[reimacram]

Dear fellows. Recently, my puppy broke 4 mobile phone chargers, a usb connector, router connector, an Ethernet cable and just last night our Electric Fan short-circuited causing temporary power-off in our unit. I was really mad at her but then I can't do anything except stare at her and shout her words while pointing at the things she broke.
She chewed on the wires mentioned above though she already have a chew-bone, a toy ball, a pull-rope and a number of mats and rags. Every time she did it, I can't do anything to the poor puppy. I put her in her cage but her whining and whimpering is enough to let her out again after a few minutes.

Recently, I've been reading on how to prevent this but they doesn't seem to work. Just want to ask you out there if using e-collars or "cone of shame" is okay to use as punishment? I know I've spoiled her somehow but she's a dog and its natural for her to chew things specially while in the puppy-phase. Any advice would be great..

 

[ThoseWordsAtBest]

No. There is still no connection between chewed thing and the e-collar. E-collars are also to stop them from getting at themselves. They'll still be able to destroy other things.

What you should probably do is crate or contain your dog to a puppy proof room when you can't watch her. If you can't keep an eye on her she shouldn't be free to her own devices, it's setting her up to fail.

 

[reimacram]

yes. after some thoughts, It was stupid of me to think that E-collars would help. But she wont stop crying her lungs out when she's in her crate. She's too playful. Even after our evening run, when we're back in the unit, she doesn't stop playing. I let her sleep by my side but when I wake up, paper and other sort of stuffs are scattered everywhere. Please give some advices how to prevent this or if putting her in a crate is an option, how could I stop her moans. I mean, its pitiful. Honestly I can't stop myself from letting her out. Am I too soft?

 

[ThoseWordsAtBest]

Not stupid, just someone with a typical frustrating puppy and looking for a solution!

Have you tried any crate games? I am lucky that the last puppy I raised did not mind his crate in the slightest, but he would rustle and flop around in there if he didn't have a full day. Where is her crate at?

 

[reimacram]

Yes. Though frustrating, I still don't know how to give her a punishment without hitting her. I mean, I just can't do it. Her crate is very near my bedside. Shall I put it farther away? Thank you for listening to my questions!

 

[PunkyPug]

Shouting at her isn't helping either. When you shout at her you're scaring her. Dog's don't understand most of our language. They really don't know that sit means sit. They just know that when we've trained them to sit. They either recognize the hand signal or the word that is given when their bum touches the floor.
When you catch her in the act firmly(not shouting) tell her "no". Use a low, deep tone of voice. Like a man's voice.


ETA: I just read you have a crate. Do you have mental stimuli toys or teething toys?
Moving crate may just make her more uncomfortable.

Be STRONG. Don't listen to her. Put some headphones on and blast some music to your ears. Do not give in! I know it's hard to not give in during the beginning. But it is for the best.

 

[ThoseWordsAtBest]

Yes. Though frustrating, I still don't know how to give her a punishment without hitting her. I mean, I just can't do it. Her crate is very near my bedside. Shall I put it farther away? Thank you for listening to my questions!

Well, you certainly don't have to hit her! And it's not a bad thing to not be able to do that. We've made it through some heavy chewing puppy phases and nobody was hit. Don't get hung up on punishment here. She's just a baby and these things are attainable without punishing her. The chewing stage is a not so fun part of raising puppies, and prevention is the best approach.

It's good that her crate is in the room with you. Look up Susan Garrett's crate games to help get her more accustomed to being in her crate. Things to do inside the crate are also helpful. Frozen peanut butter filled kongs and the like. Before she goes to the crate for the night (or when you can't watch her) be sure that she is physically- and mentally- pooped.

 

[reimacram]

Shouting at her isn't helping either. When you shout at her you're scaring her. Dog's don't understand most of our language. They really don't know that sit means sit. They just know that when we've trained them to sit. They either recognize the hand signal or the word that is given when their bum touches the floor.
When you catch her in the act firmly(not shouting) tell her "no". Use a low, deep tone of voice. Like a man's voice.


ETA: I just read you have a crate. Do you have mental stimuli toys or teething toys?
Moving crate may just make her more uncomfortable.

Be STRONG. Don't listen to her. Put some headphones on and blast some music to your ears. Do not give in! I know it's hard to not give in during the beginning. But it is for the best.

I've been doing the low-voice thing ever since but she doesn't get it yet. I know I'm part of the whole thing. I think I'll go with your suggestion of not minding her as long as I could. thanks for the insights!

 

[reimacram]

Well, you certainly don't have to hit her! And it's not a bad thing to not be able to do that. We've made it through some heavy chewing puppy phases and nobody was hit. Don't get hung up on punishment here. She's just a baby and these things are attainable without punishing her. The chewing stage is a not so fun part of raising puppies, and prevention is the best approach.

It's good that her crate is in the room with you. Look up Susan Garrett's crate games to help get her more accustomed to being in her crate. Things to do inside the crate are also helpful. Frozen peanut butter filled kongs and the like. Before she goes to the crate for the night (or when you can't watch her) be sure that she is physically- and mentally- pooped.

Thanks for the advice. I'll do that too. Actually, most of the times I pat her to sleep. And when she goes down, I sleep too. But oftentimes, she wakes up and whimpers. I'm still wake up every 2 hours to let her pee on the bathroom floor. But then returning her to sleep is another good 15 minutes of patting her again. Am I wrong? Most of my friends think she's too spoiled.

 

[ThoseWordsAtBest]

Thanks for the advice. I'll do that too. Actually, most of the times I pat her to sleep. And when she goes down, I sleep too. But oftentimes, she wakes up and whimpers. I'm still wake up every 2 hours to let her pee on the bathroom floor. But then returning her to sleep is another good 15 minutes of patting her again. Am I wrong? Most of my friends think she's too spoiled.

