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puppy deterent ideas please!!

937 views 13 replies 9 participants last post by  dandiewind 
#1 ·
I have tried Natures Miracle No Chew, white vinegar, and positive reinforcement when not chewing. Help, what have you found to be effective? They are just lapping the stuff up like its a treat.
 
#3 ·
I have found bitter yuk works well. You do need to keep applying it daily, at least with my girl....she does not like the taste and usually she won't go back to the item for a while (couple of days) to re-test it's flavor. We are right there with you, we also taught Sage to "touch" and asking her to do this when she is chewing things works sometimes. I see it work more and more as we reinforce this....I'm sure others will chime in, not one thing works for every dog and sometimes the only thing that works for Sage is a timeout. Good luck
 
#4 ·
Bitter Apple spray thankfully does the trick with Sasha, but I have also read in training books and been told in years past with other dogs that you can make a mixture of Tobasco and water and sort of paint it on the object in question. I've never had to use that method myself, but my mom did on her dogs when I was growing up and after one quick taste they stayed the heck away. With the exception of one puppy -- she loved the spice!
 
#6 · (Edited)
My answer.....crating or tethering. If you can't keep a watchful eye 100% of the time, the pup needs to be crated, or at least be in an X-pen with absolutely no access to stuff the pup shouldn't be chewing. Tethering to you is another option when you can't dedicated 100% eye contact, but more like 90% eye contact. You want to know where they are and have some fast control for corrections. It works great for teaching "come" or "here" (your word choice) at a young age too. (Don't forget to reward!) :) Make sure pup has access to appropriate chew items at times too!!

I firmly believe in schedules. Raising a young puppy takes a ton of dedicated time. When the puppy is out of the crate it is interacting and "training" with you. When it is in the XPen, it is learning to entertain itself. When it's in the crate, it's learning to rest and be calm. There is never a chance of a puppy chewing something up it shouldn't, because it was never allowed the opportunity. If by accident, the opportunity did arise, a calm correction and redirection ~ but that should be rare.

OH!! I forgot to say...the tethering is to YOU, not anything else. The pup goes where you go.
 
#7 ·
My answer.....crating or tethering. If you can't keep a watchful eye 100% of the time, the pup needs to be crated, or at least be in an X-pen with absolutely no access to stuff the pup shouldn't be chewing. Tethering to you is another option when you can't dedicated 100% eye contact, but more like 90% eye contact. You want to know where they are and have some fast control for corrections. It works great for teaching "come" or "here" (your word choice) at a young age too. (Don't forget to reward!) :) Make sure pup has access to appropriate chew items at times too!!

I firmly believe in schedules. Raising a young puppy takes a ton of dedicated time. When the puppy is out of the crate it is interacting and "training" with you. When it is in the XPen, it is learning to entertain itself. When it's in the crate, it's learning to rest and be calm. There is never a chance of a puppy chewing something up it shouldn't, because it was never allowed the opportunity. If by accident, the opportunity did arise, a calm correction and redirection ~ but that should be rare.

OH!! I forgot to say...the tethering is to YOU, not anything else. The pup goes where you go.
Thank you...all great ideas. I read so many books to prepare for their arrival and, well, I think this all just flew out of my mind. I actually told my husband this morning that we have given them just too much space so crate and ex-pen it is. Casey just has such a fit in the crate but will have to wait it out and use positive reinforcment. I realize they need to have their space seriously limited but just felt bad about this. Thanks again, for the advice.
 
#10 ·
Yeah, we probably don't use the xpen enough for Sasha. She'll go willingly enough into that or her crate, but we puppy-proofed the living room, so there is very little for her to chew, save for the legs of the couch/chair and the end tables, which we're pretty much able to keep her away from using redirection and Bitter Apple spray when necessary.

I have to remind myself though, especially when I have stuff I need to do and can't be confined to the living room with her, that that's what her xpen is for -- getting her used to being able to entertain herself! Like you I feel bad about being liberal in my use of it, but now that the semester has started, even though my classes are 100% online, I have plenty of reading to do, so I foresee more xpen usage/potty timer to remind me every 45 minutes in the very near future.
 
#13 ·
Yeah, we probably don't use the xpen enough for Sasha. She'll go willingly enough into that or her crate, but we puppy-proofed the living room, so there is very little for her to chew, save for the legs of the couch/chair and the end tables, which we're pretty much able to keep her away from using redirection and Bitter Apple spray when necessary.

I have to remind myself though, especially when I have stuff I need to do and can't be confined to the living room with her, that that's what her xpen is for -- getting her used to being able to entertain herself! Like you I feel bad about being liberal in my use of it, but now that the semester has started, even though my classes are 100% online, I have plenty of reading to do, so I foresee more xpen usage/potty timer to remind me every 45 minutes in the very near future.
Thanks, it's nice to know I'm not alone! :)
 
#11 ·
Thankfully, Hank wasn't a chewer but my brother's puppy was. It's amazing the things they decide to chew on and it's impossible to spray EVERYTHING!! Using a x-pen worked best for them.
 
#14 ·
We've used bitter apple, and it worked for a short time, but then I think he got used to the taste or something, and now he'll chew anyway (even after we've reapplied it).

I'm starting to think our problem is boredom. He's bored of all his toys, and frankly, I don't blame him because he doesn't have very many (like 4). I just ordered a ton of new stuff from petsuppliesdelivered.com, so hopefully this will help him have a better time when he's alone while we're at work, too.

We pretty much just have him in his xpen all the time unless we can watch him every second. We let him out into the living room/kitchen occasionally, but he is very curious and gets into trouble easily. I'm thinking about letting him have our smaller living room for short periods during the day.

Really working on the "come" command could help you out here and get the puppy away from whatever she's chewing on.
 
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