Dog Issues

POINTER94 · Jan 27, 2004

Seems like there is alot of people here who have raised and trained dogs. I have a 1 year old fieldset shorthair golden retriever, Hanna. Love this dog, and I take her almost everywhere. One bad habit she has is she eats all my socks, shoes, underwear, hats, sweatpants, etc. I have tried everything. Kindness, discipline, rewards, exercise, and again this morning I caught her in the open dryer munching down on another pair of underwear. Yes I know hide things, but then I have had problems with her eating furature, carpeting, bedding, and counter surfing when the other items are not available. She has every toy know to petco, I even tried one of those remote zappers. Even on the highest setting she doesn't even flinch. The other issue is water. Loves it so much that she rolls in her water dish. She can be very annoying on the boat by running fore and aft like she was on fire. She is welcome to jump off at any time.

Help me please, I have to go to walmart to restock my stuff and this is getting nuts.. thanks all.....

NOSLEEP · Jan 27, 2004

Re: Dog Issues

Sounds like you dog is treated more like a Friend than a dog. If you are the Alpha dog, he wont touch nothing.

pjc · Jan 27, 2004

Re: Dog Issues

ahh..is that clean or soiled sox and underware. There is a difference.

May be mean, but a little hot red pepper, etc. on articles in question may discourage the dogs behavior.

SS MAYFLOAT · Jan 27, 2004

Re: Dog Issues

Supply lots of chew stuff on hand. My dog is Lab Newfy mix. He chews alot, about 65% of the day. I buy him all kinds of rawhide chews. Pig ears is about like cat nip is to a cat, but those are only for his best behavior. He seems to like the rawhide doughnuts the best. When we are out of the chews, look out shoes, furniture, and anything that is in his path. I spend about 10 bucks a week just keeping him supplied. For the damage that he can do, that is a small price to pay for prevention. Cow Knee bones last longer, but the only problem with those is when he wants to play fetch. He'll drop the bone on your foot and it can be painfull. I use them when we are going to be gone for the day. Good Luck,

salty87 · Jan 27, 2004

Re: Dog Issues

man, that's a tough question. dogs can be so different from one another. i try to make sure the dog's getting enough exercise and attention. it sounds like hanna probably is if she goes everywhere with ya. she might need some scheduled play time. my black lab knows when i get home from work that it's play time for him. he burns off his energy and is pretty happy. like nosleep said, she might need some discipline too. if she's following you around all day, she may have forgotten her place. keep the floor clean in the meantime, the more problems you can avoid...the less you'll have. more leash times works for my lab. if he acts up, he's back on the leash for a while. i think you'll just have to experiment a little, and keep a close eye on her. baby steps, she won't change overnight.

SpinnerBait_Nut · Jan 27, 2004

Re: Dog Issues

2 words here, tuff love. I have/do raise Rotts and although they are kept in a kennell, they are taught at an early age what I expect from them. I do this for 2 reasons: 1 is that when I sell a pup, I don't want it going to it's new home and then not being wanted cause it chews stuff and destroys stuff. 2 I do keep one in the house and I never know when that one will be sold and I bring another one in. It's tuff to learn them after they have been let go this way for long. Now you have to get tuff with them or keep running and buying replacement underwear. Keep stuff picked up and when you notice them doing something wrong, use a strong NO and make them quit. You will have to do this each time till they learn that this is a wrong thing and you don't like it. Don't let them get by with it. If you let it slide one time, you have defeated the purpose. At home I have what I call "Time out" when they do something they are not suppose to. Some people can't do this, but I have 1 room in my house that is used just for that. When they have "Time out", they go to this room by themselves for 1 hour. I do this each time they mess up. Let me tell you, it does not take them long to get the picture. What ever you do, don't beat the dog cause all you will do is make the dog resent you.

crab bait · Jan 27, 2004

Re: Dog Issues

i had this so-called champion bird dog one time.. took the dog huntin' one day... but all it did was stop & look.. nose stuck right straight ahead.. that's all it did.!! champion dog my foot.. a few swift kicks in the dogs butt.. cured 'em of that..!!!

POINTER94 · Jan 27, 2004

Re: Dog Issues

Well in terms or clean or dirty skivvies it doesn't seem to matter. I was worried that it was a retriever instinct cuz she always brings them to me unless I happen to be taking a nap. She doesn't take them and hide, she brings them to me. I tried the hot sauce and it stained my countertop.

I don't take her to work very often and when I do she stays in the Bronco. But I always take her with me regardless of where I am going. I have a number of Bars that let her in whenever I show up. I even had her in Wolski's tavern in Milwaukee, Pat.. Alway's great in a crowd, no biting nipping barking just checks out people. Listens most of the time when I call her and will retreive anything you throw for hours. But this eating is driving me crazy. I didn't even give you a complete list. She ate most of the carpeting in the Bronco. And the need to swim is like no other dog I have ever seen. Loves it and goes crazy if she so much as see's it. She of course is always with me on my boat.

