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My husband and I are new puppy owners- this is our first dog together, and we're working through what it means to be puppy parents!

Monday, August 9, 2010

Do puppies change overnight?

So... I'm not sure what happened between yesterday and today, but Kirby has discovered that he has a big dog voice, and that he can use it easily. He also has discovered that he LOVES to chew on cords. We thought we had puppy proofed our house appropriately- there hasn't been a problem at all... until this morning. I don't know if any of you are video game people... (Stan makes video games... so we play a lot) but our wii nunchuck was the first expensive casualty of puppy ownership. I would take a picture to show you, but I think Stan got rid of it immediately so he wouldn't have to look at it.

If that wasn't enough, he keeps going back for more! We have laptops up on the couch (that's pretty normal for us) but the surge protector is plugged in behind the couch, and I'm terrified he's going to chomp down on that... I have the back of the couch blocked off for now, but seriously- we have to have things plugged in in our home... that's part of living here. I'm going to try another round of bitter apple and hope that does it... We also have some cat/dog repellant that is scent based, and we can't really smell it... maybe that will do the trick.

Any other ideas? I used to have this quiet puppy who knew his chew toys, and now I have a loud cord chewer. I wish he had chosen our wooden table or chairs instead of cords. I mean, it would still be bad, but not life threatening bad. :/

6 comments:

  1. Hehe. Sounds to me like Kirby is turning into a dog! LOL. Simba wants me to tell you that he loves the taste of bitter apple so it attracts him to things more than before. Boundry Dog Repellent (http://www.amazon.com/Lambert-Kay-Boundary-Outdoor-Repellent/dp/B0002AQS0O) has worked very well for those puppy chewing times. The chewing and naughty behavior doesn't last forever, even though it seems that way. I had Simba on leash and attached him on my waist during those times so that one, he gets exercise and is tired, and two, so that he doesn't get into anything. However, most people won't do that, so, use the boundry pet repellent. It isn't very expensive, and is sold at Petsmart and maybe Petco too...I don't shop at Petco so Im not sure...but I do know its at Petsmart! Or, you can just pull aside the petsmart trainer and ask which pet repellent that they sell works best and they will tell you. May or may not be boundry. It all depends on your dog and what they don't like! I have a friend that had to use hot sauce all over their walls to stop the dogs from chewing the drywall..yuck! So, guess that proves that each dog is different.

    Simbas worst habbit at the moment is stealing anything left out and trotting around the house with it. Yesterday he stole 4 socks, 3 water bottles, 2 pens, a notebook, a peice of paper, a box of Cheezits, and my cell phone. Yea! He seems to have this idea that he is so funny and cute when he does those things. Yeah right! Guess its back on the leash all the time for him. Hehe. Puppies..can't live with em, can't live without em. LOL!

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  2. OMG i could hold a seminar on examples of puppy chewing! dash has gotten to everything, including the cords behind the couch (so beware). the bitter spray has worked for us but its like a never ending conquest. we spray something and the next day he finds something new to chew on. we also used those cord covers that stick the cords to the wall and he puled those off. now everything electronic is blocked off and fully covered in a new entertainment center. and we got rid of the lamp. no cords anywhere.

    i definitely agree about tired dogs not chewing as much. now that we have a dog walker and papa runs dash more there is definitely less damage. well, that and we've either bitter sprayed or hide pretty much everything in the living room when we leave the house...

    good luck!!

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  3. Heh heh, Ryker devoured 4 pair of my Rx glasses! He went through phases. He is no longer an inappropriate chewer and has curbed his barking somewhat. He still likes to counter surf and take his stolen food goodies out the cat door to the yard to enjoy!
    Some have tried lemon juice or cayenne pepper as a deterrent. I just tried to block or cover the area.
    Good luck, this too will pass : ) Then you'll be saying where did my little puppy go!
    ~Sandy

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  4. Oh no!!
    I do hope Kirby's little new interest will disappear quickly!!
    You might have to confine him to an area without cords!

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  5. You mean he's just now doing this? Reuben has had a sample taste of nearly everything we own. lol Our baseboards in the bathroom are great examples. He's also chomped through some chords. Jason's expensive DJ headphones were trashed when Reuben chewed through the chord last week. It cost $200 to replace them. There are some nicks in our laptop charger chords and various other things. I found out that the bitter spray does not work for me at all. In fact, he licks it. But for a while, he didn't like it, but it seemed to wear off within a day or two, so you kept having to re-spray it. But someone said their dog loved the bitter spray too and they found out that nothing works quite like red peppper and water in a spray bottle OR straight tobasco. I've been using the tobasco and Reuben HATES it. Once he got a taste, he shook his head and sneezed. He ran away and has never looked back at those baseboards again!

    As for barking, Reuben has been barking nonstop since we got him. He can get really loud and he barks at a lot of things. He also barks during play. He's just always been very vocal and very loud. I'm working with the trainer to help. She says saying his name to do the "look at me" will get his attention off of what he was barking at and so once he looks at you, give treat. Another idea she gave is the "Thats Enough" statement. You have to create a whole new "moment" for him that will completely take his attention to you. Once you say "That's Enough" that means something really awesome is about to happen. She said "That's Enough" and she started out by being at the fridge and start chunking cheese out of it onto the floor. Creating a moment that was way more awesome than whatever he's barking at. Before you know it "That's Enough" will give him your full attention.

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  6. I’ve just popped in to say I have given you an award, Its ok if you don’t want to except it, cus it might not be your kinder thing or you might already have it, and it comes with some conditions, the reason you have got it is you are one of my recently discovered blogs and think your blog is fantastic. I have put a link from my blog to your blog on the post”Awards from my furiends”. Pop over to me blog and see if you would like it. It’s the one with the butterfly on.
    See Yea George xxx

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