaviorally, that's the right approach to take - find a way to both punish the problem behavior and reinforce an incompatible behavior. You need to condition an aversion to any power cords while giving him plenty of things that look different but are good to chew on. "Punishment" more than 5 seconds after a behavior with a dog won't really punish the target behavior, but will instead punish whatever behavior they were engaging in at the time you yelled.

[Crazyk1294]

I'm not sure, I never tasted it, but I would re-spray every day just to be safe. My dog took an interest in chewing on the power cable to my A/C unit outside, so I re-sprayed that almost every day for a month.

[1992casey]

If you yell at or punish the dog, make sure he's caught in the act. Otherwise, the only thing he'll learn is that his owner is a lunatic. Also, if you catch him in the act, as silly as this sounds, I've heard that yelling at the cord might be effective.

 

Otherwise, everything suggested here seems reasonable. I think I'd try to keep Tyson away from cords as much as possible and use Bitter Apple in cases where they're still too easily accessible.

[danzig6767]

1.As for chew toys,he has tons of them,plus i buy him different kinds of flavored rawhide stuff that he constantly chews on.As i said before,there was a beef flavored rawhide bone right by the cord he chose to chew up.

 

2.Can't crate him.I made the mistake of not doing it early on and when i tried it later,he barks and barks and barks and barks very loudly.For now i'm living in an apartment and they allow dogs,but dog owners are told up front that excessive barking will not be allowed.A new lady moved in above me and her dog barks alot,she was warned it has to stop or either the dog has to go or both go.I intend to move from Wisconsin to somewhere very warm once my daughter graduates,so i'm staying in this apartment till that time comes.

 

3.He gets plenty of exercise.In fact he chewed the cord today after i took him for a walk and he went to my daughter's bed to take a nap,that's where he found her hair straightener.The same straightener and/or hair dryer she leaves on the bed alot and he almost always ignores.

 

4.As for Al's plan with the cord,Tyson isn't obsessed with chewing cords.There are cords all over my place and he ignores them 95% of the time.It's maybe twice a month that for whatever reason,he decides to chew through one.That's the frustrating thing.He had gone about a month without touching a cord,now twice in two weeks he did it again.I tried in the past leaving cords out in the middle of the floor to see if he'd try chewing one in front of me so i could say no,but he usually only chews or shows any interest in a cord if he's alone and not being watched.Never once have i caught him in the act.

 

5.He has to know it's wrong because as soon as he came in the bedroom after i called him in and i had the cord in my hand,he put his head down and started whimpering.He then saw the look on my face and went hiding under my daughters bed.Then maybe an hour later i brought the cord into the frontroom,he started crying as soon as he saw it in my hand and then hid behind the chair.

 

I'll try the bitter spray and if that doesn't work,some very hot sauce if i can find some that's not red.

[Marleyboo]

Ok, I had this exact problem with my second dog. First dog great, but the second dog would chew cords every once and a while and it would always be my playstation cord. I don't think there is any easy fix. Some of the things i did to combat the problem are to try to exercise the hell out of him and make every single cord unaccessable. Any cord that you cannot hide i would spray bitter apple spray on. Dogs live in the present time. As much as we would like to think that they can remember what they did, they cannot. The only time you can punish is if you catch them in the act, and by punish i mean a loud stern command during the act. As an example my vet told my wife and I a story about a family's dog that would constantly jump up on the counter. They could not figure out how the catch the dog in the act. What they endend up doing is pyramiding a bunch of empty soda cans on the counter. The next time the dog jumped on the counter all of the cans fell and made a heck of a racket scaring the dog. This equaled a very unpleasant experience for the dog.

 

Dogs are hard to figure out sometimes and very frustrating. This is more than likely going to go on til he's one and a half or two years old. My puppy is one and a half and has not chewed anything in like three months, but when he does he has moved from chewing cords to chewing books.

[JJHardy7]

I have/hopefully had this same problem. My wife and I got two puppies (wanted the first one and randomly saw a puppy outside of a PetCo that was going to be put to sleep -- he was only 10 weeks old), so we've had our fair share of crazy things. The first dog chewed threw two cords - one iRobot cord and another one for a external harddrive. He hasn't done this for about 2 months now.

 

As far as the bitter apple spray, we've used this and have had mixed results. Our older puppy (about 6 or 7 months old) doesn't mind the spray. He doesn't really like it, but it doesn't detract him from anything. Our younger puppy (4 or 5 months old) hates the spray. This stops him from doing anything.

 

I believe there are other flavors out there besides bitter apple.

[Principessa21]

Tyson is my first dog and i'm at a loss how to handle this.