How old is she? The general rule of thumb is a puppy can hold it one hour for every month they are old. I would try not to continue the patting habit lest she becomes used to it, but admittedly I understand doing whatever you can just to get the pup to go to sleep. You can try transferring the comfort to a shirt of yours that smells like you, something to busy herself with (like the kong) to not be focused on you, things of that nature.

 

[reimacram]

How old is she? The general rule of thumb is a puppy can hold it one hour for every month they are old. I would try not to continue the patting habit lest she becomes used to it, but admittedly I understand doing whatever you can just to get the pup to go to sleep. You can try transferring the comfort to a shirt of yours that smells like you, something to busy herself with (like the kong) to not be focused on you, things of that nature.

She's 2 months old right now (and some ++days mom was killed a few days before I got her..). Okay so I really was spoiling her. She's a wonderful dog. Though playful, I managed to teach her "Sit", "Stay" and "Jump". She also likes to sit on my lap while I work on my computer but after some scratching behind her ears, she reacts to it by playfully biting on my hand which is one of my other problems. I should follow your advices and give you some progress gist. Thanks for the time reading my thread.

 

[georgiapeach]

While in the house, you could have her tethered to you with her leash while in the house. This way, you'll have her close to you and she's less likely to get into trouble. You do need to remain strong and ignore her crying when she's supposed to be in her crate. Each time you let her out when she cries, you're reinforcing the crying, and it becomes increasingly harder to crate train her. Obviously she shouldn't be crated excessively, but at night is fine, as are a few hours during the day, as long as she's getting some good, tiring play exercise.

 

[melundie]

I have a really easy way to fix your issues. Take some responsibility to puppy-proof your house. Move stuff like wires and electronics to places the pup can't reach and here's a thought: CONSTANT SUPERVISION.

 

[Hambonez]

I believe you are the one who should be punished for not watching your puppy! If you can't be within grabbing distance of your puppy, paying attention to what she's doing, then she needs to be confined in some way someplace that she's safe. Also pick up/put away as much stuff as possible that she might like to chew. Anything my puppy has destroyed was our fault for leaving it within puppy reach, and/or not supervising sufficiently.

 

[PunkyPug]

I've been doing the low-voice thing ever since but she doesn't get it yet. I know I'm part of the whole thing. I think I'll go with your suggestion of not minding her as long as I could. thanks for the insights!

Make sure you are using different tones of voices for different situations as well. If you don't then you may as well start confusing your dog.
Example when you're giving her praise have a high pitch happy voice!
When giving a command use a command tone of voice. http://www.dogtrainingbasics.com/dog_command.wav and http://www.dogtrainingbasics.com/dog_stay.wav
I found this website very helpful when I was starting on my dogs by myself. http://www.dogtrainingbasics.com/commands.html

 

[Amaryllis]

Put everything she can chew out of reach, including papers and tissues, etc. Take your cables and either hide them under rugs or up high, or buy those cable protectors to put on them.

A 2 month old puppy is a chewing machine. A 2 month old puppy is also a baby and you can't expect much out of babies. Management is the key here. Move every single thing you can physically move out of her reach. When you catch her chewing something you can't reach, simply remove it or her (if it's a couch, for example) put a toy in her mouth and praise her for chewing the toy.

This does take a while, but eventually, she will learn that chewing toys is what you want her to do.

 

[Pawzk9]

Ecollars are not meant to be punishers. Of course they may prevent chewing. And chewing electrical cords can be deadly. When you have puppies it may be a good idea to thread them through PVC pipe to avoid the puppy getting to them. Is the puppy doing this in your presence? How closely are you supervising? I would tether her to me or have her somewhere safe (no electral appliances) when you are unable to keep an eye on her. Shouting at her (especially after the fact) doesn't work. But interrupting her when she's just getting started (because you are supervising her and notice) can help.

 

[Pawzk9]

yes. after some thoughts, It was stupid of me to think that E-collars would help. But she wont stop crying her lungs out when she's in her crate. She's too playful. Even after our evening run, when we're back in the unit, she doesn't stop playing. I let her sleep by my side but when I wake up, paper and other sort of stuffs are scattered everywhere. Please give some advices how to prevent this or if putting her in a crate is an option, how could I stop her moans. I mean, its pitiful. Honestly I can't stop myself from letting her out. Am I too soft?

I would look for a less confining way to keep her up (ex pen, baby gate), and in the meantime work on making her crate a great place to be. Toss treats or toys in, and close the door (with her on the outside, so she'd like to get in) Click and treat her for going in the crate, and then ask her to come out (no treat) repeat. Teach her to down in her crate with the door open. Teach her to go in with a cue. When she's comfortable with the crate, shut the door very briefly and while she is quiet let her out. Gradually increase the time before you open the door, but try to do it before she gets worked up. Don't use the crate to punish

 

[w8ing4rain]

I'm not sure It is such a good idea to train her to pee on the bathroom floor. Aside from that you need to treat a puppy pretty much like a toddler. That includes baby/puppy proofing your home, constant supervision and not giving in to the whining.

 

[ThoseWordsAtBest]

She's 2 months old right now (and some ++days mom was killed a few days before I got her..). Okay so I really was spoiling her. She's a wonderful dog. Though playful, I managed to teach her "Sit", "Stay" and "Jump". She also likes to sit on my lap while I work on my computer but after some scratching behind her ears, she reacts to it by playfully biting on my hand which is one of my other problems. I should follow your advices and give you some progress gist. Thanks for the time reading my thread.

Hang in there. It's hard when they're young, and it's harder when they are separated from their litter too young. I found one of my gals at 5 weeks old at an animal control and little puppy things were very difficult. She's a fantastic nearly 6 year old now.