I Pit My Dog and Myself (A Lame Venting of Irritation)

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

The worst part about this is I can’t get properly mad at her. It’s my fault for leaving it where she could get it when I knew of her addiction.

Polaris is almost a year old now, a pure-bred mutt of undistinguishable parentage. (Even the vet is stumped.) She’s also a thief. This morning, she stole a piece of KFC chicken, consumed it whole, and a tissue which she joyfully shredded all over the floor.

But what really got me going was when the X-Box controller fell off of the top of the console. “That’s odd,” I thought, since no one was around it. “Ain’t gravity the damndest thing.”

I picked it up and discovered the cord had been neatly severed in the center. Polaris stood there, watching me. “Did you do this?” I gasped, holding it out to her. She ducked. Now, I know that she was just reacting to the outrage in my voice, but it sure looked like conciousness of guilt.

I swore. I swore long, loud and colorfully. This is the third fucking controller she has destroyed! She’s going to end up electrocuting herself with her passion for cords.

I was so angry that I wanted to punish her, (isolation is what works best for her) but, of course, I couldn’t. Who knows when she chewed the cord? Her little two-watt brain has probably already lost the connection, since dogs have such a weak grasp of cause-and-effect unless the consequences are immediate.

So, I go in to fill their fountain waterer, and discover that the pump is no longer running. “That’s odd,” I thought. “It must have come unplugged.”

No, that wasn’t it. Two guesses what it was. Yep. She had chewed the cord. The copper wires were showing through. My god, it’s a miracle she didn’t die.

Today, my task is to coat all of the wires that are accessible with hot-pepper juice. It worked on the baseboards. Maybe she’ll remeber the smell and avoid it from now on.

God! Stupid dog. Stupid owner for leaving the controller where she could get to it.

2

Small consolation for you right now, but they do grow out of it. My dog chewed cords until he was almost 2 years old, but never does it now.

3

Maybe she’s telling you it’s time to get wireless controllers. :smiley:

4

And don’t feel too bad. My dog chewed up an oak banister, several window sills, and parts of the molding along the floor. He was 2 before he was safe to leave loose in the house. I was lucky that he never developed a penchant for cables.

5

Have you tried bitter apple cream or tobasco sauce on the wires?

6

Arrgh, that’s frustrating. Don’t beat yourself up too much over it. We all do it at some point. Leaving shiny things out where the pets can get 'em, cookies out where the kids can reach them, etc. Hell, I’ve done it myself…

Last xmas, my aunt gave me a pillow quilt (also called quillows; it’s basically a pillow that turns into a twin-sized quilt) that she made herself. One day shortly after I got it, it was bunched up at the end of the couch and I had one of my rats out for a run. She was playing a game of hide and seek, ducking under the quilt, looking out at me, and ducking under again. While she was hiding under there, I kept hearing this:

gnawgnawgnawscrunchscrunchgnawgnaw

I just sat there wondering what she was doing under there. Then, a thought began to dawn on me. Rats chew things. This I had already known, but the light didn’t go on till right about then. Did I mention this quilt was brand new?

gnawgnawgnawscrunchscrunchgnawgnaw

I tossed back the quilt, but it was too late. Two. Big. Ragged. Holes. Stuffing gaping out. Rat looking innocently up at me.

And the worst part was I was sitting right there, like a stump, while it happened. :smack:

7

Yup, our dog chewed up a room full of carpet, a leather couch, 2 end tables, shoes, pillows, remote controls and a bundt cake in her first year or so. This despite being given every primo doggy chew ever made, including Kongs with delicious things in them and bones galore. She did outgrow it and now I feel safe leaving her full run of the house while we are gone, but it is the most frustrating thing ever when it is happening. Just when you think you have the house dog proofed she will find something else. The bitter apple spray worked for us, but only exactly where sprayed, if we left a part of it unsprayed she would carefully eat that part.

Now all she does is move objects around, still frustrating sometimes but at least they aren’t destroyed. Soggy and fuzzy sometimes, but intact. Hopefully your chewy phase is almost over.

8

My grandfather had a pet groundhog. He, too heard chewing in the bedroom, but couldn’t figure out where it was coming from. Then his papers began to dissapear.

My grandma cleaned the bedroom, including moving the bed to sweep under it. Turns out George the Groundhog had chewed through the bottom of the box spring and was building himself a nest. He had balled up the papers he stole from my grandfather and was padding out his new nest with them.

When it comes to my dogs, the theivery is what bugs me the most. “Where did I put my keys?” is aggravated by this. Polaris has stolen my husband’s wallet, cellphone, thousands of socks and anything else she can get her grubby paws on. Luckily, I know where her favorite hiding places are, so it’s just a matter of searching them until I find the newly missing item.

The other two dogs are so well behaved! Both the older dog and the new Jack Russel spend their time napping and cuddling. It’s just my “middle child” who’s nuts.

9

My sister called me last night, and her Yorkie (who is eight) had just chewed up her retainer. He DID give up chewing cords when he got out of puppyhood, though.

10

Jeez read the OP:

11

yea, how horrible of me, missing that section and trying to be helpful.

12

Do you have a crate? It will be tremendously helpful in keeping a young do from developing bad habits if you limit her unsupervised time as much as possible.

13

Well, if it’s any consolation, it’s not entirely destroyed. Considering your dog’s love of wires, you might find it worth your while to spend $5 on a cheap soldering iron.

There are six small wires inside the casing of the Xbox controller wire. They’re all color-coded. Even a first-time solderer could have that controller back in action in a few short minutes.

It may be something to consider before you go plunk down $30 on a new controller.

14

I’ve always been told that retainers are irresistable to dogs, even the supposed non-chewers. I don’t know why.

15

My cat used to do that. Like the dogs, took about two years to grow out of. Annoying as heck. He’d only chew the skinny wires that were usually for things difficult to replace like my cordless drill recharger. And he loved phone cords and my iron cord when it wasn’t plugged in. It was like he instinctively knew what things had low enough voltage that he wouldn’t get electrocuted.

I would up duct taping everything to the walls so he could get at them. Hot sauce and icky flavored things didn’t make a difference; he’d kinda gum them while drooling til he worked off a section he could gnaw at with impunity.

Anyway, good luck. My only solution was to be viligent about keeping cords away from him.

16

No advise of the chewing. Watch your dog carefully since cooked chicken bones can splinter and cause problems such as puncturing the GI tract. Hopefully everything will come out ok. :wink:

17

How funny…I woke up this morning to scrapescrapetickticktick. After 4 years (4 years!!!) of living with my cat, I instantly recognize that as cat chewing on electric cord against a wall. Against furniture or carpet or radiator cover all sound different. She was unceremoniously scruffed*, carried into the other room and put in her cage. She has also taken up chewing on carpet, rugs, plants, and anything else her fuzzy little mouth will fit around. I have used up several rolls of electrical tape covering exposed wires where she likes to chew.

*she’s a small cat…don’t do this with a full-sized cat

18

As a kitten, one of my cats put approximately a thousand tiny punctures into a strip of condoms. :smack: They were apparently the ideal chew toy. (Better a noticeable 1000 holes than an unnoticed 5, I guess).

19

My dad’s girlfriend’s Lab chewed through a container of bleach, with then burned her mouth and feet. My dog recently chewed through a container of Metamucil and ate the whole thing. I think some dogs are congenitally insane. Good luck with yours… maybe taping them to the wall so they aren’t loose would help? Disconnecting the controllers and putting them away? I know it’s hard to remember these things (lord knows my dog exploits any instance of forgetfulness).

20

I have a theory about why this is, but from a human perspective it’s kind of gross.