"Bad Boggs!" HELP

How long has Boggs been with you, dupre?

Both Bailey and Cleo did some damage when I first adopted them. Bailey was in late puppyhood, so he had a bit of an excuse, but Cleo was just going through some adjustment stress. The chewing was actually one of the less annoying problems (her submission urination was probably what drove me craziest).

When does he chew? Are you around when he does it? Does he have preferred places to lie down and chew? Is it part of his going to sleep ritual? Where are his toys when he is chewing?

Thanks, ehBeth, for your response.

I adopted him in January and he did have adjustment stress. You've heard of the alpha dog? Boggs is the omega. He cowered at everything, especially the stairs and the longhorns. But, he seems to have adjusted just fine, now.

Last time we had to leave him here, he scratched up a door. I DO feel responsible because I didn't have his toys with him and I usually make a game out of leaving lots of treats scattered about for him to find and I DO fill up his, what do you call it?, his toy with peanut butter-covered treats to keep him occupied.

Last night when he got the remote, which we usually keep out of his reach, I was sleeping downstairs and Mr. dupre upstairs and Boggs roamed freely between us two. Boggs's toys were available and I had even left him with a corn cob. You may ask, why a corn cob. OK, it's a favorite of his, actually designed as a treat for pigs. I DO have to think outside of the box with this dog. He's just so unusually large. I have considered horse toys for him. He destroys regular dog toys almost instantly.

I'm truly wondering if another pet would be a good friend for Boggs. He gets along well with one of the barn cats, but the other animals, horses, pigs, and cows--and the deer!--stay away from him. Our son's boxer comes to visit and they play and kiss and are adorable, if a bit rowdy.

Last time he chewed out of his harness, out of desperation we tied it in his mouth and taped his mouth shut. An old training trick suggested by a professional. It did work for a while, I guess. He does seem to want to please.

Would a muzzle work? Or would it be too cruel? At what age would he grow out of this?

Boggs get bones all the time. He's got a "mastedon" bone now.

Thanks.

Hmmmmm..... Well, my sister's dog is on doggie anti-anxiety pills. Maybe Boggs would benefit from these?

Hmmm.

We had a dog who was a chewer beyond belief (he destroyed a couch, broke a window [by swinging a fireplace bellows around], etc.). I think we dropped a grand in destroyed merchandise.

If a crate isn't it then a few ideas/suggestions.

1 - the chew toys, bones and Kong are great. Definitely keep it up. It's good to give him appropriate stuff so that he can be praised. It's tough for a dog, particularly one with little confidence, when all that happens is he's scolded.
2 - I think you need to dog-proof the house, at least for now. That means all humans keep the remotes some place where Boggs can't get at them. It means shoes go into closets and the closet doors are closed 24/7 unless they are opened to get something or put something away. It means doors to some rooms may be closed regularly. This is for your own sanity and to save you $$.
3 - consider how and when he chews. Is it when you're out? Maybe all you need is a dogsitter. Is it when the dog is stressed? Maybe you need a way to calm him down. Is it because he's bored? Well, he can't play video games but maybe there are ways you can keep him occupied.
4 - when you are out, no matter what you do, you will need to shut off portions of the house because he has not yet shown you that he can be trusted everywhere. Again, this is to save you money. He will be distressed if he can't see out a window, particularly in the front, so try to make it so that he can, if that's at all possible. Areas without doors can be closed off with baby gates (yes, the kind you buy for babies). He may chew at the gates (since he seems to chew everything else) but it's worth a shot. Close whatever doors you can as he can't open those.

A muzzle won't help much (I don't think) because he needs his mouth, since he doesn't have hands. After all, don't you want him to be able to bark if there's an intruder when you're not at home? Plus, he needs to be able to pant if he's hot (dogs don't sweat) and/or drink water. A regular muzzle won't prevent any of that, anyway. All a regular muzzle will do is prevent him from biting (which doesn't sound like it's a problem), and rigging something more confining doesn't seem to be a solution.

We had a pit bull mix and she was very intelligent (this isn't the same dog as the one who chewed everything - he was a Rottweiler/Doberman mix). Smart dogs, thank God, are very trainable. So get him out and work on training him, either in a class or one on one. And it's not necessarily "don't chew" training I'm talking about. Really, it's any kind of training, from sit to heel to whatever. Boggs, like every other dog, will love it when he does good things. He'll love praise. He'll love to know what a good, smart dog he can be. Every victory will help. Right now, he's lost. He doesn't know what to do to please you and he's anxious. Since he can't bite his nails or smoke, he takes out his anxieties by chewing everything in sight. So learning what's good behavior, and how wonderful it is to be a good dog and be rewarded, will help a lot with his anxiety.

Also, you don't say (at least I don't think you do) how old he is. Dogs younger than 18 months do a lot more chewing than older dogs. Very young dogs chew because they're teething, and older dogs in this age group chew because they're rowdy teenagers.

Finally, if all else fails, contact the vet. There are anti-anxiety medications, and they can take the edge off his nervousness and save everyone's sanity, if no other methods work.

jespah, I think you hit on it. He IS ANXIOUS to please, and yet, we don't require that he do anything. The training will help him feel as smart and good as he is, and I hope will relieve his anxiety. Yes! I will start tomorrow. Thank you!

Training is a brilliant idea. I'm so glad jes suggested it.

