Author Topic: Anyone else out there have an OEM puppy that chews on Everything?  (Read 5528 times)

Offline fcsantos

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My OEM puppy Zoe 10 weeks old now wants to chew on everything. We have tried Bitter Apple, Repel, and some other repellents but they seem to make her want to chew it more. Anyone have any ideas? My furniture and baby's toys need help. Thank you.

Offline Neosmomlisa

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Re: Anyone else out there have an OEM puppy that chews on Everything?
« Reply #1 on: July 07, 2005, 12:03:37 pm »
I had the same problem with Neo when he was growing up.  My trainer at the time had me spread "doggie Hor De Vours" around the house.  The Hor De Vours were made up of Kongs filled with peanut butter and biscuits.  She also told me that when I found Neo chewing on something he shouldn't - my favorite shoes, for example - I needed to tell the shoe it was bad  :D and replace it with a bone.  When Neo started chewing on the bone (with a little help from the dabble of peanut butter that I spread on it) I praised him.  I lost a lot of shoes before that, but when I started with the kongs and bones, slowly but surely we corrected the problem.  Boy did we go through a lot of bones in the first 2 years!!

Offline greek4

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Re: Anyone else out there have an OEM puppy that chews on Everything?
« Reply #2 on: July 07, 2005, 12:11:09 pm »
Maia, who is now 14 months still will chew and destroy kids toys, paper, her own toys.  She has never chewed clothing or shoes.  Though she rip up the blankets I put in her cage.  I have just had to train myself to watch her when toys are out and to make sure everything is cleaned up.

So far she has eaten...
-a brightly colored bouncy ball
-a bendable 101 dalmation kids toy
-yarn
-a barbie leg
-tried to eat a matchbox car
-tons of dog toys
-tennis balls
-a plastic water bottle
-laundry detergent lid
-toothbrush (the spinning kind)

And those are only the things she has left evidence of.
Thanks,

Emily and 1 husband, 1 boy, 1 on the way, and 4 crazy dogs

Offline fcsantos

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Re: Anyone else out there have an OEM puppy that chews on Everything?
« Reply #3 on: July 07, 2005, 12:29:25 pm »
Thanks Neosmomlisa. We have given her multiple toys Kongs included but I think she is just getting bored. I will have to buy more kongs and try the peanut butter I haven't done that one yet.

Offline Rachel

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Re: Anyone else out there have an OEM puppy that chews on Everything?
« Reply #4 on: July 07, 2005, 01:04:56 pm »
The last OEM my parents had was the worst chewer!!!  She ate so many things including the really bad stuff like chocolate...  here is her list (from what i remember)

- bathroom door
- walls
- a piano bench
- a bag of onions
- a bag of white chocolate
- a whole pack of my mother's birth control pills (this was horrible!  Tera was top pick of the litter and her breeder was planning on breeding her but she had to go in for an emergancy spay...the breeder was not too happy...)

This is very sad...  but the last thing she ate was a cassette tape and got the tape all stuck in her intestines.  The vet did all kinds of tests and xrays but nothing showed the tape...After weeks and weeks of not being able to keep food down, hold her pee, and going to the vet for fuilds to be put under her skin (she was so dehydrated) they decided to do exploratory surgery. Thats when they found the tape.  At that point it was too late...even when they took it out she could not keep food down and was a very very sick dog..

Please keep an eye on your puppies they will eat anything they find.
« Last Edit: July 07, 2005, 01:16:18 pm by Rachel »
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Offline Neosmomlisa

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Re: Anyone else out there have an OEM puppy that chews on Everything?
« Reply #5 on: July 07, 2005, 01:13:08 pm »
Neo hated the kongs until we stuffed them...and even then once the peanut butter and treats were gone, so was the obsession.  That is when I added the rawhide bone with the dabble of peanut butter (just to get him interested).  Those seemed to keep his interest even when the peanut butter was gone.

Offline RedyreRottweilers

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Re: Anyone else out there have an OEM puppy that chews on Everything?
« Reply #6 on: July 07, 2005, 02:52:00 pm »
Supervision of ALL the time that a puppy is loose in the house is SOOO important in the beginning.

Here is how I raise puppies:

I use baby gates, and crates. If I am not DIRECTLY watching the pup, she is kept in the room with me with a baby gate, or goes into the crate, or if the weather is nice, in a safely fenced outdoor area.
 
