Oh now where is it???
By saundyl
@saundyl (9783)
Canada
May 8, 2009 2:48pm CST
I opened the door this morning and my first thought was i just put that out...a set of 3 solar lights...WHERE are they?? The blankets forthe dogs WHERE are they?
I have two farm dogs - love them to bits and peices but one of them is VERY destructive. If its not put out of his reach (meaning i need a ladder to get up there) or in the house he eats it. I dont want to be terrible and spank him for it everytime he does it - i adopted him from the SPCA and i'm positive he was beaten by whomever they took him from - i dont want to be like that.
I recently bought new solar lights for my garden. Put them out because shockingly the only thing he hasnt eaten that was out for the garden last year was my solar lights. I thought the 6 new ones out with them would be fine. NOPE they didnt even last 6 hours. I went out to find him gnawing on the steam of one, Chewed the shade the stand and the stem of another one and he ate the battery and where the bulb goes of a third.
I promptly yelled at him for it and swatted him with one of the stems. He left them alone for two weeks. LAst night he ate the other three. I was so mad i screamed. He took off before i finished screaming.
Last week he ate the seat out of my camping chair - IT was on the deck near the railing. Theres a gate on the deck so they cant get on the deck (he poos in front of the door otherwise and who wants to step in doggy doo right in front of the door) and he proceeded to stand on his hind legs and eat the canvas on the chair.
No i know he cant be hungry or starving because they have a self feeder dish of crunchies and i feed them canned food each night. He's quite plump and been dewormed. He has tons of toys - chewies, ropes, balls, frisbees, ropes on balls.... (ok no stuffed toys like my indoor dog cause he destroys those). He doesnt destroy his own toys just my things. I play with him
How do i get him to stop. Short of never being able to have nice things in my yard or beating him. Have you had a dog thats destructive????
I feel mean if i tye him up when i go to bed - its a farm its huge he's THERE to keep the coyotes and stuff away he needs to be able to move around the yards.
3 people like this
6 responses
@LadyMarissa (12148)
• United States
9 May 09
My male Black Lab does much the same. I purchased two solar lights & put them near my back door so I could see to get down the steps at night. He completely destroyed both of them!!! He's eaten a bumper sticker off my car. He's eaten the year sticker off my license plate. I had fun explaining this to DMV!!! 
He has even chewed up two of his doggie beds. Seems stupid to me!!!
I finally adopted a female Black Lab to keep him company. This has helped...some. She usually keeps him occupied. Only problem is when he convinces her to help him & I have two chewing up my stuff. I am finding I'm having less stuff destroyed now that he has a wife!!! 
He has even chewed up two of his doggie beds. Seems stupid to me!!!
I finally adopted a female Black Lab to keep him company. This has helped...some. She usually keeps him occupied. Only problem is when he convinces her to help him & I have two chewing up my stuff. I am finding I'm having less stuff destroyed now that he has a wife!!! 1 person likes this
@saundyl (9783)
• Canada
10 May 09
LOL I can imagine having to explain that to the DMV I recently called to order propane and put a cheque under the lid of the tank like normal. Got a call 2 hours later asking if i had a cheque for them...or should they come back the next day. I said i had put it under they ssaid it wasnt there...got home after work and found the chewed up cheque in peices by the dog house.
I hid the check somewhere else and called them back saying it was up higher my dog ate it, please leave the receipt in the door to the house.
I've found fewer things destroyed lately - dunno if im better at putting things outa reach or its that hes getting out of the puppy stage finally.
1 person likes this
@saundyl (9783)
• Canada
11 May 09
Mine "should" be two by now - the SPCA listed him as a year and a few months when i got him.
Having to worry your tires would be chewed! thats much worse than Zeus. Thankfully these days hes not near as bad as he originally was...but he still brings garbage into the yard from the highway.
@LadyMarissa (12148)
• United States
10 May 09
Mine is 2 years old. He ain't a puppy anymore!!! He's a rather large dog so I find it difficult to find places to hide things that he can't reach. I finally moved my car out of my fenced in yard to the street so he couldn't get to it. I feared that I'd walk out one day to 4 flat tires!!! 
1 person likes this
@moonlitmagikchild (22181)
• United States
11 May 09
i did have a dog like that.. she was an indoors dog but she chewed and destroyed every pair of shoes i had and anything she could get ahold of. she eventually turned on us and tried to attack us so we gave her up in fear of her hurting us.. she was a pound puppy and was really sick when she was born so i am thinking there was some brain damage or something since we were never mean to her or anything..
i would say a pat on the butt would be ok but since you think he was abused before you dont wanna end up opening some floodgate where the dog attacks you because he has flash backs or something..
i dunno what to tell you.. is he a puppy to where he might grow out of it??
