How do I deal with dog chewing?

sarabe

bugbabe1970 wrote: »

Again thx for advice.

she is a lovely dog, with a lovely temperament but I have noticed that she is very strong willed and tends to be quite dominant with my other dog so I do keep that in check.

I got her as a companion for my other JRT but sometimes my other dog looks at me as if to say "What have you done, bringing this pest to my house" lol .

It can be a lot of work bringing up a puppy. One of the things that I have noted over the years as a professional dog trainer is the incidence of troublesome 'number two' dogs. This is because dog number one usually had the full attention of the owner and no other dog there to copy/annoy/play with.


I have quite a few dogs and every new pup or rescue dog has always, without fail, spent 99% of their time away from the other dogs for the first week or so. This can gradually be reduced to about 80% after a month, 50% by 6 months of age and by the time they are a year old they can spend all of their time together and still rather be with me.

I know that this sounds excessive and doesn't suit most people especially as you bought the pup for the other dog but if you allow your pup to bond with the other dog to the exclusion of you then you are placing the responsibility of guiding pup's behaviour onto the other dog and I'm guessing that she doesn't give a toss whether she chews cushions or not.

If she kills her soft toys then that is what she was doing with the cushions. It is unfair to expect her to know the difference.


You need to up her exercise, spend some time on training/playing constructively and most importantly make it very, very difficult for her to go wrong by managing the environment.


Can I ask what you mean by keeping her in check regarding her 'dominance'?

bugbabe1970

Thanks Sarabe for your reply,
when i say i bought the pup for the other dogs i meant i thought she would be company for her, i actually bought her for the family as we felt we would like another dog.

I try to deal with her dominance by not alowing her to lie on Diggy (my other dog), dont let her take her toys off her, feed Diggy first etc. But it is hard, because Diggy is so easy going and Jess (pup) is very strong willed. I try to ignore her when she is misbehaving and praise her good behaviour.

Are you suggesting I separate them? Or is this too late now? I do take them on seperate walks sometimes to give them individual attention but to seperate them while they are in the house would be quite difficult to do, not impossible but it would require some organsing.

apreciate your help

Raksha

If the pup is naturally 'dominant' over your other dog, no amount of dealing with it by humans is going to change that, and it may even make things worse. Personally I would recognise it and work with it by feeding the pup first. (Lying on another dog is not a sign of dominance that I am aware of, it's just a way of sharing heat and shows the two dogs are comfortable with that)

sarabe

I'm not keen on the word 'dominant'.

I know it's only a word but it does give people the wrong impression of dogs.

A family I met last week has three dogs. A Labrador, a Border Collie and a Chihuahua.

At meal times the lab was wolfing his food down and then barging the other two and nicking the last of their food.

When they went for a walk the owner threw a ball for them. Regardless of who got it first, if it was the Lab or the Chi the Collie always stole it from them and ended up with it.

When they relaxed in the evenings the Chihuahua would sit on the sofa inbetween Mr & Mrs and dare the other two to get close which of course they didn't.

So who was the dominant dog? Interestingly this had causd a family argument because Dad thought it was the Lab and Mum swore it was the Chi. The teenage daughter was chuffed to learn that she was right and that none of them were. They just all had different things that were important to them.

If your pup takes a toy from the other dog she is probably letting her have it - anything for a quiet life - if you give it back to the older dog then she (the older dog) probably really, really wishes you wouldn't.

Dogs don't do sharing nor do they have the sense of fair play that we do. We can influence their behaviour with training but dog to dog interactions are best left to the dogs unless you forsee a problem, and then prevention is better than interference.

lisawood78

On of my danes (younger) always takes everything off the other, older dog.
The older dog lets her, thats just the way things are with them.
but the older dog will push her sister off the bed and not move to let her back in. It's just the way the way they have found to co-exist without clashing.
Sorry, going off topic

bugbabe1970

Its all so confusing! Ive been reading up quite a lot about dominance etc. Some "experts" believe in it, some dont. I think i agree with you Sarabe, diggy just gives her the ball/toy because shes not really that bothered about having it, and i think if she didnt want Jess lying on top of her then she would get up and move. My husband disagrees!

My main concern is her distructive behaviour though. so im going to concerntrate on the extra excercise and stimulaiotn

Errata

OP - have you thought about having a chat with the person who bred the dog ?
They may be able to give you some tips to fit the dog's character and temperament about how to teach the dog manners .
Patterdales were bred by farming and country people in Patterdale for hunting. Any farmer's wife there who had a destructive Patterdale in the house would want it sorting out pretty quickly.

Raksha

IMO, it's rare for multiple dogs to live in a house hold without a hierachy. That heirachy by vary according to the resource - as in the food, the ball and the owners above - the Chi was obviously dominant over the other two when the ball and the owners were concerned, but Lab and his food were obviously a different matter - maybe the Lab was younger and still had his 'puppy licence'?

foreign_correspondent

Errata wrote: »

.
Patterdales were bred by farming and country people in Patterdale for hunting. Any farmer's wife there who had a destructive Patterdale in the house would want it sorting out pretty quickly.

In my experience it is rare for working/farm dogs to sleep in the house! If terriers are worked they tend to be mucky and smelly from going to earth so they often sleep in a shed or barn!

At ten months old its not unusual for a dog of any breed to be a bit obsessed with chewing - some think its about their adult teeth settling in to their gums. Its also normal dog behaviour, as they have evolved chewing on bones, not eating little bits of kibble or soft tinned dog food!

From looking at the behaviour of other wild dog species (canids) over a 24 hour period we can understand
the types of behaviours that your average dog would like to be able to do - although this may of course vary
with age and breed/type:
The wild canid ‘time budget’ looks something like this…

12 hours sleeping (not all in one go – but in bouts
and naps over a 24 hour period – night and day)

3 hours exercising (hunting & scavenging in wild dogs)
3 hours eating (including plenty of time chewing)

1.5 hours of play
1.5 hours of resting
1.2 hours of other social contact
1.2 hours other behaviours
0.6 hours of grooming

http://www.dogstrust.org.uk/_resources/resources/factsheets09/factsheetbehaviourproblemsdecember09.pdf

However, whilst its not unusual to want to chew, she needs to learn to chew the right things - as Raksha said the first thing is not to leave much around that he can chew, and as others have said, lots of training and exercise to make her tired - a tired dog is generally a well behaved dog.

I would also look at perhaps giveing her some raw meaty bones to chew on, and having plenty of good/interesting alternatives she can chew, and offering her these as a swap when she picks up somthing she should not have to chew.

Errata

FC - I agree with you about working dogs, but many Cumbrian farmers and 'locals' keep a Patterdale, Border, Lakeland or JRT as a pet rather than for work, and those often live in the house.
Their working dogs are shut up in the barn or the do hole at night. Although nowadays that's the dogs that work the stock, as hunting with dogs including terriers is banned.

I guess the important thing is for the OP to understand the character and temperament of their dog, and do whatever's necessary to teach it manners.