I always keep a toy box or basket where the toys stay. When I am teaching a new pup about the toy box, I keep a jar of Peanut butter or some Cheez Whiz nearby. I smear each toy with a bit of the peanut butter or cheese every day. Not much. Just smear will do.

I make sure this box is stocked with lots of interesting chew toys. Bones. Kongs. Empty soda bottles (a HUGE favorite around here), etc.

Each time the puppy shows any interest in ANYTHING she is not supposed to chew, I interrupt her, and then immediately and happily take her to the toy box, and encourage her to select a toy from there. Praise praise praise when the pup takes something from the toy box. Each time you take her there, or each time SHE goes there to get a toy, say something with TOY or TOYBOX in it. "OH what a good pup, are you going to get a TOY?" "did you find a goodie in the TOY BOX?"

Puppies trained in this manner will learn in DAYS that the best things are in the toy box. They also quickly learn that ANYTHING not in the toy box is MINE, and off limits.

Remember with puppies that EVERYTHING that happens to them is forming their lifelong habits for later. SUPERVISION IS SO IMPORTANT. It is incredibly important to PREVENT the behaviors you don't want.

Puppies that have the opportunity to chew in a destructive manner things that are not theirs are more likely to repeat these behaviors. Puppies get a LOT of enjoyment from chewing things. Each time they make a mistake and are allowed to chew up something they should not, ESPECIALLY if it's while you are gone or they are unsupervised, are exponentially more likely to repeat these behaviors.

This is called a SELF REWARDING BEHAVIOR. You can punish the pup any way you like but you can NEVER remove the stress relief and enjoyment they got from that chewing. Each time they are allowed to relieve their stress by finding something (many times your personal articles, more on that later), they are MORE likely to do it again the next time.

Puppies tend to choose your personal articles to chew when you are gone because the scent comforts them.

Here is the scenario: You leave the house and leave puppy loose. Puppy gets anxious when you leave. Anxious. Nervous. Pacing. bad feelings. Suddenly he smells his favorite scent. YOU!! OHHHHH these shoes.......th is sofa right here where your legs rest.......mmm mm smells like YOU>>>>>>>>as they chew this item, their stress melts away. As they chew they are comforted by your scent. In 15 or 20 minutes, they are done with their stress relief chewing, and they relax and probably go to sleep.

Fast forward to you coming home to puppy in a pile of chewed up stuff, and you are mad.

Puppy does not know why, and even tho you may scold or do whatever, you can never take away the relief he got.

Very next time you leave, and he's feeling stressed or anxious, guess what.....

You got it.

chewing will happen.

This can also be dangerous. Ingestion of certain things can be poisonous, and many things can cause expensive and even deadly intestinal blockages.

My puppies get AMPLE time for exercise, socialization, training and play, but when I cannot be watching them, they are in a safe place. I do not allow a puppy ANY chances to make the wrong choices. NONE whatsoever. If i'm not watching, they are IN A SAFE PLACE.

This prevents so many problems later. Problems I get paid to help people fix later.

;)

:D
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Offline Neosmomlisa

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Re: Anyone else out there have an OEM puppy that chews on Everything?
« Reply #7 on: July 07, 2005, 03:15:50 pm »
I love that post!  So well put!  Funny story: One day, I left, forgetting to crate Neo.  I was gone for a few hours and when I returned he had been very busy.   It was the oddest, most uncanny experience.  "I" was lieing in the middle of the living room floor.  Neo had gone in to my closet and brought out shoes and clothing - which was not weird in itself, but what he had done with the clothes and shoes was!  Each article was laid out in the place it should be.  Shoes at the bottom, then a pair of my pants, and then a shirt and bra.  Neo was laying on top of the clothes, chewing a flip flop.  I so wish that I had had a camera with me at the time!

Offline fcsantos

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Re: Anyone else out there have an OEM puppy that chews on Everything?
« Reply #8 on: July 07, 2005, 05:03:37 pm »
Thanks you guys and gals are such a big help. I really appreciate all of the nice people on this site. Thank you again.

Offline RedyreRottweilers

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Re: Anyone else out there have an OEM puppy that chews on Everything?
« Reply #9 on: July 07, 2005, 05:06:29 pm »
Thanks you guys and gals are such a big help. I really appreciate all of the nice people on this site. Thank you again.

Have you read the puppy raising 101 article? It's out on the General Board.
Redyre Rottweilers
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