1 person likes this
@saundyl (9783)
• Canada
12 May 09
He's grown alot out of the chewing - its not Daily like it was (that drove me insane) now seems to happen every couple weeks.
When i got him he was just over a year old and when any male came to visit (my dad..my uncle...the propane guy) Zeus would take off as far as he could get. Now hes buddy buddy with my dad. I can get in his face and play with him on the ground now without having to worry about him nipping me. He's very gentle and kinda shy when someone new is around.
I've been working with him alot lately and hes doing TONS better at not dancing away or backing off when my tone changes the slightest little bit. I've been reading alot of animal behaviour books to see what i can learn because i really like him 95% of the time - i just have a mad on everytime he wrecks things.
@saundyl (9783)
• Canada
12 May 09
PS. He's an outdoor farm dog - I've noticed a BIG change in how he behaves now that its spring and i can spend more time out there with him and the others - more light out later and its warmer.
He's a pretty nice "little" (not really little but young) guy.
So far he sure takes off when I yell ZEUS in the mad tone (his name before i got him was bob, then mystic, then murphy...and a couple others i dont remember but none sounded like zeus. The vet recommended i pick something that sounded different from his other names...so he didnt associate it with "bad" things)
@GardenGerty (160665)
• United States
9 May 09
Paint hot sauce or something foul tasting on the things you want him not to chew. That is all I can think of. I hope he does not get sick from the batteries, etc.
1 person likes this
@saundyl (9783)
• Canada
10 May 09
Hasn't seemed to get sick from them (they came out whole too so he didnt chew em just swallowed em like a big pill)
I might have to try the hot sauce thing on things that wont stain. I was thinking I'd try some of the "dog off" for things like my lawn chairs and deck chairs.
@Opal26 (17679)
• United States
9 May 09
Hey saundyl! All I can say is that it is a major cry for
attention? The fact that he eats and messes with things that
belong to you or that you put out has something to with it!
I think that he just loves you so much and wants so much to
be with you that he is trying in his "way" to get your attention
even though he doesn't realize that he is going about it the
wrong way! Poor thing! I know that he is making you angry,
but there has to be some way for you both to reach some
kind of common ground, as crazy as it seems! Being that
you already know that he has been abused, it is going to
be extra hard to get him to change his ways. I think that
it is just going to take alot of extra love and patience on
your part! You are such a kind and loving person and you know
animals so well so I think you already knew the answer to this!
1 person likes this
@saundyl (9783)
• Canada
10 May 09
Awww thank you for the compliment Opal . I try so hard to have extra patience with him. It is a new experience having a dog that has been abused...I'm never sure how to handle him without scaring him. He's come around ALOT since i got him. When i did get him he would either try to run or bite when a guy - like my dad or family member came over to visit.
He ADORES my youngest sister.
I was tempted to take him wiht me to an obedience class but the lady who runs them is VERY big on choker chains and using them EXTREMELY firmly...i wouldnt say rough but i had a dog we took to obedience classes through 4-H (was a club event) who didnt need a choker chain and she insisted we use one on him. After 2 trips with him to them we never did take him back to the classes.
. I try so hard to have extra patience with him. It is a new experience having a dog that has been abused...I'm never sure how to handle him without scaring him. He's come around ALOT since i got him. When i did get him he would either try to run or bite when a guy - like my dad or family member came over to visit.
He ADORES my youngest sister.
I was tempted to take him wiht me to an obedience class but the lady who runs them is VERY big on choker chains and using them EXTREMELY firmly...i wouldnt say rough but i had a dog we took to obedience classes through 4-H (was a club event) who didnt need a choker chain and she insisted we use one on him. After 2 trips with him to them we never did take him back to the classes.
@marguicha (223021)
• Chile
9 May 09
DEar saundyl,
I completly understand you. -My german shepherd puppy is a "whatever" earter. He has his favorites of course: ate my garden sprinklers. Now I have to water the garden with a hose. Lola also ate my cacti collection (I had to move the remains). But I´m acusing her of something she didn´t do: she was not after the cacti but liked the pots.
The inocent vet told me to put a rug for her to sllep. She sleeps outside my room (outside the house, it´s a glass window. I was inocent to so I followed his advise. The rug was in shreds in minutes.
Everyone tells me I have to wait two years and then she will quiet down. I have thought of sending her to a school for dogs but they are too expensive.
So... let´s cry together, friend. There´s nothing to do except start putting everything in the roof (until they learn how to get there.
1 person likes this
@saundyl (9783)
• Canada
10 May 09
I'm so glad im not the only one with a Goat for a dog! (my mom calls him the goat cause he eats anything and everything) If its a blanket/quilt with stuffing in it gets destroyed. He does have a flannel sheet he drags around that he hasnt torn to bits and peices.
The only place here that "trains" dogs is a lady i'm not fond of her methods - they arent for a dog who's had bad experiences with humans.
