this post was submitted on 22 Aug 2023
41 points (97.7% liked)
Dogs
4950 readers
216 users here now
A community about dogs.
Breeds, tips and tricks about training and behaviour, news affecting dog owners, canine photography, dog-related art and any questions related to dog ownership.
Rules
- Posts must be related to dogs or dog ownership and must not be void of content.
- This is a neutral space. No bigotry or personal attacks. Criticism should be polite and constructive.
- No automated content. This includes AI generated imagery, post body, articles, comments or automated accounts.
- No advertising or self-promotion.
- Illegal or unethical practices are frowned upon, and any comments or posts suggesting them will be removed. This includes, but is not limited to, backyard breeding, ear and tail cropping, fake service animals, negative reinforcement, alpha/pack/dominance theory, and eugenics.
- No judging or attacking community members who care for dogs with cropped ears, docked tails, or those from puppy mills or questionable sources. While we discourage these practices (per Rule 5), all dogs deserve loving homes and compassionate care regardless of their background or physical alterations.
- No breed discrimination, all breeds welcome. Our stance matches the ASPCA's official stance and is not up for debate.
- Citing your sources when making a claim is encouraged. Misinformation will be removed.
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
Yes! By the time I moved home aged 19 my mum had gotten a springer spaniel puppy, who was about 3 when I moved back. He was so full of energy, rest of the family found him annoying but I loved him dearly and we bonded. He would eat and chew fucking everything, this dog ate the plasterboard off the walls, cat food laced with tabasco sauce (twice in a row), if it was in reach of his snoot it'd be getting a nibbling.
Eventually we weaned him off this habit but even as an adult dog, when you'd start petting him, he'd want your hand in his mouth. Not to nibble or chew, he'd just calm down and be happy laid there with your hand in his mouth.
Many years later I was living up north, came to visit, got a call as I arrived that they'd taken him to the vets as he was in a lot of pain, struggling (old by then), they were going to put him to sleep. I dashed to vets, there was my old buddy on a cold metal slab. His tail immediately started weakly wagging, and he of course put his mouth around my hand. A sad but very poignant memory and I was honoured to be there for him in his final moments.
Sorry for the essay, your post brought it all back and I wanted to share. RIP Brynn, you were an amazing dog, a friend, and a source of constant joy!
Can I ask if you have any tips for this? Before this, I hadn't heard anything from anyone with a similar problem like ours. My goodest boy is a 9 month old Portuguese Water Dog and he recently decided that the floor boards and every single one of my daughters' Barbies weren't enough to destroy and began removing the carpet for us.
He's so smart and seems to be very empathetic when he's not in destruction mode, but the constant destruction of things is putting a knot in what is an otherwise beautiful relationship right now. We've trained leave-it and settle down, but he'll still grab things and if he's left alone in his safe room he'll find ways to make it unsafe.
Unfortunately I'm not trained in training... but what I can tell you is that immediate, positive reinforcement is far more effective than negative. Their doggy brains struggle to connect the events so they understand we're angry, but not why.
Prob teaching granny to suck eggs but I would get him a large collection of chewable toys (which he'll likely wreck disturbingly quickly), when you catch him chewing something he shouldn't tell him sternly "NO, BAD DOG", give him one of his chews, then when he starts chewing that praise enthusiastically / give a treat. He'll quickly associate chewing his own toys with expected, praised behaviour and chewing non-toys with bad behaviour. Try to be as consistent as possible; I taught my mum's dog lots of tricks / behaviours through constant repetition. Conversely, all the good work I did with my sister's dog was undone immediately by her knobhead ex; consistency and behavioural modification 'in the moment' rather than after is key (imo)