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doggy questions

18 replies

festiveface · 14/07/2006 11:52

how old are they before they stop chewing things up and is it an o.k idea to buy an older dog that has grown out of it already?

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festiveface · 14/07/2006 12:51

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shimmy21 · 14/07/2006 12:55

My dog is now 11 months old and finally seems to have stopped eating our furniture within the last couple of months (touch tooth-marked and splintery wood). Still loves a good dog chew though.

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Jazzi · 14/07/2006 12:55

They often chew when they are bored, we had a pup from 4 months old that has never chewed!!
Also once they have finished teething, which is about 18months I think!

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2labs · 14/07/2006 13:06

Depends on why they are chewing and on the individual dog... Presume you mean furniture etc? Puppies will chew anything until you teach them what they can and can't have - can take a while depending on how consistent you are and how evil your puppy is . Teething can go on for a few months, you just need to provide appropriate chews, distract from forbidden items and supervise as well. If it's chewing because of separation anxiety (i.e. the dog gets stressed when left alone) it might cause damage all its life if not carefully trained out of it.

Personally I think an older dog can be a wonderful idea - so many reasons but including... 1) you can assess better what the dog is like now rather than having to guess how it will turn out (provided you get it from a reputable rescue centre and choose a dog whose background is known - ie. not a stray), 2) usually toilet trained so less work in that department, 3) there are sooooooooo many perfectly lovely dogs in rescue that are there through no fault of their own so you are doing a Good Thing. By reputable rescue I mean one that will interview and homecheck you - for your benefit as much as the dog's, to find out what your priorities are and match you with the right dog.

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shimmy21 · 14/07/2006 13:13

Actually - I said dog has stopped chewing furniture but forgot to say that she hasn't stopped shredding the loo roll if we forget to shut the loo door, pinching smelly socks or pants if the dss leave them on the floor, attacking the kitchen mop, carrying (full) plant pots around the garden to 'rearrange', and she does have a penchant for eating bic biros so perhaps 11 months old is not the age you are looking for!

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festiveface · 14/07/2006 13:21

lol what breed of dog is it?

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shimmy21 · 14/07/2006 13:28

cairn terrier -she's lovely!

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mia84 · 14/07/2006 13:29

My dogs are nearly 2, and 1.5, and they still shred tissues and loo roll!! I find it hilarious though to be honest little buggers.
Theyve never chewed anything major like furniture ( except the ate my sky remote control ).
I got both mine as young pups, and have loved watching them grow up and teaching them tricks etc

I' one of those freaky women who kisses their dogs and let them have the settee tho, so dont listen to me

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titchy77 · 02/08/2006 21:36

My dog is driving me totally mental, she is 10 months old and all she ever does is chew stuff up, shes just chewed up my palm tree plant pot and dragged the tree round the garden, its driving me insane anything she knows she cant have she manages to get and hide under the table or if i'm upstairs she do her best to chew it up, i'm starting to regret getting her even though at times shes adorable and very loving with not a bad bone in her, she has plenty of toys, chews and bones and we tell her off when she does things wrong. i dont know how to stop this my baby is due in feb and i know i will not be able to cope if she starts chewing up the babies things. what can we do to stop this behavior??? any suggestions much appreciated, thanks

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DogMum · 03/08/2006 12:19

Hi Titchy
It's sounds as though she wants a reaction from you more than she wants to chew anything specific. There are things you can do but be pleased with her progress, however small because 10 months is still very young.

Is she getting enough exercise? She probably is, but it's worth an ask. My dog is still over-excitable before his first walk, but nice and calm after that. (He's 2.5)

This is going to be hard, but try not to reward her with the attention she seeks, but distract her when you think she's about to or ignore her if you get there too late.

The other thing you can do is to teach her the 'leave it' command, so that eventually you can stop her from picking things up with this. You do this by putting a piece of food on the floor. When she goes for it, tell her to 'leave it' and give her a treat and a load of fuss instead.

Finally, I'd say don't worry too much. She will calm down as she gets older and she'll get used to which things are the babies and which are hers. We had a similar nightmare when our dog was about a year old and my nephews brought all their toys over at Christmas. He started the day by picking up anything on the floor, but by the end of the day he'd worked out that he wasn't allowed to touch their things.

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Iklboo · 03/08/2006 12:21

What is it with the tissues thing? My whippet/greyhound cross is nearly 11 years old and she still does this. It's like it's her guilty little secret because she always does it in a room we're not in and looks really shamefaced when we find it - even though we don't shout at her for it - I mean, it's only tissues!

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DogMum · 03/08/2006 12:23

Iklboo - tell me about it. We stopped taking our dog to a park used by courting couples (ok probably prostitutes then) for that very reason! He's much better now, but still swipes the occasional loo roll.

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cupcakes · 03/08/2006 12:25

our 9 month old lab has generally calmed down on the chewing - but he also pulls tissues out of the bin and tears them apart.

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titchy77 · 03/08/2006 15:56

thank you dogmum great advice, so if she gets something she is not allowed do i take it off her but dont make to much of a fuss over it?e.g by shouting at her which i do tend to do.
She gets taken out once a day for about an 45min walk, i cant take her as she almost pulls me over so dp does it when she gets in from work, do you think this is enough exercise?

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nothercules · 03/08/2006 17:13

trade it for a treat

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DogMum · 03/08/2006 18:31

Hi Titchy
Whether it's enough exercise depends on the type of dog, but she definitely needs at least a short walk in the morning. Our dog trainer reckons that not pulling is the hardest thing for them to learn. Have you tried using a head collar? (gentle leader or halti from your petshop or vets.) She won't like it to start with, but it'll probably stop her from pulling. It's also a good idea to get her used to it before the baby comes so she doesn't associate it with the baby.

Also, shouting definitely won't help. She'll just think it's playtime. If you can get near her to take it from her calmly, go for it (but when mine was a pup, the little sod would just tuck his tail between his legs and romp for it.)

btw - some good advice I read for when the baby comes (mine's due in Oct) is to make a fuss of the dog when the baby is in the room and ignore her for some of the time when the baby isn't there, so she thinks the baby is a good thing.

I really think a walk in the morning will help to calm her.

Hope it helps.

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titchy77 · 03/08/2006 22:40

thank you just re read my last message and i've put my dp as a she , she is actually a he!!!