Link · Jan 27, 2004

Re: Dog Issues

Dogs between 6 months and a year old when bonding with a person will often go through a stage of chewing up "that" persons shoes boots sandles etc. Usually only lasts about a month and when they feel secure it stops. I used to call on over 350 shoe repair shops each month and they see this all the time. However this doesn't seem to be the case here. I think salty and nosleep might be on the right track in your case. Mabe some trainers will make a post

Fly Rod · Jan 27, 2004

Re: Dog Issues

Shoot it ! ! ! Get another DOG ! ! ! Socks, furniture, etc worth more then dog. You must be rich.

TPD211 · Jan 27, 2004

Re: Dog Issues

1 year old, is she teething? You might try a local obediance course. I was a police K-9 officer for 5-6 years or so.. I had a golden retreiver and then a yellow lab. They were tracking and drug dogs. Both were great at what they did, but I constantly trained them. They were obedient, but it took work to get them there. Both dogs were trained by food drive. We cut up hot dogs and palm fed them to get them to heel, sit, lay, etc. We put the cut up hot dogs in a cheap carpenters nail apron. There is a routine you go thru but the dogs respond to it very well. Once a dog does this type of training, it is real easy to keep the obedience going. I'm not saying obedience training will stop the chewing but it did for my dogs and they knew what NO, SIT, STAY, LAY was. BTW, all my commands were in German. The key to obedience training is repitition, plus the dogs look forward to it, it gives them structure. When I was in uniform, the dogs went bonkers if they heard me pick up my car keys. They could hear the "jingle" and went to the front door and wiggled in excitement. They loved going to work.

cjones4@hvc.rr.com · Jan 27, 2004

Re: Dog Issues

Like Mayfloat said... lots and lots of rawhide chews left around the house. EVERYTIME the dog touches anything else you point him to the rawhides. I'm on my second Yellow Lab. The first chewed everything in the house, (came home to find the dining room table and chairs in splinters)

The good news is... he did outgrow it... when he was about 2 years old. Used the above strategy on the new dog and never had a problem. Good luck!

BrianFD · Jan 27, 2004

Re: Dog Issues

Pointer, What SBN said is 'right as rain'! You can't be physical with 'em because they WILL resent you. At puppy kindergarten I explained that Brutus had a bad habit of counter-surfing. Here's their recommendation: Take some mouse traps & set them, ready, on the counter and/or table. It only takes one time & that cures 'em. I leave 4 or 5 sitting on my counter & table all the time, and they're not even set. When Brutus starts mis-behaving and won't listen to commands, all I have to do is pick up a trap and snap it once. He immediately gets on alert and sits awaiting my commands. I can't believe it works so well. As far as the chewing, that's a tough one that we're still dealing with. Plenty of "time-outs" (like SBN said), only we use his kennel (cage), for 20 minutes. They also suggested writing a diary of his entire day to see if his chewing fits were predictable. Found out that after about an hour of steady play (fetch, chewing his toys bones etc.), he'd start to chew. At about 55 minutes, I fill up (1/2 way) a sterile bone with peanut butter and call him into his kennel. That way he doesn't feel like he's being punished and going into the kennel is a more enjoyable experience for him. Good luck with him, and let us know how he progresses! PS, puppies have a real short attention span and can't stay focussed on any one thing for long. Also, if you can't give him constant attention (and who can?), put him in his safe place, or kennel while you can't watch him. Safest for him, and your stuff.

tylerin · Jan 27, 2004

Re: Dog Issues

I'll keep it short. I've got hunting dogs and the most important thing I believe is consistency.

SpinnerBait_Nut · Jan 27, 2004

Re: Dog Issues

Originally posted by tylerin: I'll keep it short. I've got hunting dogs and the most important thing I believe is consistency.

That was my point. You have to start them out that way and they will remain that way. I have 3 male Rotts in the kennell right now that I could take anywhere and they would not touch anything because they know right from wrong just like people. And just like people, they have to be taught. If you don't teach them, they don't have a clue.

roscoe · Jan 27, 2004

Re: Dog Issues

Hey Pointer, were those underwear from Wolski's? You know which ones I mean. Maybe she is telling you she wants to go back there. SBN, same exact advice works for parrots.

JoeW · Jan 27, 2004

Re: Dog Issues

I've got a yellow lab that likes to take my socks. But he doesn't eat them. He wants to play tug-of-war with them. I give him a real firm DROP IT command and he'll usually drop it. I've also used some stuff called Bitter Apple. You spray it on anything the dog likes to chew. They hate this stuff.

tylerin · Jan 28, 2004

Re: Dog Issues

You know Pointer, someone has to ask. Boxers or Briefs

pjc · Jan 28, 2004

Re: Dog Issues

Ahoy Pointer!!---Wolskis---lol--haven't been there in twenty years or so. Vividly remember last time there though..was kinda lit up--staring at some bimbo--her yelling at me to quit eyeballing her---me falling backwards off bar stool--she did have a nice rack as I recall........(o)(o).......

gaugeguy · Jan 28, 2004

Re: Dog Issues

Ya know, when I first read pointers post, I bet myself someone was gonna ask " BOXERS OR BRIEFS "

Thanks Tylerin!

Dog Issues

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