This puppy is making me crazy!!

[Frankie]

I have the most adorable Shi-Poo! His name is Benny and he is 6 months old. Such wonderful personality, plus some.

But he is chewing up the house, and I mean, the house! He doesn't chew shoes or toys like other puppies, he only chews wood! Corner of walls, baseboards, legs of chairs, cabinets, you name it!

First of all, why is he doing this? Second, how do I stop him?!?!

He eats good, is on Nutro Puppy small bites. Gets tons of exercise.

I can stand all day and tell him no and take him away from the situation, and he still goes back. I have coated some of his favorite spots with soap and hot sauce. He has every avaliable toy known to man, different varieties. But he is still trying to build his darn!

He is a smart guy, we have worked on a lot of things and he learns quickly. Has good attention span for one so young.

So now what??

 

[Laura of WCF]

I like to keep them in check, since you are in the house with the pup I would just put a light leash and attach him at your hip. Seriously! Sometimes, I will also attach them to a area where it is safe give them a bed/towel to lay on, toy, chewies (even attach the lead to a door knob.). This way they know you are near, can't get into any trouble and also supervised. At this time in ones puppy life, the teeth are coming in and moving. Best to give nice knuckle type bones for calicum, also keeps the mouth on other things than wood and not under constant scolding...

If the pup is going to be unsupervised, please put the dog in a crate with water, dryfood, and chewies. That way the dog is in it's own room, where he is safe and will want you to take him/she for a walk when you arrive. Praise and reward is not only for horses.

Ps. I do the same thing when at the barn with the horses, I tie the pup in a near safe area. This way they are near me yet out of harms way, keeping the mind, body, and soul of the pooch all happy.

 

[Marty]

I learned years ago from Ceasar Milan that just because a dog runs around doesn't mean its enough exercise and to walk, walk, and walk on the leash. And in the house when he goes for the furniture, teach him "NO"

Its really normal for a puppy to chew at different stages because they are teething. You need to direct the teething from the furniture to something else. I used to wrap ice cubes in a sock sometimes. You can find lots of things at Petco. Provide him with tons of chew toys so he will get the idea to chew on his toys and not your house. I like the Kong toys that you can fill up with dog food which will keep them occupied for hours, or the hollowed out white bones that you can stuff a hot dog in. There is also spray stuff, one is called Boundry that will help keep him away from areas you spray. Bottom line, keep him tired and keep him busy with other things.

 

[Katiean]

I don't know what to tell you Carolyn. My GP mix puppy is now 6 months old and very big. She was real good up until the past couple of weeks. Potty training is not going well. We have potty pads every where. Not just your normal pads. I am using the kind you put under people so they are real BIG ones. Then when we leave the house she distroys the house. One night she put her big fat feet on the stove and turned it on. She could have burned the house down or filled it with gas and then exploded it. I really don't know if I am going to let her live to 7 months.

 

[Wee Mite Miniatures]

Have Bonnie tell your dog to stop the chewing. She told my Tessie to stop eating my Christmas decorations and she stopped.

 

[shorthorsemom]

I had a trainer once tell me if your puppy is chewing up the house that you should roll up a newspaper and wack yourself in the head with it because you weren't watching and paying attention. Kidding aside, as posted, your puppy is teething and should be watched when loose. If you cannot watch the pup, put in a safe place when you leave the room such as a crate, xpen etc..., when you are home put the puppy on a lead and keep the pup within reach at all times during the training/teething phase. A 6 month old puppy is just a baby, not old enough to make decisions. If you watch the puppy now, you will probably have an adult dog that will understand the chewing rule. Even after the puppy teeth come out the teeth are still setting in the head and the puppy must chew. Your puppy just happens to prefer wood, probably because chewing wood produces results and the puppy loves to sink those teeth into something that gives. I have a friend that trains lab pups for guiding eyes. She does one thing I have seen work well. Instead of slathering all the wood with something like pepper, just try the bitter apple spray, but instead of soaking everything in it she actually wipes a little on the puppy's tongue so they get a decent taste of it. Then you only have to spray a tiny bit for scent on the things the puppy likes to chew. They will remember the smell and associate it with the taste and most pups will now leave the items alone. I felt bad about intentionally putting the bitter apple in the pups mouth until I remembered the time I had an adult rescue doberman in my home and didn't watch him and later was cleaning up my sofa with a snow shovel. The sofa was reduced to dime sized pieces in less than an hour. Quite the amazing thing to come home to, but in my memory forever. good luck with your baby

The up side of putting them on a leash and tethering to you in the house is that they bond and learn to walk nicely on the lead,. Chewing isn't always about boredom so the additional exercise might not make a difference. PS. Love the show "it's me or the dog" Victoria Stillwell... She has some excellent training advise for difficult dogs and puppies. Caesar Milan has good advise on exercise and consistency, but his force and flooding techniques of training makes obedience instructors cringe...

