Hi all,

We recently took in a rescued Harrier. She is 11 months old and
we are ( at least ) her third home. Her last one lasted around 10
days.

For the most part I am at home approximately 22 hours a day so
she gets plenty of attention and 3 or 4 walks a day relative to
other issues within the house. There are always several visitors
a day and she gets fussed over by all of them.

BUT, she is quite destructive. In the 2 weeks she has been with
us she has destroyed ............

1 pair of my wife's slippers, (while we were in)

3 pairs of my trainers (while we were in)

a box of medical supplies (I was out shopping, my wife was in
the dining room)

Countless hard plastic toys such as megabloks. She does seem to
have a bit of a thing for plastic.

the dining room carpet. She was put in the kitchen behind a child
gate at the weekend for 5 minutes while we got my wife in to her
ambulance. She tore the living daylights out of the carpet by
scratching under the gate. Whilst I am prepared to accept this
was an accident in her attempt to get out to us, it is hard to
ignore when paired with the other issues above.

We have had many dogs over the years and have *never* backed away
from one. Every rescue dog we have had has lived out their life
with us but she is getting close as I can't afford to keep
replacing footwear and carpets.

Any suggestions as to how I might moderate her behaviour welcome.

--
Regards,

Him & Her

Start training her to love being in her crate when she's not actively
doing something with you, your wife, or a visitor. Put an acceptable
chewie in there with her.


Begin basic obedience. It raises confidence and decreases nervousness.
Some walks can just be exercise and bathroom walks, but the rest
should be learning to do fun stuff like heeling, sitting, lying down,
and bringing back a ball on command. Do obedience training in the house
too.


Cut back on the fussing over when it's not attached to something your
dog can identify as a behavior you're encouraging. If your guests want
to fuss over your dog, they can do so but only as part of teaching a
trick. The trick might be as simple as shaking paws.


In the mean time, pick up EVERYTHING and that you don't want chewed on.
The house should be absent of everything except acceptable things to
chew. It increases the likelihood of her landing on something that's
O.K. to destroy during the moments when she's not in her crate and
you're not looking.


--Lia


Him & Her wrote:
Hi all,

We recently took in a rescued Harrier. She is 11 months old and
we are ( at least ) her third home. Her last one lasted around 10
days.

For the most part I am at home approximately 22 hours a day so
she gets plenty of attention and 3 or 4 walks a day relative to
other issues within the house. There are always several visitors
a day and she gets fussed over by all of them.

BUT, she is quite destructive. In the 2 weeks she has been with
us she has destroyed ............

1 pair of my wife's slippers, (while we were in)

3 pairs of my trainers (while we were in)

a box of medical supplies (I was out shopping, my wife was in
the dining room)

Countless hard plastic toys such as megabloks. She does seem to
have a bit of a thing for plastic.

the dining room carpet. She was put in the kitchen behind a child
gate at the weekend for 5 minutes while we got my wife in to her
ambulance. She tore the living daylights out of the carpet by
scratching under the gate. Whilst I am prepared to accept this
was an accident in her attempt to get out to us, it is hard to
ignore when paired with the other issues above.

We have had many dogs over the years and have *never* backed away
from one. Every rescue dog we have had has lived out their life
with us but she is getting close as I can't afford to keep
replacing footwear and carpets.

Any suggestions as to how I might moderate her behaviour welcome.

--
Regards,

Him & Her

"Him & Her" wrote in message
om...
Hi all,

We recently took in a rescued Harrier. She is 11 months old and
we are ( at least ) her third home. Her last one lasted around 10
days.

For the most part I am at home approximately 22 hours a day so
she gets plenty of attention and 3 or 4 walks a day relative to
other issues within the house. There are always several visitors
a day and she gets fussed over by all of them.

BUT, she is quite destructive. In the 2 weeks she has been with
us she has destroyed ............

1 pair of my wife's slippers, (while we were in)

3 pairs of my trainers (while we were in)

a box of medical supplies (I was out shopping, my wife was in
the dining room)

Countless hard plastic toys such as megabloks. She does seem to
have a bit of a thing for plastic.

the dining room carpet. She was put in the kitchen behind a child
gate at the weekend for 5 minutes while we got my wife in to her
ambulance. She tore the living daylights out of the carpet by
scratching under the gate. Whilst I am prepared to accept this
was an accident in her attempt to get out to us, it is hard to
ignore when paired with the other issues above.

We have had many dogs over the years and have *never* backed away
from one. Every rescue dog we have had has lived out their life
with us but she is getting close as I can't afford to keep
replacing footwear and carpets.

Any suggestions as to how I might moderate her behaviour welcome.

--
Regards,

Him & Her

Have you tried a rattle bottle? Basically it's a plastic bottle filled with
stones or something similar that makes a loud noise when you shake it and
you use it when the dog starts to do whatever it is that you find wrong,
after a little while the dog gets the association between the rattle and
what not to do. You can also use water. Just fill a cup with water and when
the dog starts off doing what you find wrong just throw the water in it's
face, after a few attempts it'll start to get the message. I used the water
when my dog was destructive, only took about 4 throws with the water and
that was the problem sorted. I'm not saying it'll work for all but it's
worth a go if you haven't tried it before. There will be people think that
it's cruel but it's only water. Nothing ventured nothing gained as they say.

