HELP.... My Puppy.. **Updated**

He's a puppy, and he's teething. He's doing all the right things - from his perspective. Have you got a Kong for him? What type of dog is he?

Did you have your other dog as a puppy as well? Was it the same breed?

Don't smack. Don't yell. There's a good chance that by giving him attention you're making it worse at this stage.

see he gets all the attention of the house ... hes spoilt

and too naughty

hes a

silky x foxy x chiwawa x king charles spanial (spelling?)

my old dog was a border collie x terrier

we had him from 6 weeks old ...

i thinkt he difference is that my old dog we picked up as a stray he had been dumped ...

the new dog has been spoilt since day one

cant i like put something on the shoes???

its driving me insane its the 7th pair he has totaly destroyed in the house

and the 10th he has had a go at!

You can try putting bitter apple on your shoes, most pet supply shops carry it. He'll just move on to something else nice and chewy - and inappropriate unless you give him something you can encourage him to chew on. A small Kong would probably be just entrancing for him right now.

My older dog was about 10 months when I brough him in - he destroyed several shoes, and two door frames until I got him a Kong. I put a couple of small dog biscuits inside, and then some peanut butter. Kept him busy for hours, and then he'd fall asleep til I got home.

Of course he's spoiled, he's your baby! You may have let him get the upper hand, but you've got to get the control back without making him try to punish you in response.

Have you been to dog school with him yet? That would probably also help quite a bit. Give him some things to work on when he's at home. Dogs like jobs.

Chihuahua-crosses are usually reasonably smart - they don't do well when they're bored.

You have to puppy-proof the house! Like when you have a baby crawling around. Keep the bathroom door closed, keep your shoes in the closet. Keep all trash closed away. Etc etc.

I raised a boxer from puppy-hood. Nothing can be worse than that! Ha! I love her to bits now. Just remember your little poochie won't be a puppy for ever.

Like ehBeth says, he's a puppy! You just have to be vigilant in keeping items you don't want destroyed away from him. I don't think it has as much to do with him being spoiled as it does being a different personality from your other dog. My parents have had two dogs. (Different times.) Both were spoiled beyond belief. The first one had her chewing phase, but overall she wasn't that bad. The second one was a chewin' nightmare. She didn't really mature until about 18 months of age. She's no longer a chewer and destroyer of anything in her sights!

thanx heaps guys...

hes still in trouble tho! lol

i have a kong for him .. i havent tryed peanut butter? might try that!

he has a toy box full of toys and had/has a stuffed eyore (from winnie the poo) that he loves its like his security blanket... i just brought him 5 little soft balls hes having fun with them...

Hopefully he will grow out of it soon.... living with 7 people in the one house its a bit hard for everyone to put everything away and close doors for some reason even after 9 months of him living here!

just a testing time i spose... i was just so angry this morning they were such cool shoes!

but like u have all said hes my baby and i love him
and now hes got the runs i think he ate something from the compost so i cant be mad at him now! lol

thanx again

Brooke and Mini Unit

what about getting him some rawhide to chew on. I dunno.. It's been forever since my dogs were puppies, but they loved them.... and most of my stuffed animals. but still maybe rawhide will save one shoe?. i dunno.

When my dog was a little puppy, I had to keep the bathroom door closed. If I didn't, he'd go in the bathroom and pull the toliet paper out the door and all over the house!

He's an adult dog now, but he still likes to eat paper napkins!

my dog likes tissues that have been used to blow a nose.

The thing you can put on your shoes is the closet door. What I mean is, as is stated above, you need to puppy-proof the house. That means, you need to learn, if your dog has chewed your shoes in the past, he might again, so keep the closet door closed. If he's taken food off the table (you didn't mention this; I'm giving it as a for-instance), make sure the table is cleared. Until the dog is trained, you'll need to keep control by changing the things that you can. Closing a closet door is easy. Keeping food out of reach is easy.

Prolly just teething, for the most part, so ditto all that's already been said. Puppies are great destroyers around a year of age.

Question, though: does the destructiveness increase when he is alone? There is normal chewing, and then there is the destruction that comes from separation anxiety. If this is the case, you need to get him used to being separated from other people while they are in the house so that it's not so strange to him when the house is empty. Perhaps there is a laundry room that can be his room sometimes. (This is also often a good room for a small dog when you're out of the house, as it's generally easy to keep puppy proofed.)

Just a thought. It's probably not an issue, as you had the little guy at his imprinting age, so he probably doesn't feel too insecure about his status and safety, but I thought I'd throw it out there.

(The only thing that stopped our destructive little beast -- he tore up the kitchen and bathroom floors while we were at work -- was getting another dog, but he is kind of a special-needs dog. Several homes in the first three months, little human contact when he was 7-8 weeks, terrified of human contact by the time we got him...)

Holy crap, I'd never heard of a Kong before. Check this out.

http://vetmeddirect.com/pages/Toys-Kong.html

Since he can't be trusted to roam the house alone, consider using a crate. If he's in the crate when you can't supervise him, he can't get into trouble. Pad the crate with a blanket, add his toys and enjoy.

Even if he isn't an outdoor dog, he needs exercise. The poor pup has too much personality for four walls. Tired dogs sleep and sleeping dogs don't chew.

Another chew toy - all of my dogs have loooved cardboard rolls. Anything that's finished - paper towels, large rolls of wrapping paper, they went nuts. It keeps them occupied for, oh, about 3 minutes until it's ripped to smithereens, but he likes paper, it won't hurt him, and it's trash anyway.

Echoing here - if people don't want their shoes chewed they need to put them away. Can't blame the dog - he's not the one who left them out.

Anytime he chews, remove him and give him the toy - replacement therapy as it were. And don't get lazy - do it everytime. At 10 months he's a little old to still be chewing on everything. However, my golden chewed the little plastic tips off of shoelaces until she died at 14 years - just hated the things, I guess.

Do watch out for indiscriminate eating, though, especially in the little guys. A bit of rope (or even paper, though the odds are slim) can wreak havoc in the gut and can end up costing a lot in vet bills (to say nothing of the pup's health). I'm speaking from experience here. If you're puppy is swallowing stuff that shouldn't be swallowed, you could be asking for trouble -- and this includes bits of stuffed animals and rope chew toys.

cjhsa - Kongs rule! at least in the lives of my little dogs. Kongs have saved shoes, furniture, my sanity ...

Have you considered an obedience class, DrFlawless? (or what ever these classes are called in your part of the world.)
A friend of mine was really concerned about her dog's reckless behavior when she was walking him. The obedience class worked wonders - he now follows instructions, much to her relief!

Also good are the rubber booda bone "ropes" and "loops." Cannot be destroyed by the most vicious of chewers. (My mutt can go through a hambone in a matter of minutes, but we've had one of these toys around since he was a pup -- about three years now.)