Bailey, my original rescue, has done 3 levels of training - has his AKC CGC and basic agility. Cleo, the girlDoggie often seen in Setanta's avatars, has completed basic and will be starting advanced obedience on September 7. She was already 3 years old when I got her - not properly socialized at all. Even basic obedience has made an extraordinary difference in her/my/our life. Knowing what she can/should do made her a much happier dog. Right now we are working on identifying 'her' blanket for her - part of the final exam for advanced is successful response to a 'go to your blanket and settle' - where the blanket will be 30 feet away from me. If we conquer that one, we will all be very very happy.

Good luck, dupre. Let us know how it goes with your 'good dog'.

oh - you've got a smart dog, so your chances of success are excellent, as long as YOU are consistent. The instructors keep pounding the handler's consistency as being the key to all of this.

Best of luck to Miss Cleo on her blanket ID test!

We never did particularly formal training but I noticed it made a difference. With Jake, it was either train him to heel or set me up for back surgery. He also had his own place to sleep (we were softies and often had him on the bed) but that also made a difference, as he knew where he was supposed to go and what he was supposed to do.

Best of luck with Boggs! Labs love to fetch and pit bulls love to be with their people, so it sounds like your reward system can focus on attention and a ball (e. g. games of fetch). I bet he'd also like "go find it" or "go find ____ (someone in the house)".

Oh, thanks for the direction! Playing with Boggs has been tough, since he's such an omega. When I have his toys for fetch or keep away, he's like, "OK, you want it, you can have, it's yours. No problem. I don't have any rights to my things. I don't have any rights, at all."

Finally, just the other day, he brought me a ball and bounced it in front of me. I was thrilled!

I did teach him to heel. Not easy, since he has a gimpy leg. He would keep bumping into me, and since he's such a whimp, he would cower between my legs. I had to work with him because Mr. dupre cannot be bumped. HE has a GIMPY leg, too!

Boggs would play dog-play, tackle, by running into me from the back and making me fall, gently. I had to break him of that in a hurry. And it really broke my heart, because I know he was trying to "connect" in an appropriate way.

In the meantime, none of the Longhorns, horses, or pigs wanted to be his playmate, either.

Mostly, we roll around on the floor, and the game is not really specific. I think the purpose is to see who can submit by crawling under the other one first.

Suggestions?

I want to emphasize that Boggs came to us this way.

We have not yelled at him or beaten him.

We didn't even mention the "remote control" issue to him at all, since we didn't catch him in the act, you know.

Well, Mr. dupre did throw a boot at him, but he was really upset about that.

Do you know Boggs' history? It sounds to me like he's had some bad dealings in the past, poor thing. Heel is great; I've found it's the best way to connect with a dog. Jake and Chewie both heeled with me, and when we got Knight he already knew how to heel. Shadow never heeled with me and I have a scar on my left arm from her pulling at me while I was chatting for a minute with a neighbor (my arm was pulled along the top of the neighbor's chain link fence - it was not a happy day for me or Shadow). I also had a bad back with Shadow, and the feeling of how painful it was to walk her colored my whole experience with her.

Anyway, that's my roundabout way of saying heeling is a good thing. :-D

Fantastic that he brought you something! It's weird that he relinquishes all of his things with you. I bet he would cower if you raised your voice or used a shake can, so I'd advise against those methods. Probably, as much positive reinforcement as possible, and no negative reinforcement unless absolutely necessary (e. g. you catch him in the act of chewing or peeing or whatever).

I think Chewie was the most submissive dog we had (he was also the chewer, hence the name, but was probably also our smartest dog) and I recall playing with him in a very doggie way, e. g. we'd wrestle around on the floor and it would end when I would pin him. Sometimes I'd put my mouth on his throat (of course I wouldn't bite him or shake him). And that's something a dog understands - it's dominance and submission and he knows he's submissive and this is what the dominant pack member does. He also learned remarkably quickly. Things I had to repeat several times with Jake were learned on the first or second try with Chewie. Chewie had come from the streets and was young (I think he was about 10 months old), so he was a dog who'd lived by his wits. So, unfortunately, he would steal food, as he remembered what it was like to be starving. No matter what we fed him, or how tired he was, or how many snacks he'd had, if we left food at his level (and he was a long dog, so he could reach pretty high up when he was on his back legs), he'd go for it. And he'd go after the oddest things, like salad with dressing, which is something I think most dogs would find awful-tasting.

Apparently long lasting chews are very good for dogs dental health and they keep them busy for long hours. Try giving Dogsee Chew treats to your dogs. They are from the Himalayas.

As this thread was started more than twelve years ago, and Dupre has not posted here for many, many years, i suspect that your attempt to flog your dog treat product will not be successful

Hello, Setanta. I just happened to check in and see this post. I don't even remember Boggs chewing on things at this point. He was a great dog.

Good to see you drop in when you think of it.

Hi, Roger! I've been so busy working two jobs and hobbies and housework. There's always so much going on. Still, I just got laid off and have some time before it all starts back up. LOL. Happy to see some familiar names still on the site. Looked around for some topic to contribute to, but didn't see anything so far. Thanks for saying hi!

Dupre, it's very good to see you. There's a lot of politics going on here now, even more than usual, but there are still some other interesting threads. I don't remember when you stopped posting, but now you can put a subject into the search forums window (on the right in the new posts page) and just put in the word dogs and a zillion thread titles will show up. I don't remember if you know about tags, but tags are another word for "forums". So, we have lots and lots of forums.

Great to see your name again!

Thanks for the tips and it's awesome to see you!