Help Or Rehome

[sarahp]

  Her previous owners said they were selling her because of the new baby who was 6months at the time.  I have been in contact with them, and they say they did not have any problems with her chewing. 

[snapback]187063[/snapback]

Well I might be REALLY cynical but you have no idea if this is true or not - the chewing may be the real reason they got rid of her but didnt want to say incase it put you off.  A bit like giving a useless employee a glowing reference

As Cindere has said she is probably very sad and confused about why she has been moved and it will take quite a while for her to settle.  Try the positive reinforcement for absolutely any good behaviour you see, try desperately to ignore the bad behaviour and maybe get some bitter spray for the furniture.

You may be able to get some help from a behaviourist - your vet maybe able to recommend one.

As Toni and the others have said please come back and we'll gladly help as much as we can and if you really feel you cannot cope any longer we will be able to advise you on how to find a new home for her.

Hope you start to see and improvement soon

[tarina]

Thank-you all for your input.  I have gone back to basics overpraising and trying to ignore any bad behaviour.  Will log in after the week-end as I have my granddaughter staying over.  Tarina.

[DennyK]

Thank-you all for your input.  I have gone back to basics overpraising and trying to ignore any bad behaviour.  Will log in after the week-end as I have my granddaughter staying over.  Tarina.

[snapback]187550[/snapback]

May I reinforce the suggestion about using a crate?   When we brought Paddy home at 8 weeks (I Know yours is much older), we left the crate door open at night thinking we were being kind.  It completely freaked him out to have too much space, too many choices.

I'd suggest as large a crate as you can find, covered in towels or blankets, and get her to associate it with lots of nice things: feed her in there, sit on a comfy cushion on the floor and play with her, tickler her tummy, stroke her etc when she's in there.  And crate her at night, so that you don't come down to mayhem and destruction, with gritted teeth and a clenched jaw to start the day.  

I think the other poster's are right: she'll be hugely confused and lonely, and any "gritted teeth" behaviour from you will be picked up on, which makes her feel less safe than ever.

Really good luck.

Denise

[cindere528]

Just wondering if there's any news on progress after the weekend?

[debbie321]

Me too!  How are you doing with Koppa?  (hope I have the name right  ) 

[tarina]

  My teeth are gritted again.  Friday and Saturday I put the behaviour down to jealousy  my granddaughter is 10, so they both wanted my undivided attention.  But there was no chewing.  She even ate her meals, Koppa, not granddaughter.  Sundays I go to family for lunch, Koppa was walked for 1hr.10mins.  She was left in the conservatory for 2 hours, when I returned she had part demolished one of the cane chairs, which I had just put back in there, as I do not have a large house.  She knew she had done wrong because I completely ignored her, I cleaned up and took a cup of tea into the lounge, she never followed me.  Today we are playing silly b.....s, and refusing food, although she did eat a little scrambled egg at 10am, after our morning walk.  So I feel I am chasing my tail at the moment.  She did go off her food when in season November, but I think its too early for the next one, and I do not want to have her spayed yet.  So I will just keep putting the same food down and sooner or later she will get the message, or starve.  Will write soon, Tarina

[Cob-Web]

Tarina -  I don't want to worry you, but if she has eaten cane/whicker, her lack of appetite may indicate that a sharp bit has injured her mouth or insides 

She won't refuse food to spite you (trust me, they're not that bright  ); although I do agree, if a healthy dog is hungry they will eat eventually 

I think you might want to get her checked out by a vet, just in case she has hurt herself 

BTW - I wouldn't trust Molo with a whicker chair - far to tempting to chew  . Sometimes we have to adapt our lives (and furnishings  ) to accomodate our dogs needs 

[PennyB]

Its possible she also needs something to stimulate her brain a bit more as well as walks may not be enough for her. If you're only going out for short periods then I'd advise using a crate then she can't do this. Also may be leave her with a stuffed kong or something when you do go out.

As IWLass says be careful re wicker as this can splinter (I had to hide all the bamboo canes in my yard and still do to stop them chewing them).

[tarina]

I hear what you are saying, but I have just given in to those big brown eyes and she has just eaten a handful of choccy drops, so do you think her mouth is hurt?  But seriously I will moniter her and if no improvement I will take her to the vet.  Thanks.  Tarina

[Pammy]

If you give in and give her choccy drops, why should she eat her food?

I'm sorry Tarina - but if you want to win with your cocker then you need to be much firmer. Food should be put down, left for 15 minutes then if not eaten taken away. Nothing should be given or offered until the next meal time - then the same again. Follow this and she will eat. Also stick to the food you want her to eat. If she's going to be given yummy stuff like scrambled egg and choccy for refusing her food then she will never eat her normal food.

