Dog Destroying Property

General Questions
#1

We found a puppy in the woods back in Nov. and now I’m guessing he is about six to seven months old. He has already chewed up and destroyed many hundreds of dollars worth of lawn equipment, the connector to the horse trailer, electrical cords, the vacuum cleaner, the rubber mats in the garage. He is part lab and part bulldog of some sort, and we don’t know what to do regarding this chewing fiasco. He has chew toys everywhere but of course only wants to destroy things we really need.

Any suggestions or hope?

#2

He’ll probably grow out of this to some degree. Till then, if you’d like to preserve your property and keep the dog, you should invest in a crate or kennel in order to limit his access to stuff he shouldn’t get into.

#3

There are non-poisionous repellents you can spray on items to be protected. In the long run I have found catching the dog in the act and replacing the bad item with an appropriate item works. In the case of Foxie it worked with everything but one, she insists on chewing up mama bear’s heeled shoes. Not high heels, not flats, those in the middle things. I don’t know what they are called. But Fox seems to think they are bones. After six years we gave up, and put the shoes on a closet shelf. Any chance you can put the horse trailer on a shelf? Dang, I think Fox is building a ladder…

#4

Now you know why they dumped him in the woods. He’d already done a few thousand in damages.

I bet he does most of the damage when your not home. Some dogs are vindictive when left home alone.

#5

LMAO! How right you are! Helga, our German shep was soooo well behaved but when the wife took the kids to school if she did not go with, the kitchen trash can was all over the house! And furthermore, the kids got in the back seats, she claimed shotgun. We don’t know what would have happened if we made her get in the back, if you got a 100 pound shep in the passenger seat you just say “buckle up”!

#6

It isn’t spite, it’s boredom. Bored dogs are misbehaving dogs more often then not, tired dogs who are no longer bored behave themselves. Keep that in mind as you try to train the dog out of this.

#7

Yeah I think it may be boredom and anxiety coz I think he does his damage shortly before we get up in the morning. He’s got another dog to play with but what I did was went out to the hand me down store and bought about six stuffed animals and started playing with him with those… trying to teach him that it’s good to play with THOSE toys good boy good boy but sorry I did smack him when he ate the cord to the trailer coz I caught him in the act. I’m also going to get some of that dog repellant spray, the thing is he eats things I never even think of him eating.

#8

I agree with the kennel / crate idea. He needs to learn boundaries. Also, what if he gets hurt or ill from something he chews on?

I would also take him to obedience training so he learns who is boss, and so he has something to exercise his mind.

Also, exercise him as much as possible - a tired dog is a good dog, “they” always say.

Good luck!