Redman

montana wildhack wrote in message
news:2008013012390916807-montana@wildhackcominvalid...
: On 2008-01-30 12:14:43 -0500, "Him & Her"
said:
: Any suggestions as to how I might moderate her behaviour
welcome.

: Tether her to you so you can keep an eye on her at all times.
Give her
: some things she is allowed to chew. Crate train her and crate
her when
: you can't supervise her closely.

See answer to Julia.

: If she is constantly and closely supervised - and well
exercised -
: she'll have little opportunity to get into stuff. This is
probably the
: only thing you can do right now.
: One more thing, I'd suggest obedience training. That will help
her
: learn how to learn and will give her some different options for
: behaviors.

Certainly agree with you regards the obedience training. I'll
probably look in to agility training as well.

Any opinions on clicker training ? never previously had a need
for it but she might well be a candidate.

--
Regards,

Him & Her

Redman wrote in message
.. .
: Have you tried a rattle bottle?

Gave that a go, took me hours to get the glass out of the carpet
when I threw it to the floor near her )

: Basically it's a plastic bottle filled with
: stones or something similar that makes a loud noise when you
shake it and
: you use it when the dog starts to do whatever it is that you
find wrong,
: after a little while the dog gets the association between the
rattle and
: what not to do.

In actual fact I watched a program the other night where the guy
was using one to modify the behaviour of a dog that was bonking
anything and everything. I then promptly forgot about it.

I've just made one since reading your post and it does seem to be
quite effective.

: You can also use water. Just fill a cup with water and when
: the dog starts off doing what you find wrong just throw the
water in it's
: face, after a few attempts it'll start to get the message. I
used the water
: when my dog was destructive, only took about 4 throws with the
water and
: that was the problem sorted. I'm not saying it'll work for all
but it's
: worth a go if you haven't tried it before. There will be people
think that
: it's cruel but it's only water.

Worth keeping in mind if the rattle bottle doesn't work.

: Nothing ventured nothing gained as they say.

Agreed.

--
Regards,

Him & Her

Julia Altshuler wrote in message
...
: Start training her to love being in her crate when she's not
actively
: doing something with you, your wife, or a visitor. Put an
acceptable
: chewie in there with her.

We don't, nor will we ever use crates but she does have a basket
that she sleeps in, she has various rawhide chews / raggas /
balls etc in and around it.



: Begin basic obedience.

Already have.

: It raises confidence and decreases nervousness.
: Some walks can just be exercise and bathroom walks, but the
rest
: should be learning to do fun stuff like

: heeling, - a work in progress

: sitting, lying down, - Mastered

: and bringing back a ball on command. - tends to get
distracted. Harriers are Hunt / Gun dogs and very keen to follows
a scent in preference to almost anything else.

: Do obedience training in the house
: too.
:
:
: Cut back on the fussing over when it's not attached to
something your
: dog can identify as a behavior you're encouraging. If your
guests want
: to fuss over your dog, they can do so but only as part of
teaching a
: trick. The trick might be as simple as shaking paws.

She does that too.

: In the mean time, pick up EVERYTHING and that you don't want
chewed on.
: The house should be absent of everything except acceptable
things to
: chew.

Absolutely not. In 40+ years of sharing my life with dogs the
only thing I have put beyond their reach is medication. We have
had chewing dogs before but it could always be associated with
something i.e. being left and was therefore something that we
could tackle. This on the other hand seems not to have a trigger,
unless it's the recent upheaval of new homes.

--
Regards,

Him & Her

"Him & Her" wrote in message
om...
Redman wrote in message
.. .
: Have you tried a rattle bottle?

Gave that a go, took me hours to get the glass out of the carpet
when I threw it to the floor near her )

lol

Redman


: Basically it's a plastic bottle filled with
: stones or something similar that makes a loud noise when you
shake it and
: you use it when the dog starts to do whatever it is that you
find wrong,
: after a little while the dog gets the association between the
rattle and
: what not to do.

In actual fact I watched a program the other night where the guy
was using one to modify the behaviour of a dog that was bonking
anything and everything. I then promptly forgot about it.

I've just made one since reading your post and it does seem to be
quite effective.

: You can also use water. Just fill a cup with water and when
: the dog starts off doing what you find wrong just throw the
water in it's
: face, after a few attempts it'll start to get the message. I
used the water
: when my dog was destructive, only took about 4 throws with the
water and
: that was the problem sorted. I'm not saying it'll work for all
but it's
: worth a go if you haven't tried it before. There will be people
think that
: it's cruel but it's only water.

Worth keeping in mind if the rattle bottle doesn't work.

: Nothing ventured nothing gained as they say.

Agreed.

--
Regards,

Him & Her

"Him & Her" wrote in message
om...
Hi all,

We recently took in a rescued Harrier. She is 11 months old and
we are ( at least ) her third home. Her last one lasted around 10
days.

