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Christine
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| Posted: Jan 25 2012 at 9:40am | IP Logged
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We have a 7-month-old golden retriever puppy that is chewing almost everything, except furniture. Bitter Apple taught her not to chew the latter. Unfortunately, it cannot be sprayed on everything. So far, our dog has chewed my husband's laptop cord, children's toys, two pairs of my youngest's shoes, tons of pencils, Christmas tree light cords and ornaments, two rose bushes, a clematis and its support, a rhododendron, and an apple tree that I planted last year. The tree made me so upset.
We scold and give the dog her bone to chew whenever we find her in the process of destroying something, but her destructive chewing continues. My husband is ready to get rid of her. Does anyone have any advice on how to stop our dog's destructive chewing?
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Christine
Mommy to 4 girls, 5 boys, & 2 in God's care
Memories of a Catholic Wife and Mother
Pretty Lilla Rose
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claireg
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| Posted: Jan 25 2012 at 12:02pm | IP Logged
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Do you have a dog crate? The dog can be in the crate unless someone is ACTIVELY watching her. Or, you could tether her to you (or a child) at all times. I think you're supposed to really restrict her freedom until she learns what to chew and what not to.
Have you tried giving her rawhide bones? Those have helped us a bunch.
Good luck - puppies are a ton of work :)
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Aagot
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| Posted: Jan 25 2012 at 1:09pm | IP Logged
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Yes, crate/playpen/ or teether.
Play with her more frequently. Wear her out with a run or walk.
Also, get two old wash cloths wet and freeze them. Let her chew on one as an alternative to her bone. At least two choices are better than one. Retrievers are puppies until they die  Well, maybe not that long.
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mommy4ever
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Spray bottles are effective when you catch them in the act... unless they like that. We had a puppy that would chew everything, but she detested the spray bottle and still does.
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mom2mpr
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Also remember it gets worse when they are teething. Just like kids And I think this is a teething time. It will get better. And then maybe worse one more time.
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ShannonJ
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| Posted: Jan 26 2012 at 10:04am | IP Logged
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Oh goodness Christine! Puppies are a bundle of craziness aren't they?! We don't have Goldens, but when each of my labs were puppies they chewed everything! They actually chewed through the wall at one point! Yes, both of them!!!
Spray bottles didn't work for our labs as they love the water and thought it was a great game. Eat the water! As others suggested, crate training was a wonderful thing for us. After she grew out of her puppy years we got rid of the crate, but I know many people whose dogs really enjoy their crates. Kind of like their own bedroom I guess. When my son was crawling he would climb in there with her and have a blast!
Anyways, our labs did get out of the chewing everything stage eventually. Just provide loads of chewys, toys, and such until then!!
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Mimip
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| Posted: Jan 26 2012 at 2:50pm | IP Logged
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For any puppy at this age chewing is perfectly normal. We use bully sticks with wonderful results.
Check out this website Best bully sticks, They are the most reasonably priced. I would start with some individual sticks like the 6" straight ones and see if your puppy likes them. We have moved up to the 9" braided ones for our incredibly active chewer but it has helped WONDERFULLY!!!!
I don't like the whole spray bottle thing for the same reason as Shannon and my lab/ golden would totally love the water:)
We had out puppy chew through a french door before we went the bully stick way. I know that it seems expensive but trust me it is totally worth the money!
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Mimi
Wife of 16 years to Tom, Mom of DD'00, DD'02, '04(in heaven) DS'05, DS'08 and DS '12
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Christine
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| Posted: Feb 10 2012 at 8:57am | IP Logged
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Thank you for the recommendations. We do use a crate, but I think that our biggest problem is that there isn't always someone watching the dog when she is out of the crate. I will try the bully sticks and wash cloths.
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Christine
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Memories of a Catholic Wife and Mother
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4Real Forums : Mothering and Family Life
Topic: Puppy Chewing
