Chewing and Digging

Name: Alysa
Email: oradatalysan@yahoo.com
Date: 2007-01-25 19:03:47

my question is a toughie. I have rescued a deaf australian mix in to my home and i truly believe she is the PERFECT dog. but she has one MAJOR down fall.-she chews through and on everything. she eats cables and-most troublesome- digs THROUGH the screens on the patio. we then applied lattice to the exterior to prevent this. the determined little girl then decided to eat THROUGH the lattice and then proceed to dig through the scree. she ate through here teather and everything else in LESS THAN AN HOUR. she's only alone for a very short time daily but either she is very bored, very lonely, or simply very destructive. i have tried sprays, toys, lattice, and teathers. if i cannot find a solution, my family will remove her. i cant bear to let that happen! PLEASE HELP!!

Date: 2007-01-25 22:00:40

Hi Alysa I have a couple of suggestions that might help. Dogs are normally destructive when they do not get enough exercise so before you leave I would recommend taking her for a long run or walk to help tire her out. In terms of sprays, for tougher dogs I recommend vinegar or jalapeno juice. I would also try leaving her with a stuffed kong (you can stuff it with kibble or peanut butter) and some people even put the goodies in the kong and freeze it so it takes the dog longer to get it out. You could even freeze chicken or beef broth, too. another option is to get a kiddie wading pool and fill it with sand and then bury some bones and toys and when you catch her digging in the yard, send her to the wading pool. If she can find buried treasures, she might be more likely to dig in that spot again. Another option may be to train her with a beep/vibrator collar. These are very popular training devices for deaf dogs and dogs that are easily distracted. Basically you give her a command that she already knows and activate the collar until she follows through. Make sure to reinforce all of your commands and have consequences if they don't listen. Dogs need exercise, discipline and affection. Make sure she has a warm place if she is outside or a cool place if it is in the summer. Hopefully some of these suggestions may help. Please keep me posted on her progress.

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