For the most part I am at home approximately 22 hours a day so
she gets plenty of attention and 3 or 4 walks a day relative to
other issues within the house. There are always several visitors
a day and she gets fussed over by all of them.

BUT, she is quite destructive. In the 2 weeks she has been with
us she has destroyed ............

1 pair of my wife's slippers, (while we were in)

3 pairs of my trainers (while we were in)

a box of medical supplies (I was out shopping, my wife was in
the dining room)


Since all of these instances happened while you were home, I'd say you need
to observe her more closely and immediately remove articles that she is not
to chew and replace them with her own chew toys, each time telling her NO,
to the thing she isn't supposed to have. I always happily hand over the dog
toy, playing a bit with it to entice her into accepting it as HER fun thing
to play with.



Countless hard plastic toys such as megabloks. She does seem to
have a bit of a thing for plastic.


My rescues have always wanted my grandchildrens toys to chew on when I first
get the dogs. I repeat the same process above, taking the childrens toys
away and replacing them with dog toys. The grandchildren are NOT allowed to
play with the dog toys and the dogs are NOT allowed to play with grandkids
toys. I'd estimate it probably took me about two weeks of constant and
continual supervision to obtain results.

Now I am able to leave the dogs home, unsupervised, for hours without
incident. In the beginning we did lose a few plastic and especially wooden
blocks/toys, but no more. It just takes them awhile to understand which
items belong to whom.



the dining room carpet. She was put in the kitchen behind a child
gate at the weekend for 5 minutes while we got my wife in to her
ambulance. She tore the living daylights out of the carpet by
scratching under the gate. Whilst I am prepared to accept this
was an accident in her attempt to get out to us, it is hard to
ignore when paired with the other issues above.


When in doubt, put her in a crate when you aren't able to supervise her
closely is my suggestion. I don't recall you mentioning how long you've had
her, but my Gracie had been through a number of foster situations before I
got her. And it took her probably close to a month to really understand and
feel secure that she was staying here. Nobody was going to come and take
her away again.

It did take me a couple months to gradually train her that I would always
come back when I go away, leave the house. Once she became completely
secure, no problems. I had been warned she could be very destructive if
left alone in a house. So in the beginning, when I'd leave the house, I'd
crate her. After awhile, I slowly began leaving her out of the crate, and
leave the house for very short periods of time, gradually increasing the
amount of time I was gone. I'd say over a period of a couple weeks, I had
her completely trained to not destroy things while I as gone by using this
method.

td







We have had many dogs over the years and have *never* backed away
from one. Every rescue dog we have had has lived out their life
with us but she is getting close as I can't afford to keep
replacing footwear and carpets.

Any suggestions as to how I might moderate her behaviour welcome.

--
Regards,

Him & Her

Him & Her wrote:

Any opinions on clicker training ? never previously had a need
for it but she might well be a candidate.


Clicker training isn't for every trainer or every dog, but I've had
great success and fun with it.


I'm not sure what you have against crates and putting temptation out of
the way while you're training, but with your 40+ experience of sharing
your life with dogs, it sounds like you can solve this problem without
them or other ideas from this newsgroup. The only other suggestion that
I can make is that you not say "Any suggestions as to how I might
moderate her behaviour welcome" and then tell us how unwelcome our
ordinary and sensible suggestions are. Wasn't there also something
about "nothing ventured, nothing gained," something you'd apply to a
rattle bottle but not a crate?


--Lia

"Him & Her" wrote in message
...
Julia Altshuler wrote in message
...
: Start training her to love being in her crate when she's not
actively
: doing something with you, your wife, or a visitor. Put an
acceptable
: chewie in there with her.

We don't, nor will we ever use crates


I used my crate only until she was trained, then the crate came down. You
have to have some way to control the behavior until she understands what is
acceptable and what isn't. Gracie came to us heartworm positive, so a crate
was necessary anyway to keep her confined during treatment. If she hadn't
been kept confined during treatment, there was a very strong possibility the
treatment could kill her. Sometimes crates are necessary. As I said, I
don't have crates up anymore. But when necessary for medical reasons, or to
keep a dog from chewing my house out from under me, I use them.


snipped
: In the mean time, pick up EVERYTHING and that you don't want
chewed on.
: The house should be absent of everything except acceptable
things to
: chew.

Absolutely not. In 40+ years of sharing my life with dogs the
only thing I have put beyond their reach is medication. We have
had chewing dogs before but it could always be associated with
something i.e. being left and was therefore something that we
could tackle. This on the other hand seems not to have a trigger,
unless it's the recent upheaval of new homes.


When I first got my dogs, I kept the grandkids toys picked up when they
weren't here, and kept close watch over them when they were out. Again,
UNTIL your dog is trained as to what items she may chew and which ones are
forbidden, it is a good idea to keep the toys, slippers, shoes, etc., out of
reach. My dogs leave them alone now, but in the beginning, before they
understood what belonged to whom, we kept them picked up. It isn't
something where you have to change your life forever. Only until this new
and obviously insecure dog understand the way of your home, who various
possessions belong to, etc.


td

--
Regards,

Him & Her