[Wicket]

For the past week, the weather here has been really terrible and gross, and we haven't been able to go for decent walks. During this time, I've been catching our pup chewing on small pieces of wood. I didn't think much of it the first couple of times, sometimes we come home with some of debris stuck on our feet. However, every day I've been catching her chewing on wood.... lo and behold I find out she is chewing pieces off the wood moulding! It's so weird, she's never done this before. I've been trying to play with her more and train her a new trick to keep her engaged, but I feel it might not be working. Has anyone dealt with this before? Could she be bored? Now enough things to chew on (she has rawhides and one of those real marrow bone things at the moment)? I hope to stop soon, I don't want her to get sick. I've sprayed the area with a good douse of bitter apple spray, and every time she's wandered in the suspected area, I've very loudly and sternly bellowed "Get away from there!" Is there anything else I could do?

Maybe I have to invest in a doggie pancho and rainboots... LOL

Thanks for any suggestions and advice.

 

[hanksimon]

Yup - had a Lab that ate through the drywall ! When I increased our walking, the canine remodeling stopped. Except for your inconvenience, is there any reason that ya'll can't walk in the rain?

Altho a Kong and chews are good, they don't substitute for interaction with you. If you can't walk outside, can she run around inside, chasing a ball or a laser for about the same time? I dunno if a treadmill is a good substitute?

 

[Wicket]

Hey, thanks for responding. It's been storming lately, and pretty chilly. I shaved our pup in preparation for summer, but because it's been wet and cold she shivers like crazy when we go out to potty and resists walking more than 10ft from our door. I don't have a coat for her at the moment (she out grew her puppy sweater from winter), and thought it would be kinda cruel to walk her when she didn't want to go. I've been playing lots of fetch with her inside and working on "stalk it" on toys. She sometimes does her "crazy puppy" runs around like a maniac for a few moments and then tires out lol. We don't have a treadmill, but would love to have one, lol. Our place doesn't have the room for it at the moment. I think it'll be nicer later this afternoon, so will take her on a walk and then a run through the local field. Hopefully this will stop the renovations, LOL.

 

[cshellenberger]

Try some training sessions throughout the day to stimulate her brain, keep her tethered where you can see her at all times so she doesnt have the opportunity to remodel and crate when you can't watch her.

 

[Amaryllis]

Muggsy removed all the baseboards in the first floor in one afternoon. A bored dog definitely develops an opinion on interior design!

What about training? Training is mentally exhausting, which fetch really isn't. (walking is because of all the smells.) brain games like find me or find the treat can help, as can puzzle toys.

 

[Wicket]

Aguh, what's with this weather!? A thunderstorm just started. It's supposed to be hot this time of year. This is so frustrating. I've been training "wait" and "stalk it" in hand with fetch, it's so cute, she creeps up on the ball like a little lion. Also, I've been trying to train "spin" without much success. She's a pretty slow learner unfortunately. I'm trying not to train too many things at once so not to overwhelm her. "Spin" seems challenging enough. Right now we're stuck between the transition from hand signal to verbal cue.

 

[Amaryllis]

Move a little south to PA, USA. It's 90F, which is only a good 20 degrees above normal for this time of year. Add in 95% humidity and I'm really light headed right now. I've been feeding Kabota ice chips all day.

 

[hanksimon]

Amaryllis just reminded me of a good suggestion - nose training. Get some cups, or pillows, etc. and hide some tiny treats. Make it easy at first, then slowly increase the difficulty.... smells and training in one package....

 

[Wicket]

Amaryllis just reminded me of a good suggestion - nose training. Get some cups, or pillows, etc. and hide some tiny treats. Make it easy at first, then slowly increase the difficulty.... smells and training in one package....

Cool, I will try this. The rain has stopped and we went on a nice walk She almost has "spin" down, but I think it'll be another week before she has it 100%.

 

[Nev Allen]

Could also be an attempt to find an escape from the room. I've seen photos of a GSD that ate through a bedroom door to get out.

Can you not crate her when you atr not there? Crate training has a multitude of advantages, thoroughly recommend you look into it.

Lots of dog clubs have indoor training facilities. Find one near you and join. The stimulation of socialising will tire your pup out pretty well and then she will sleep for a couple of hours when you get her home.

 

[Wicket]

Could also be an attempt to find an escape from the room. I've seen photos of a GSD that ate through a bedroom door to get out.

Can you not crate her when you atr not there? Crate training has a multitude of advantages, thoroughly recommend you look into it.

Lots of dog clubs have indoor training facilities. Find one near you and join. The stimulation of socialising will tire your pup out pretty well and then she will sleep for a couple of hours when you get her home.

She has full access to our place. We live in a 600sqft condo, there is not much room to begin with, so she's free to roam where she wishes. She's usually very good, and always chewed her things and nothing like cords or our stuff. When we're gone for longer periods of time, we leave her litter box out for her just in case. She is crate trained, and we do crate her when she's being mischeivous prior to when we leave. She gets crated when people come over so she can calm down before meeting our guests. And she sleeps in her crate at night. Our pup hasn't been chewing the wall when we are gone, she's chewing it when we are home, lol. She's really sneaky about it, so I have to watch her more carefully now. It's just this weird thing she started doing a week ago, and it's really out of the norm for her.

The indoor training places, and indoor runs in our local area charge ridiculous amounts to use their facilities. It's like robbery I say! But, there is a park nearby where a section might be converted into a mini off-leash dog park. We're waiting for a petition to be approved. I'm hoping it passes, it'll be nice for our puppy to play with other dogs in an off-leashed area. She meets lots of dogs when we walk there, but they never can really play like dogs should. It really sucks that there are no dog parks near me.