The dog chewed up my second pair of workboots in two months. Saw red. Had him trained not to chew shoes, but he’s got over it.
Yes, this is completely my fault. We don’t crate the dogs, and I left the boots out where they could get them (again), in a moment of distraction.
It’s easy to say I won’t let it happen again – but I was completely dedicated this time not to leave them out. Do you think I could *treat* the next pair with something to make them dog repellent?
Hover's smartphone app offers an easier way to get precise 3D scans.
"I have learned so much thanks to the searchable articles on the FHB website. I can confidently say that I expect to be a life-long subscriber." - M.K.
Dig into cutting-edge approaches and decades of proven solutions with total access to our experts and tradespeople.
Start Free Trial NowGet instant access to the latest developments in green building, research, and reports from the field.
Start Free Trial Now
Replies
Hot pepper sauce/spray.
Don't know what that'll feel like on your tootsies, tho.
k
Probably the best option, right there. Beats my idea.
Yeah, a little pepper spray'll give them some food for thought. <g>
My neighbor Mertis is a seventy something lady whose mom is a tough 95 year old from the south. Mertis tells the story of how her mom rubbed hot peppers on her own nipples to get Mertis to stop nursing. It worked.
I'm guessing peppers in/on your boots'll hurt less than peppers on her bazooms. Don't scratch your sack, tho.
k
edit- There's also something called "bitter apple" spray sold at pet stores. Kinda works. Kinda.
Edited 3/7/2009 1:14 am ET by KFC
Wouldn't work with any of the dogs I have had.Just adds seasoning. They have all liked the leftovers that have lots of chilis in them.I have never ever seen a dog deterred by pepper spray. Wasp and hornet spray does the trick as a self-defense spray, though. ;o) However, one thing that I have seen make them, and cats immediately move away, is banana peel. Rub the inside of a banana peel on the boots, and they'll stay away from them.Do this every day, and eat the banana. Good for you, and good for the boots.Another thing that deters them is orange oil. You put that stuff on your boots every day, and I think that you won't have to worry about the dogs, because the orange oil will eat your boots.The bitter apple spray works to keep animals off of furniture, etc. But it has to be reapplied often.
....
Urinate on the boots and the dog will realize by smell they are your territory?
To avoid soaking the laces, aim slightly forward while facing the wind. <g>
I was actually wondering about exactly that, as unsavory as it might be.
I have a puncture proof tire on my wheelbarrow. When I needed it for a job, I went out back, and my dog had eaten a huge chunk out of it. I could'a killed him. Those things are like 50 bucks, IIRC. Fortunately I have a few around, so I was at least able to go to work.
"...craftsmanship is first & foremost an expression of the human spirit." - P. Korn
bakersfieldremodel.com
Work boots... I'd be pizzzed!
We got 2 good sized dogs, and the one has never done anything wrong - except bark at the unfriendly neighbor... Other one had a few probs - chewed up the hot tub cover. Another time my wife got new wicker furniture for the screened porch, We went out for dinner that night. Got home - guess what??? Actually it wasn't too bad but I think DW cried over it.
OTOH, if it makes you feel any better, we dog owners know the love we receive is unconditional. Non pet owners just don't get it. No arguing. Always want to watch the same TV channel is me, always happy to see me, never pizzed when I come home 3 hrs late smelling like beer. Always lets me be right. Only gets mildly jellious when i pet a strange dog. Never calls me to ask where I am and what time I'm coming home...
I don't have any suggestions but wonder if you forget on occasion to put the boots away what makes you think you will remember to treat the boots with whatever to keep them away from them? I am a habit person so if I start putting something in one location after about a week I will always do it. But since we all have different personalities that may not work for you. DanT
What ya got there is equal parts lonely and bored.
The boots smell like you, so he's expressing his anxiety
about missing you by chomping on YOUR redwings.
He's a canine so by nature he's designed to chew on stuff.
Lots of chew toys.
Let him know they are his toys and the boots are your toys.
