How do I deal with dog chewing?

Sequeena

Don't beat yourself up my dogs have gone through many things in the puppy stage. One of mine is only 6 months and can reach countertops with ease so keeping things out of her greedy mouth can be a challenge.

Can I ask how old your JRT is? If she's a pup she may be teething.

The obvious is to remove everything that can be chewed from her reaching level. Any cables should be put away using a cable tidy or some other method. If she is chewing at night or when you're out train her to go in a crate. She will be safe, will think of the crate as a den (which dogs LOVE) and it helps in the toileting process because dogs don't like to toilet where they sleep.

She could be chewing out of boredom. How often do you exercise her? Do you play any mentally stimulating games such as hiding a treat under cups or playing with doggy jigsaw puzzles?

Why not try her with a kong? You can fill it with anything you like including her dinner and it will keep her occupied for ages.

My sleepy head will only come up with this for now. Hope it helps and I'll have a think for some more tips

ETA: Next time you catch her yelp in a high pitched voice or something similar. It will distract her, give her a toy and praise her. Keep doing this and she will learn to associate that biting is bad. When she doesn't bite she gets to play (or a treat whichever she prefers).

Kimberley

I agree with the above. You have to watch pups and new rescue dogs like a hawk at first until you get to know them. I also put cable tidies around all my wires and leads when my Bengals were kittens and they are fab. She needs plenty and plenty of chewy toys and attention. How did she chew through the mouse lead? You must have had your eye off her to do that. If you were on the computer then maybe you can have her on your lap or if you wanted to use the computer without distractions you could give her a Kong toy to have fun with until you are finished. It won't last forever and I love JRT so we must see a photo We get our pup the Friday before half term

PinheadSK

You can get sprays that are supposed to help stop chewing such as Bitter Apple. It's supposed to taste bad and so stop the behaviour. However, my dogs love it! I have also tried mustard... they love that too! Finally I went for Tabasco Sauce... I dabbed it on the areas where they were chewing... went round the room treating each spot... looked round... dogs were following me, happily licking it off where-ever I put it. I gave up!

Don't really have anything else to add on the above posts but do have a comment/suggestion to make re: corrections...

When your pup does something wrong, PLEASE, don't use it's bed as a punishment. It sends all the wrong messages to the dog as it's bed (den/cage/crate) should be it's place of safety. It should feel comfortable here and associate it with positive things. By sending the dog to it's bed for a wrong-doing, you are creating the complete opposite of a safe haven and the dog with be confused.

Sean

xxdeebeexx

PinheadSK wrote: »

When your pup does something wrong, PLEASE, don't use it's bed as a punishment. It sends all the wrong messages to the dog as it's bed (den/cage/crate) should be it's place of safety. It should feel comfortable here and associate it with positive things. By sending the dog to it's bed for a wrong-doing, you are creating the complete opposite of a safe haven and the dog with be confused.

Sean

Sorry I should have said that she is about 2 years old. She has lots of attention, with 3 or 4 walks a day, playing in the garden and in the house.
She was lying in a patch of sun in the 'computer room' and the mouse lead was close to her. I went upstairs to strip the beds and when I came down the damage was done. I guess she is still settling in and finding her way.

She was crated to start with and the crate had to go back to Dogs Trust...she has been near perfect (only worry is having difficulty in being left). She liked her cage but prefers just her bed.

How do I get the message across that she has done something wrong? I thought about the bed bit and completely understand what you mean, Sean.

I will tuck things away. The mouse isn't a problem as it was a cheap spare but it has me worried that it will happen again.

Thanks for your replies

Dx

Mark_stimpo

Have you tried bitter apple spray? this leaves a... well bitter apple taste and stops the chewing! you can buy bottles on eBay for 6-7 quid! thats a lot cheaper than 100 quid for a new table! and another product is DAP (dog appeasing pheremone) this helps calm dogs, you may not no but they suffer from a lot of stress, especially when moving to a new invironment, and the chewing is just one sign of stress related behavour, these DAPs can be plugged in the room she will be in the most or you can get a collor to put on the dog, again eBay is a good place to purchase these.

Fire_Fox

AFAIK you can't get it across to pets that they have done wrong unless you catch them in the act. They don't have a long memory so probably won't remember chewing the wire. It's down to the human to stop the behaviour by never leaving the dog unattended or using cable covers or smells/ tastes to put the dog off.

candygirl

Fire_Fox wrote: »

AFAIK you can't get it across to pets that they have done wrong unless you catch them in the act. They don't have a long memory so probably won't remember chewing the wire. It's down to the human to stop the behaviour by never leaving the dog unattended or using cable covers or smells/ tastes to put the dog off.

Was just about to say this, as dogs don't understand if you yell at them after the event;)If you catch them in the act do a growly angry voice, and if not keep all your stuff out of dogs way when you are out.;)
Having said all this my 6 year old staffy has chewed my sofa cushion this week, and she's never been a chewer before:(, so have removed all temptation by putting her and boy dog in the new bed in kitchen:D:D

PinheadSK

As Candygirl says, the 'telling off' isn't done with the words but the tone in which you say it. Afterall, a dog has no concept of 'NO'. The point about telling them off after the event is also true... they have no idea what you're on about. Half the time, they won't even know what you're pointing at! Try it... point at something and see if your dog looks... I'll bet it looks at the end of your finger! LOL

If you catch them in the act, by all means tell them off. The words you use are irrelevant - we tend to use 'NO' because that's what we understand. Whenever I have to tell mine off, I do so in a sharp, low, harsh, growly tone. Dogs understand growls!

Alternatively (and this is used more for puppy 'mouthing'), when you catch them, let out a high pitched yelping sound (this usually stops a dog in it's tracks) and when they look to you, turn your back and ignore. This is how puppies prevent play fighting from going too far.

Finally, again you have to catch them mid-crime, but a vitamin tablet bottle with a few small stones in it works wonders! They call them rattle bottles and as soon as they do something wrong, give the bottle a sharp rattle accompanied by whatever command you are using (I use 'OFF' or 'LEAVE'). My dogs hate the rattle bottle and now stop whatever they're doing even if I just reach for it!

HTH...

Sean

Errata

From the dog's point of view "This is a great house, here's a worm and I'm going to kill it. Um - interesting taste, I'll give it a chew and see what happens. Now an angry voice is waving the bliddy worm at me and I have to go to bed ! I'm fed up and confused.
That's the best I can offer other than keep an eye on her, the house is new to her and she's new to you. Train her like you would an inquisitive toddler.

foreign_correspondent

yeah, I think it was just in interesting toy to her - does she rag things? - terrier have a tendancy to pick things up and shake them - I wonder if this is what happened to the mouse or if she actually chewed at it?

I have heard of terriers killing mice before, but not of the computer variety!