 

The funny thing about that quote is that you're doing a pretty good job. I think you'll have to catch him in the act to really make some progress here in terms of behavior (patterns) as opposed to deterrent (spicy/bitter sprays). My family's dog (now 11) will still dig at the carpeting when she's left home alone for extended periods, but it sounds like Tyson does this whenever Tyson randomly gets the urge. I was going to ask about the amount of exercise, too, but with a puppy, is that amount ever really enough to match their energy?

 

What breed of dog is this - some breeds are know as more of 'chewers' than others. In no way judging your commitment - perhaps the breed is one that needs more excercise than most dogs (?). The experience I've had with dogs is that they chew/dig/vandalize when they're restless/bored. But puppies should almost be a different species from adult dogs... http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif

[1992casey]

Tyson is a Toy Fox Terrier and he looks like this:

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v638/danzig6767/DOGGGGGYYYMay18069.jpg

[BrewerDawg45]

Great suggestions so far.

 

You ABSOLUTELY have to catch the dog in the act for any yelling, "sticking his nose in it" type of punishment to work. If bitter apple doesn't work, use Tabasco Sauce. But be carefull because it will stain some things, but it works better in my experience.

 

Secondly, Exercise, exercise, exercise! You may think he's getting "enough," but he's not. The dog needs to RUN FULL SPEED, repeatedly, to get exercise. Not just a walk on a leash. This is a VERY common misconception by most dog owners. Walking is exercise, but its not enough for dogs...especially puppies. My dog is 4 already, and he still will chase a dummie, swim and retrieve ALL DAY if you had the arm strength to throw it all day. He used to chew as a pup, then I started running him for 20 minutes in the morning before work. Litterally running him, at full speed, for a dozen-plus retrieves. Throw a stick, or a ball, or a chew toy ... whatever he will chase. Once I started doing this, the chewing stopped.

 

If you're tired, then go a little longer for the dog's sake. Find a dog park nearby, or drive to an open field or park and run the crap out of him. You'll be surprised how much more effective it is that a typical "walk."

 

Finally, puppies chew and will chew until they outgrow it. Usually around a year or so. Keep doing what you're doing, you seem to have a good handle on things.

 

Good luck.

[Thurston Fluff]

One thing I've learned is too many toys are not a good thing. That tends to make the dog think everything is his toy. If they get a couple toys that are theirs it helps. Also picking up toys so the dog learns everything is yours and they only get to use them by your say so can help. Honestly that's way easier to do to start with than trying to break bad habits.

[danzig6767]

Great suggestions so far.

 

You ABSOLUTELY have to catch the dog in the act for any yelling, "sticking his nose in it" type of punishment to work. If bitter apple doesn't work, use Tabasco Sauce. But be carefull because it will stain some things, but it works better in my experience.

 

Secondly, Exercise, exercise, exercise! You may think he's getting "enough," but he's not. The dog needs to RUN FULL SPEED, repeatedly, to get exercise. Not just a walk on a leash. This is a VERY common misconception by most dog owners. Walking is exercise, but its not enough for dogs...especially puppies. My dog is 4 already, and he still will chase a dummie, swim and retrieve ALL DAY if you had the arm strength to throw it all day. He used to chew as a pup, then I started running him for 20 minutes in the morning before work. Litterally running him, at full speed, for a dozen-plus retrieves. Throw a stick, or a ball, or a chew toy ... whatever he will chase. Once I started doing this, the chewing stopped.

 

If you're tired, then go a little longer for the dog's sake. Find a dog park nearby, or drive to an open field or park and run the crap out of him. You'll be surprised how much more effective it is that a typical "walk."

 

Finally, puppies chew and will chew until they outgrow it. Usually around a year or so. Keep doing what you're doing, you seem to have a good handle on things.

 

Good luck.

 

I run him with me sometimes,but can't let him off leash to just run and run.In the house if i tell Tyson to come here,he almost always listens.If i'm outside and ever let him off leash,he almost never listens and will bolt away if anything gets his attention.Given the little guy is crazy fast and i can't come close to catching him,i rarely let him off leash to run.If he bolts off and i try catching him,he thinks it's a game and runs away as soon as a get close.This gets annoying quick..

 

There is a nice big field by where i live and have taken him there to run,but it's right by a park where quite a few people walk or bike.As soon as Tyson sees someone,he bolts after them.Even worse is a street is close by and he'll bolt across the street if he sees a person walking or biking.

 

To this point i've struck out in getting him to listen to me outside once off his leash.

[Katuluu]

We used to take my dog on bike rides. She got really good at staying just far enough away on the leash and we'd bike at a speed that would be a good solid trot for her. In her prime she could easily go 20 miles, but she was a lot larger dog then Tyson. Not all that feasible during the winter months, but it's great when it is nice out. Plus we used to do it as a family so that was a pretty good bonding experience for us as well.

[endaround]

One thing you might consider is buying plastic tubing to house the cords (cheapest ones are conduit in Mernards or Lowes, but they are a bright blue). Just cut them to fit.