In my first reply to your post I strongly recommended you get her a crate and others have done so too - until you do you are actually supporting her chewing behaviour. They are not very expensive certainly far cheaper than having to replace firnutire etc, not to mention possible vets fees if she does hurt herself. It is perfectly safe and acceptable to put her in a crate for a couple of hours or so. She might actually prefer it and find it safer in there and less stressful. When in the crate you can give her a stuffed kong or similar. Something she can chew without causing damage to either your home or herself.

hth

[lyn]

hi tarina,what your dog is doing all sounds normal to me.paddy went through a stage of not eating and i made the mistake of cooking things for him then i realised he was playing me for a fool.i did what has been suggested here and only put his food down for 15 minutes and it worked.
also the chair i sit on when using the pc is a wicker and about to collapse where paddy has been chewing it.

[clairep4]

Hi Tarina,

Are you leaving her with anything to do when you go out - a kong, a treat ball, something interactive (other than just hide chews etc)? It might help keep her mind off your wicker chairs! 

[suki1964]

Tarina, if you know shes a chewer of your furniture, then to shut her away in a room with the furniture whilst you are out is setting you both up for failure Of course she will chew, of course you will be angry and your relationship with her is never going to get better, you will always be cross and stressed and she will pick up on it possibly making the chewing problem worse.

Please think about investing in a crate. If its not possible then dog proof and area thats safe for her - remove anything that may be chewed. In my last place I used the hall and bathroom(lived in a flat so no stairs). When leaving her, give her stuff to occupy her - as suggested a stuffed kong, or some kibble and tiny bits of cheese in a toilet roll tube, or in any small box. You can buy toys toys that you fill with kibble that they have to push around to get out. A friend of mine has a year old schnauzer rescue who was destrying everything whilst she was out so she even resorted to leaving him telephone directories to destroy - a mess to come home to but her house is still in one piece

As Penny has added, cockers also need mental stimulation as well. Hide and seek with the toys, short training periods - clicker training is very easy to learn and will stimulate her. If you have a read through the old threads you will get some ideas, someone on here has even trained their dog to go round the house picking up all the toys and putting them back in the toy box

Keep posting and let us know how you are going and good luck

[debbie321]

Just to add to all the advice!  Do you feed dry food?  If so you could hide it in a treat toy when you go out - Ben has one of his meals in a 'molocube' (funny shaped ball).  I swear he enjoys this meal far more than the others    I've also stuffed a kong with mince and frozen it, this keeps him going for a while.  Another great chewing experience can be gained from cardboard boxes (the bigger and tougher the better) - yes they leave soggy mess but not an expensive one.  I hide treats in kitchen roll or loo roll tubes but twist the ends shut.  He has bit of dry food in plastic coke bottles (gets a bit carried away with them so they are supervised).

I don't however leave my 'devil dog' out when I'm not around.  I can't recommend a crate highly enough.  Some of my older relatives think it's mean but I swear by it.  I know he's safe, I know my house is safe - gotta be a good buy?

Another great success was bitter apple spray bought from the vet.  It put him off for a couple of weeks but I have a feeling my furniture needs spraying again 

Just to finish .............. please lets see a picture - I know you said she looks like Ben so I'd love to see her 

[cindere528]

Hi Tarina, from the tone of your reply, it sounds as if you're expecting fast results.  It's going to take time. Koppa has learned to behave the way she is because that way she is getting attention from you & any attention is better than none at all.  You did well to ignore the chewed chair & ignore her but then you gave in & gave her treats.  Treats must only be as a reward, not because you feel sorry for her or guilty about ignoring her.  These cockers, with their melting brown eyes, can soften the hardest of us, but we have to try to be a bit harder for their sakes. 

Koppa needs to learn that she will get your attention when she's been or being good but not otherwise, if anyone has a link to a NILIF thread that would be very useful, meanwhile, I'll see if I can find one.  The basis of NILIF (which is an acronym for Nothing in Life is Free) is that a dog only gets attention when the owner wishes.  The dog is not allowed to seek attention, only the owner can do this.  You know how they paw at you when you're on the computer or something?  Well, with NILIF, they are no longer allowed to do this, you, as the owner, can call the dog to you for a cuddle, a game or anything, but the dog is not allowed to initiate play or any kind of attention.  I've never been strong enough to make it work myself but I'm told that it works and with some dogs it's the only thing that does work.

Please also consider getting a crate for her, I've not yet seen a dog who was unhappy to use a crate.  If you go to Crufts, you will see loads of dogs in crates, with the doors wide open, they can get out if they wish, but they feel secure in their crate, it's their territory.

Keep on posting Tarina, let us all know how you're progressing with Koppa, you'll get loads of help on here, we're all rooting for you.