Wonderlane, Flickr
Perhaps we should count our blessings. After all, since the great diarrhea incident of early February, Pippi hasn't consumed anything that has aggravated her stomach. Also, she tends to stay away from the furniture and, of course, hasn't nipped any people.
And yet it's expensive to replace and replenish household items and foodstuffs, and we worry about Pippi's well being. Surely bits of wood can't be particularly conducive to digestive-tract health. For this conundrum we turn to you readers. We've been doing our best to keep potentially edible items out of her reach, but beyond that, what can we do? How do we ensure that young Pippi doesn't find herself at the vet with, say, an eggbeater in her stomach?
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Why Vets Can't Always Smell What You Smell
Some breeds are notorious for eating anything and everything. One of my labradoodles, whose eating habits favor a lab, will eat just about anything. When it came to household items, we have sprayed them bitter apple spray (available at the petstore) and that helped. Dogs hate the taste. The laundry is a off limits, which helps quell the desire for undies or socks and we have child locks on the trash cans so they can't get in to them. When they are outside (and they are out alot) it is tough to monitor, so rocks and sticks, you never just never know. I do take notice when I am pooper scooper duty of anything unusual, like crayons which can make number 2 quite colorful. Good luck!
This person is right about bitter apple spray, it worked wonders for my dogs, give it a try, I got it at Petsmart
LabradoodleMum is correct re the Bitter Apple. One thing first, though. Make a call to your stock broker and buy stock in Bitter Apple. If your dog is big, you will go through enough to make some $$$ on ther side!! LOL
We even used it on DH's toes when one of our labs decided they tasted good.
Three labs and 2 mixed breeds later and everything is intact.
I really dont know what to say i had a Rot who ate wood every chance she got! It never hurt her stomach that i know of! Ate rocks to. Crazy...Good luck!
I feel for you. We are experiencing the exact same thing with our boxer "Heidi". she likes to eat everything. (furniture included).. Everyone says to take her to a dog trainer. We are on a fixed income so its hard to fit that in there. We may just have to do it some how... I feel like I have to watch her constantly its so tiring..
Try getting a large raw beef bone (do not use cooked or processed) They love them, and it will take her mind off of chewing other things. I had this problem with my boxer pup too and now he only chews the bones. You can usually get them from a butcher or in the freezer section of the meat dept in the grocery.
Use bitter apple. Make her taste it near what she is eating and put it on that item.
This should work after a short time. Don't be stingy where and the amount you use. Then give them something that does not have the bitter apple so they know they have a choice.
Try the bitter apple spray. I have 3 boxers and in their puppyhood they chewed everything. It worked wonders. All of my boxers outgrew the chewing of everything at about 2 years old.
We have a similar problem with our 4 month old Corgi/Jack Russell (cojack).
Boomer loves socks, any paper, books, furniture, decorative wood on the walls, shoes...ect..ect......The only real problem was last weeks "puppy poo fest".
Someone gave him bacon and oh dear Lord.......I pray that will never happen again. So far he is ok.....we are just trying to keep close tabs on him....hopefully he will grow out of this insanity.....(:
I have been fortunate not to have the chewing problem that you seem to have.
My suggestion is to have lots of toys and a hard bone or two for these puppies to chew on. If you teach then to play with them and not chew on the other things I think you will have it made.
I survived two lab puppies by having TWO not one. They mostly ate each other instead of my shoes and funiture. Get your dog a friend. That said, we kept them kenneled during the day till they were almost two. And when they picked up something inappropriate, we took it away and handed them a chew toy with a "good dog" comment. Something like a kong toy with a treat inside can distract a chewer for a long time. And all that said, sometimes they still chew. At three, my dog ate all the decorative bark out of the plants in my house. The other one still eats sticks. It was years before we had decent pillows on the couch because we had a pillow eater. At age 6, we are 98% chew-free; just give it time.
TO ALIMINATE THE PROBLEM OF A PUP EATING OR GETTING THINGS IT SHOULD NOT, I FIND THE BEST WAY IS TO NOT LEAVE ANYTHING LAYING AROUND FOR THE DOG TO GET A HOLD OF. I HAVE 3 PUPS AND ONE WILL PICK UP WHAT EVER HE CAN AND BELIVE ME I THINK HE HONESTLY THINKS NOTHING ABOUT IT, HE DOES IT RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME, WILL NOT CHEW WHAT HE GETS HOLD OF, BUT WILL WALK AROUND VERY PROULD WITH IT IN HIS MOUTH. MY OTHER BABE WILL SNATCH IT FROM HIM AND HAS CHEWED A FEW WOODED SPOONS IN FRONT OF ME. THE FEMALE DOES NOT BOTHER WITH ANTHING BUT HER TOYS TO PLAY WITH. NOW NOTHING IS LEFT LAYING AROUND FOR THEM TO GET AT. BETTER BE SAFE THAN SORRY I ALWAYS SAY. ALSO IF I SEE THEY ARE THINKING ABOUT GETTING INTO TROULBE, AS THEY WILL STARE AT IT, I TELL THEN NO AND OFF, OR LEAVE IT.
How do you stop backyard digging by your Lab?
Take his or her shovel away.
Get a sand box and put it in a corner in your yard. Fill it with sand and bury some of your dog's toys and/or bones in there. Show your dog how to dig in the sand box by digging up one of the toys or bones ... then bury it again. Your dog should follow suit and your problem should be solved.
Bored puppies get into mischief. If you can't keep an eye on him, create a "safe" area, whether it's a special room or a crate, where he will feel safe and can only get his teeth on the things you provide for him. It's likely that he will outgrow his desire to chew on everything. Until then, you probably can't do much to train it out of him, so your diligence is all your can really count on.
Allowing a dog to, literally, consume whatever enters his/her mouth is really asking fior trouble. Things like fabric, plastic, string, ribbon -- they can SO easily block or TWIST a dog's digestive system causing an excruciating death as trapped gases expand inside trapped organs. I sincerely hoope you're working with a trainer (you'll be trained to train your Hoover ...) who can help eliminate this so potentially dangerous behavior. The commands "Leave it!" or "Drop it!" will be worth your pup's weight in gold!!
Jo, dear, these people are not "permitting" the dogs to consume everything they see, that is the whole point. They aren't sitting by watching with glee as the dog eats dangerous things any more than I do when my Tibetan Terrier does it. The whole point is they are seeking help, not unrealistic snotty remarks.
We had a Sheltie that consumed anything within reach including a pair of my shoes. The vet suggested coating an potental consumables that happened to be at floor level with Granicks Bitter Apple. Well, guess what? The dog managed to pull the bottle of Grannicks off the counter and ate the entire bottle. So much for that remedy!
We woke up one winter morning to find that our Eskie had eaten 13 glass ornaments (along with some wooden ones and a power cord) off of our Christmas tree. We really thought it was going to kill him but all we ended up with was a very colorful and festive yard the next couple of days.