Pepper spray would only make him find something else of yours to
destroy.
crate the dog.
i have to admidt----- first time I saw this it seemed cruel--- but the customer told me the dog actually LIKEs it--------- later that morning I watch the dog walk into HIS crate on his own-- and lie down and take a nap with the door open.
currently have 2 large Labs-- the oldest is 11 years old- we crated her untill she was about18 months-----24 months-and she has had free run of the houses since with no problems---- the youngest is 5 months---she will be crated the same way-at least untill she is 2 years old.
she frequently takes naps in her open crate---on her own
bitter apple spray works well for TV cords and wicker furniture etc.--- pretty sure it would wash right off your boots in the first dew covered grass you walk in
BTW--- pup is lounging in her crate(open0 watching me type this right now.
stephen
This one chewed my brand new boots sitting on the stairs last evening, She was loose in the house all day with the boots, but waited till I got home and sneaked over to chew them. I have no real suggestions, as I have never been able to understand dog behavior. Here she is with a shoe I gave her to chew on.
I dopped a line to Mom, ( she's worked for the same vet for 29 years, so I defer all dog questions to her).
She said that they have an ointment that they apply to dogs incisions after surgery that's a hot pepper type taste, so the dogs lick once.....they don't lick again.
Crate training is fantastic....Have two labs myself. They're both well behaved now, but when they were younger, ( Labs are notorious chewers) we crated them during the night, and when we weren't home. They both loved it....half the time they went in there without being put in there....just felt safe I think.
Bing
Hi mark. =0)"Here she is with a shoe I gave her to chew on."So, you like to train your dogs to chew on your shoes, 'eh ?;o)
....
I was hoping she would know hers from mine. I think she does because she sneaks when she has my sneaks, but she chews on hers out in the open. And she doesn't touch anything when I'm away.
But sometimes the dogs provide for job security:
Like when your customer uses the spare bath as a kennel for the two Lab puppies.
They chewed through the drywall in several places, chewed through the cold-water supply to the sink, almost escaped by chewing through the Masonite raised-panel door, and chewed halfway through the molded casing and the jamb.
Oh, and I'm still trying to figure out how they broke a big chunk of porcelain off of the toilet.
I'm a little confused as to how they chewed through the door of the closet down the hall -- I haven't gotten all the details yet -- but I think the customers swapped out the doors when it looked like the dogs were going to get out of the bathroom, put the bathroom door on the closet, and gave them a new door to start on.
I'll get more details at our Sunday meeting.
My plan is to get the plumber in to shut everything off and demo the fixtures...
Then I'll send the dogs back in to finish demoing the drywall!
AitchKay
PS The dogs seem extremely proud of themselves, eager to help, and overjoyed to have my company. I've got a good feeling about this crew.
Hey at least he is only eating boots. I have a freind with a very freindly german shepard that likes to eat sidewalls on visiting cars.
One of his neighbors had an ambulance call at their house, the police responded also parking in my freinds driveway. Would have loved to see that cops face when he returned to find his 2 fronts were on the rim.
Man I had this thread all wrong.
But this is pretty impressive,
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/46811/a_rock_climbing_dog/
View Image
Mike
Small wheel turn by the fire and rod, big wheel turn by the grace of god.
Crating is good. As Hazlett said. They do like it. A place of security.
Another way is to occupy/tire them out with something else to chew. There are a variety of 'kong' type toys--you know the one, it's rubber, hollow--that you can pack with peanut butter or some other sticky impossible substance that they will chew and lick at until fully satiated and sleep until you get home. The dog is bored.
I don't think pizzing on your boots will work... I think you'd just have some dogpizz to deal with when you got back in...
Sour apple or pepper, I don't think so. Then you'd just have "thai boot" night for the dog.
Our lab became so focused on the composter--ripping thru new fortifications every week--wood, chicken wire, hardware cloth... nothing stopped him. He'd get in there and fillhimself near to bursting on pineapple rinds, coffee grounds, old potatoes, butt ends of bread... He'd #### 19 times in a day and we feared he'd stop himself up for good... Finally I got an idea and rigged up this remotely triggered pepper spray can above the composter. "We'll show him!!"
