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Help please. I have an English Bulldog who is 17 months old (sm)

Posted: May 21, 2011

and he is chewing the molding in my house and has chewed now 2 pair of my husbands work boots (totalling over $300 worth in the boots alone). I have bought him toys, he is exercised and gets LOTS of attention but I honestly have no idea what else to do. Needless to say it is causing loads of friction between myself and my husband and I am at my wits end. For the dog lovers/experts out there, do you have any suggestions please???? He was originally my daughter and son-in-law's dog, my son-in-law was deployed and because of my daughter's schedule we took him in. He is a very, very sweet little guy, is extremely intelligent but I just have no idea how to break him from these habits. He never did this when he lived with them. He has been with me now for about 6 months and this only started about a month or so ago. At this point I believe that we are close to over $500 damage to the molding. I even have a collar that I put around his neck before bed and when we go out but he still manages to do damage. I have placed a baby gate up to keep him from going into our room so that he can no longer get to any shoes. Again, I am at my wits end. Any ideas, recommendations, anything, would be greatly, GREATLY appreciated!

;

suggestions - noni

[ In Reply To ..]
I'm probably not the one to answer this because things like that just don't bother me. I always encourage my dogs and cats to be free spirits, as long as they aren't doing anything dangerous to their health. I have also learned to put things like leather shoes in a closed closet. :) Probably the only method I use is to distract them if they're doing something destructive. No yelling, no spanking, just happy talk and getting them interested in something I want them to do.

Having said that, your dog is still a puppy and has had changes in his very short life that might be stressful to him. I would suggest that you get Rescue Remedy to put in his water or on his ears to chill him out a bit.

I don't really recommend this but Bitter Orange can be put on things to deter chewing. It works on some dogs because they won't go back to something that tastes so terrible. However, you need to be vigilant because if he happens to one of the rare ones who likes it, too much of it isn't good for him.

You can get both of these things at your local pet supply store.

Please just remember that he's a baby and doesn't have reasoning powers. He's doing what feels good to him. He'll stop when he gets a little older.

one more thing - noni

[ In Reply To ..]
When you catch him chewing, bend down, put one hand on each side of his face so that you have eye contact, lower your voice and say very sternly but not yelling, no chew. Do that every time, and he'll soon catch on. Well, maybe not all that soon, but he will.

English Bulldog...sm - GT

[ In Reply To ..]
With all due respect to Noni's suggestions....My sister-in-law and her husband have an English Bulldog puppy known as Grunt. He's a cutie but what a handfull!!!! He's also very young, about the same age as your's. Visiting them is very traumamtic for me. He must weigh over 100 pounds and he will jump on me with his huge paws, nearly knocking me down and scratching me. I know he just wants attention but he's a real health hazard to one's safety. They now have their 8-month-old great granddaughter in the home and are naturally concerned for her safety. Needless to say, taking him by the face and looking into his eyes and telling him, "no" wouldn't cut it. He would slobber all over you and then proceed to jump all over you. What they have done is fill a spray bottle with water and when he misbehaves, he gets a squirt in the face. It's not harmful in any way. I also am an animal lover....so to all my fellow animal lovers who venture to say how horrible, cruel, etc.....you don't know Grunt. Until you do, reserve judgement. He is becoming a more respectful, well-mannered puppy and without any harm done, except to his ego. That's my suggestion. You may take it or leave it. ; )

spray bottles - noni

[ In Reply To ..]
I don't have a problem with spray bottles if they work. I had a rescue lab with issues, and a hard plastic bottle with pennies in it that I shook when he was being obnoxious worked quite well. I've also stepped on hind toes on a jumping-up dog. Taking my lab by the face and telling him no chew worked fine though, and he was extremely hyper.

However, in most instances, I've found that positive reinforcement works best and both "parties" can feel good about it. While my animals might be free spirits, they are well mannered and no problem for others to be around. Right now I have two cats who were rescued off the street as 4-week old kittens after their mother was killed by a car. They're 4 years old now and definitely not cat-like. They aren't afraid of anything, storms included, and don't get up on things except the couch, which they're allowed to do. When they got up on counters or tables, I would pick them up, say "I don't want you to do that," hug them and put them on the floor.

Most dogs and cats just want to please.

I tend to agree...sm - GT

[ In Reply To ..]
with most of what you say. I think any pet's demeanor will reflect the type of owners they have and I also know that all pets have their own types of personalities...hyper, calm and somewhere in between. This pup, however, was waaaay over the top, never still and always jumping. Stepping on his toes would have signaled play time. LOL They had a small stick they popped him with for awhile because people/family just quit coming around. It wasn't worth it to have to fight off this little cyclone. I guess they decided to try something less aggressive and it seems to be working well.

Crate train - OHMT

[ In Reply To ..]
I am coming to this conversation late, but the VERY best thing to save your posessions and your house would be to crate train the dog and crate it whenever you are away from the house. Do not use it as punishment. My dog loves his crate and often goes in during the day to snooze. I leave the door open when I am home. When I leave I throw a couple of cookies in and tell him to kennel up and he plops himself in and lays right down. Good luck.

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