 

[Marsha Cassada]

Yes, you might have to leash him to you for a while. That is what I had to do to Buddy. He was either leashed to me, to the door of his crate, or close by. It was a pain, but it worked. The pack leader must control him. YOu might also try teaching tricks and other obedience things, such as fetch, to keep him focused. That mental excercise can be as good as a long walk.

Another thing, is if you catch him chewing on something forbidden, a stern no, then offer him an acceptable chew piece. He then learns that chewing is good, but only on things the pack leader says he may have.

It's a good thing puppies are so cute, or else!

 

[jacks'thunder]

I had a trainer once tell me if your puppy is chewing up the house that you should roll up a newspaper and wack yourself in the head with it because you weren't watching and paying attention. Kidding aside, as posted, your puppy is teething and should be watched when loose. If you cannot watch the pup, put in a safe place when you leave the room such as a crate, xpen etc..., when you are home put the puppy on a lead and keep the pup within reach at all times during the training/teething phase. A 6 month old puppy is just a baby, not old enough to make decisions. If you watch the puppy now, you will probably have an adult dog that will understand the chewing rule. Even after the puppy teeth come out the teeth are still setting in the head and the puppy must chew. Your puppy just happens to prefer wood, probably because chewing wood produces results and the puppy loves to sink those teeth into something that gives. I have a friend that trains lab pups for guiding eyes. She does one thing I have seen work well. Instead of slathering all the wood with something like pepper, just try the bitter apple spray, but instead of soaking everything in it she actually wipes a little on the puppy's tongue so they get a decent taste of it. Then you only have to spray a tiny bit for scent on the things the puppy likes to chew. They will remember the smell and associate it with the taste and most pups will now leave the items alone. I felt bad about intentionally putting the bitter apple in the pups mouth until I remembered the time I had an adult rescue doberman in my home and didn't watch him and later was cleaning up my sofa with a snow shovel. The sofa was reduced to dime sized pieces in less than an hour. Quite the amazing thing to come home to, but in my memory forever. good luck with your baby

The up side of putting them on a leash and tethering to you in the house is that they bond and learn to walk nicely on the lead,. Chewing isn't always about boredom so the additional exercise might not make a difference. PS. Love the show "it's me or the dog" Victoria Stillwell... She has some excellent training advise for difficult dogs and puppies. Caesar Milan has good advise on exercise and consistency, but his force and flooding techniques of training makes obedience instructors cringe...

OMG!!! Your first sentance made me spit out my coffee laughing!!!

 

[ForMyACDs]

I don't know what to tell you Carolyn. My GP mix puppy is now 6 months old and very big. She was real good up until the past couple of weeks. Potty training is not going well. We have potty pads every where. Not just your normal pads. I am using the kind you put under people so they are real BIG ones. Then when we leave the house she distroys the house. One night she put her big fat feet on the stove and turned it on. She could have burned the house down or filled it with gas and then exploded it. I really don't know if I am going to let her live to 7 months.

You have a TON of things going wrong here! First of all, by training your puppy to go on potty pads you've essentially trained your dog that it's okay to potty in the house and unfortunately now you need to UNtrain her. If you want to truly potty train your puppy you are going to need to put some time in to it. You'll need to go to square one. You are going to need to start taking your puppy outdoors SEVERAL times a day. Not 5-6 but more like every 20 minutes to half hour when she's out. When you are not home or when you can't watch her 100% (that means knowing exactly what she's doing!!!) then she needs to be in a crate. Until she learns that pottying is to be done outside you will need to keep an eagle eye on her.

At 6 months she's a baby and she doesn't know the rules of the house. She is going to entertain herself when you're not home so for her own safety and for the protection of your things she needs to be crated, or kenneled while you're gone. How is she supposed to just know that she's not supposed to chew up your shoes or drag out the dirty clothes or tear up the furniture? Dogs don't come with that knowledge automatically installed! If you start out with crating or kenneling when you're not home you'll be able to direct her when you are home so that she learns what is appropriate behavior. It may be a few years before she's capable of staying out of a kennel when you're not home but be patient.........

 

[shorthorsemom]

I highly recommend the book "What all good dogs should know" by volhard and fisher....

Lots of great tips in that one! You can find on Amazon and many book stores carry this one.

 

[Katiean]

I have an extra large dog crate. It isn't big enough for her. We have a hall way that I need to make a gate for so she has a "stall" in the house. I need to go get the hardware for it. I have known for some time now that she needs to be confined. The big problem is my mother that can distroy any training you do with a dog. I don't really know when she changed but my male yorkie never lifted his leg in the house until he was with my mom for a year. He never did anything wrong until he lived with her. It is a constant battle with her and the dogs or cats. I am the only one that ever gives any disaplin so I am the bad guy to all of them. How can I train my mom?