My wife pulled the string one night while he was fully in there--I was at work--and engulfed him in a cloud of red haze. He bolted out into the yard, yelping and rubbing his face all over. He came to the door, eyes all pinched up, fur a red tinge.
Next day he was right back at it. All we'd done is abuse him with our cruel trick (which was pretty damn funny at first until we felt sorry for what we'd pulled on him). A week or two later he was off the composter after we started running him nearly to death every afternoon.
Good luck!
First of all, ya gotta be smarter than the dog.
Then , teach that dog what NO means in no uncertain terms..who's in charge? You or him?
I have 4 in the house at any given time, and they know, whats mine is mine and whats thiers is mine too. I don't have room for crates, so we have a deal..you listen, you play and eat, and you sleep. You will also learn to read my body language and if I'm not paying attn to you, there is a reason..not that you are bad, I'm busy. They learn.
So far, no shoes have fallen victim, but they can skin a tennis ball like an orange. (G)
Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Repairs, Remodeling, Restorations
They kill Prophets, for Profits.
Some dogs are chewers; others are not. Some can be trained not to chew things up; others can only be prevented from chewing things on a one-incident-at-a-time basis. The underlying problem remains. For dogs like that, the only solution is to keep the dog away from everything you don't want chewed, or to get rid of the dog and find another which doesn't have that behavioural problem.
Dogs have long memories, but weak memory-connection skills. Which is to say, they cannot connect one act with another unless the two acts occur simultaneously, but they are capable of remembering something once learned. Punishing a dog only corrects the bad behaviour when the punishment is applied while the dog is actually doing what you don't want him to do. Two minutes later is too late. If you come downstairs in the morning and find your boots chewed, you can shove the dog's nose in the chewed boots and then whomp him, but he won't understand why he's being whomped. Score--Dog, 0; You, minus 1.
You've gotta catch him in the act, otherwise, don't bother. You'll only confuse the poor bugger.
My suggestion for your problem: try putting a 'tip-over' alarm in your boots, so it will sound when the dog grabs them. The alarm itself will scare the pooch some, but it will also alert you so you can catch him in the act and apply a punishment he will understand.
If that doesn't work--get a new dog or crate your boots.
Dinosaur
How now, Mighty Sauron, that thou art not brought
low by this? For thine evil pales before that which
foolish men call Justice....
Edited 3/7/2009 1:47 pm ET by Dinosaur
get up a few hours early throw the dog in the back of your truck , find a steep hill , let dog out , you drive up hill calling you dog , load him up after he is so tired he cannt see straight ,every thing at your house will be chew proof
Here is the short version of what you need to learn to do. Take off your boots in front of the dog. Let him look at them, when he turns his attention away, you immediately praise him. Better... you use a clicker and praise and a treat. (Look up clicker training.) You repeat this over and over... every time he turns away from the boots, you praise and treat. The dog will soon associate leaving the boots alone with good things and will then cease to chew them. Crating, yelling, spray will all keep your boots intact but will also leave the inappropriate behavior intact.
I'm no expert dog trainer, but I've listened to a lot of them when seeking help with my own dog. I have learned to be a passable trainer, he's learned more than I... I think he's the smart one.
So,1- Show him your boots.
2- Make him wait.
3- Give him treat. Yeah, sounds like a plan! :)
http://www.theperfectdog.com I got this for my dog, a neurotic coonhound who is very friendly and loving, would listen to me when it was convenient, but wouldn't listen to my wife for anything, and in less than a week it was like we had a completely different dog. She is happier, calmer, and does whatever I tell her to do (or not to do)! I know it sounds like a gimmick, but it really does work. I had tried everything before, but with this system, it is like the light was finally turned on in my dogs head that I am the boss - and she likes it when I am the boss. Worth every penny.