[NurseLeslie]

My doodle is SO destructive. I have given up on buying him any more toys becasue they only last a few minutes. He is now eating his feeding station and his bed. He has dug up and chewed the entire irrigation system. ANd ruined 2 of my patio chairs. It was supposed to get really cold last night so I bought him a "doggie electric blanket" and this morning it was in tatters. $50.00 gone in one night.
I am home all day with him and he is in the house when I am home. I have to run errands and such and he goes outside when I'm gone. we have another dog that is NOT destructive. She is a bit older and a different breed. They play together well. He does most of his chewing at night or early in the morning. Does anyone else find this to be true about their doodle? He is only 7 months old and I still have hope that he will outgrow it. Until then, I am putting a boycott on new toys.
Is it too late to start crating him again?
Leslie

 

[gene]

i'm not too sure on the crating, i don't see where it would be a problem. i've started buying toys from the dollar tree. he gets such enjoyment out of them, plus i found out tonight if i give him one when my cousin comes over, he doesn't torture him like he usually does. target also has a good selection of dollar toys. now if i could stop him from stealing pictures, coasters, kleenex, letters from my mom's end table, i'd be a happy man. oh also, the bathmat, baseboards in the bathroom..... :roll:

jonah turns 8 months old in 2 days, so don't expect miracles in the next month leslie

 

[movistar]

leslie.... I can't imagine it ever being to late to crate train.

Start now!

 

[Jannie]

Leslie try bitter apple! You will have to buy a lot from the sounds of it, but it will be worth it if it stops him from destroying valuable items. Spray it on the item, and he won't touch it because the taste is so bitter. And according to the literature, it won't hurt the dog if he gets a little taste of it. Good Luck!

 

[gracielou]

I would start crating again for sure.

 

[jstuenkel]

Jannie--

Thanks for the advice about the Bitter Apple. Our Golden, Buddy, chews constantly on his paws and legs(he does have allergies, but no sores or hot spots) and Mosey, the doodle, chews on things when we leave them alone. So, i just ordered the Bitter Apple and Bitter Cherry, hoping that this will cure both of them. Many, many thanks.

 

[kim26]

You are not alone Leslie. Doc ruined my wicker patio furniture. He digs, too, but, I have a big yard and thankfully he only digs over by the horse where there are ground squirrel tunnels. He tried digging other areas, but, I was usually outside with him and made him stop. I made a small fenced area for Doc in the yard outside the pet door so that if I had to leave him unattended, there wasn't anything he could destroy. I found the best way to keep him from destroying things was not to give him the opportunity to be alone with things I didn't want him to chew on. I have invested in several gates and fencing. When I leave, he has access to the hallway, laundry room, garage (some areas are gated off from him in the garage) and the yard. He sleeps in my bedroom at night, uncrated and unleashed, but, I wake up if he gets into anything (he almost always sleeps right through the night, but occassionally gets up and needs to go out to potty). He's never chewed anything up in my room. Prior to sleeping in my bedroom, he slept in his crate and when he outgrew that, he slept in the laundry room. Doc is 11 months old now and is better than when he was at 7 months so I think you will see improvement with Calvin as time goes on. I still don't trust Doc with total freedom, though. I also use the bitter apple. I had to go buy some more recently because he started chewing on the corner of an upholstered rocking chair and some old record album covers on a shelf. I was always in the room with him, too, and made him stop many times, but, got tired of telling him to stop and decided to use the bitter apple instead. The lady at the pet store said that some dogs aren't bothered by the bitter apple but there is a bitter lime that works if the bitter apple doesn't.

I HAVE to take Doc for a walk every day, too, or he gets too much pent up energy and frustration. Walks are very good for teaching discipline and self-control if you make them walk by your side and not go out in front of you. If they are in front, they think of themselves as the pack leader.

 

[kim26]

P.S. Doc destroyed his nice dog bed a couple of months ago, too, so I use an old folded up comforter in the laundry room, a new twin size comforter that I bought for $20 in the family room (I fold this into dogbed size), and I bought a dog throw at Costco for $16 that has sturdy material on one side and fake fleece on the other that I fold in half and use on my bedroom floor. All these things are easy to wash and if he occassionally plays with them, he doesn't tend to destroy them.

I hope these ideas help some.

 

[Patty Brock]

mass distruction

Nurse Leslie, Howdy ate everythng, including walls and furniture
untill at about 6 mo. or so I found the Giant Nylabone Gallelia bones,
at first look I thought they were just an incredibly expensive dog
toy , but NO, they saved us $$$$$. the eating wood and funiture phase is
over now so I passed them on to his lab cousin who would eat the
siding off the house ...........
Howdy still can dismantel any stuffed toy in minutes but the non
doggie toy phase is OVER [i think]

 

[gene]

bitter apple works, but dissipates fast, so it needs to be reapplied frequently. Jonah seems to figure out just how long it takes! :twisted:

 

[Cinsmom]

Ah memories! Cinnamon ate a wicker chair, my antique hall tree, the woodwork in the door way, and anything that was made of wood. Her stuffed toys are still stuffed, she likes wood. I think she was 8 months old before I could trust her out by herself. And yes, a tired dog is a good dog! If you don't have the time to take a long walk, try throwing a ball for about 15 minutes. (Up and down stairs is a good thing for a wired 'doodle! ) She just turned 2 yrs old, and she is so well behaved now. So things will get better, just keep the wood putty handy!

 

[MaxandMe]

thanks so much for the encouragement, Cinsmom!!!!!
and my eyes went :shock: reading about walls? furniture? and more

Thank heavens we all love our doodles so much

 

[Jamie]

Bella's chomped her way through trainers, electrical leads, you name it she chewed it, including pulling up floorboards to munch on.

We had always crated her from a pup and she grew to love her crate. It was the only way to get her to stop.

If she chewed something she shouldn't, we would say 'naughty' and crate her for ten minutes, then replace the object with one of her toys. We then praised her for playing with her toys and she quickly learnt the difference.

She now has a huge toy bin full of various dog toys, I shall photograph it one day :lol: She knows that anything in her box is hers

Look at crating as a 100% way of keeping your dog safe whilst your out. Bella once got her neck jammed in the stair gate (thankfully we were home so all ended well) it was from that time we got the crate.

she's now 19 months and the crate has been replaced with various dog beds and cushions.

However we still can't cure her underwear fetish :roll:

 

[gene]

Jonah's first prize was the cord to my fan (new). thank God it wasn't plugged in. ate the bath mat, burp, picked the loose tiles off the bathroom floor (hey dad, these tiles are tacky...time to replace 'em), removed the baseboard in same said room and we no longer have a rug by the front door (wow, look what pulling 1 thread can do :twisted: ).

 

[Guest]

walking helps...

Just throwing my two cents in.....

My Dixie will be a year old tomorrow. She's not destructive, but tries to be. When she starts acting obnoxious I usually take her for a walk. Learned that from the dog whisperer.

He says that a lot of dogs bad behavior is because they are not walked enough. I definitely need to walk her more then I am now...my New Years resolution!

Gabrielle

 

[MaxandMe]

ok, I just got back from a 1.5hr walk with Max, through the woods, down trails and along another path

So what is Max's excuse for coming home and stealing every sock he can find? :shock: :wink:

I take it he is just so excited for walking that long getting wet, muddy and sniffing everything in sight.