Help...Rottie puppy STILL chewing...and photo.

catembi

catembi

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Really hope that someone can help.

Our Rottie puppy Milly is now a year old & still chews up possessions, & it's getting to be quite a problem. Clothes, horse grooming brushes, a haynet, my filofax, o/h's wallet, shoes, the doormat, my watch, her collar (which Trev the horse kindly pulled off...), plants in pots...

She is so quick at getting things. The obvious solution is to put all things in another room & shut the door, & put everything that's in a pot in the greenhouse...but what about things like the doormat...? It's a doormat, so it has to go outside the door, but I can't keep replacing it every time it gets mauled.

The older Rottie, Kane, is a rescue, I've had him since rising 3, he is now 6 & he has never chewed or taken a single thing (except stealing food...) that isn't his in the whole time I've had him.

Their routine is: run around the yard for an hour in the morning, o/h lets out at lunch, then he is home at around 4 & lets them out for exercise in the yard, then they have a walk or play with the football in the horses' field. They are always left with at least one chew toy or a snack ball.

Please someone tell me that she will grow out of this as she has got hold of some things that can't be replaced, & it's depressing that one lapse of vigilance can lead to something else being wrecked.

And a photo of the two of them on a day trip to Norfolk. You can see one of many holes that they dug in the background! Puppy at the front.

Dogs.jpg


T x
 
Never compare 2 dogs and end up baffled as to why one is not like the other/learned faster/behaves a different way:p otherwise you will constantly be disappointed, nothing is normal and she is still a baby and no doubt has a more active brain/need to be stimulated/higher energy levels and with either a need to chew objects (as it does calm and soothe) or boredom. Indeed the simple answer is to put all valuables out of site or leave longer lasting/higher reward goodies for her, large bones, frozen kongs and swap them daily so she does not become bored and never leave the chosen goodies strewn around (they become boring) have a box and swap and change them around, offer up different kong fillings.
Try some bitter bite for the objects you would like to leave down (door matt) and try and put her off, but otherwise remove valuables.
 
Rottweilers require alot of training do you go to any classes ? I have a 13 week old rottie pup and plan to do agility, obedience and Schutzhund to keep her occupied and well mannered !! I have had her a week and she chews the odd thing but definately understands leave. I have been clicker training her since she arrived and this seems to have worked so far....
 
emm0r said:
Rottweilers require alot of training
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I don't agree with this quote & especially in this context.

ALL dogs require training, but to say a rottie requires ' a lot ' would suggest it requires more than other breeds which I disagree with. Bigger dogs need to be under control I agree but no more than little dogs - ask my rots who are frequently attacked & harassed by small terrier type dogs whilst out walking.

Sorry if I sound like I'm going off on one but I am a bit - that post got my back up slightly, especially when I don't think training classes will help with the chewing issue :mad:

Sorry OP, anyway.....our rottie bitch was a chewer and she did grow out of it but she was younger than Milly when she did. We tried the usual pepper, lemon, chilli powder but it made no difference! I can't offer any advice as I can't say anymore than CAYLA has but I know how frustrating it can be.

Lovely pic by the way :)
 
There are many views on how to approach this. I would also agree with Cayla regarding removing temptations and giving her more chews.

I also agree with the training idea. Keeping her mind active will definately work and it may give you some commands for when she grabs something withing sight.
 
Having worked with several Rottweilers and training with ALOT of people I genuinely believe Rottweilers do require alot of training as generally they have a high drive and any dog that is bored will resort to chewing etc. it is possible to train a dog to pick up on command and leave on command hence training is an approach to this problem!!! A Rottweiler is likely to do more damage chewing in a shorter time than a JRT is!!! So I have to disagree!! All dogs require training, I wasn't suggesting they didn't. A Rottweiler is a WORKING breed and needs to kept stimulated and active !!!
 
Also sonjafoers one could argue that because some smart dogs tend to 'go for other dogs' this to me suggests a Rottweiler should be trained enough to ignore this type of thing because if a rottweiler went at a smaller dog it would be the Rottweiler that was bad !!!
 
I have found with large dog breeds that their chewing will go on (and actually peak) at around 18 months of age, before slowly getting better. This is absolutely normal behaviour. Our pyreneans have all done it. Our current boy is over two now and is still a chewing menace. We have to be really careful he soes not get in the tack room or inside the stable block walk way as his favourite things to chew up are riding hats, leather gloves and horse boots! He is starting to get better now though. Our first ever pyrenean chewed up our whole dining room suite and window sills! She too was absolutely fine once she reached the age of three. Our jack russells, on the other hand, have hardly ever chewed a thing and their chewing largely stopped once they were 6 months old.
 
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I actually agree with Emma, they are a working breed and need stimulation, she might just be a higher energy type than Kane and needs to do something with her brain. Raw bones and frozen Kongs will help but I do believe a training class will help even more.

My older dog (a German working breed) was a horror until I took him to training, we got really into tracking and his dog aggression and general arsey-ness and insecurity really improved because he was being given something to think about.

Emma, hope you enjoy the Sch :) (or IPO as we have to call it now...)
 
Thank you for the opinions and ideas.

Cayla, I'm sure you're right re keeping everything out of the way. It's so easy to have a lapse though, & last night I was crying as she'd chewed up my favourite shoes. I v seldom have new things, so if I treat myself, it's v occasionally, & whatever it is has to last literally until it falls apart. Such a disapointment to lose something unnecessarily.

Wagtail, thank you for the ray of hope! Milly has managed to get into the tackroom when my back was turned & chewed up a hat and a brush that was my grandad's & older than I am. I cried over that too... and tried to be more vigilant over the tack room. Next time it was my spur straps & a sponge.

Yes, we should take her to classes really. There are some not far away, & we could probs spare the time now that the worst of the building work is finished.

6 months to go then, til her chewing peaks. She even had another go at the kitchen table recently, which she's left alone for a good 6 months.

T x
 
As opposed to working & training with rottweilers I have actually owned numerous of them over the last 20 years. A member of my family was also a well respected rottweiler breeder who brought her original stud dog over with her from Germany and I grew up with these dogs, so although not an expert in any way I do have hands on experience of the breed.

My current dogs will ignore any aggression or harassment aimed at them by another dog but this has not been done by training classes. They will leave, wait, sit, get off, lay down, speak, heel etc etc on command and I totally agree that this has been achieved through training.

I was not suggesting that they do not require training but in my experience they have required a lot less training to understand & behave than other breeds I've had experience of - albeit limited experience.

I also feel that whilst the OP could teach her dog to leave an object on command this will not help with the chewing issue when the OP isn't there so I'm not sure training will help in these circumstances when the dog has no human around at times during the day. I say this because we have had a dog who chewed whilst we weren't around but would leave instantly if she was caught her at it and asked to leave. I thinks CAYLA's post was the most sensible in these circumstances and from what I can tell she's certainly a lot more experienced than I am!

Over the years I have experienced much prejudice about the breed and also heard a lot of blanket statements. I once read a book on rottweilers, an idiots guide to owning one type of thing and in there it had a wonderful statement " rottweilers do not like water, without exception". (Clearly mine haven't read that book yet and don't realise they aren't supposed to jump in the river at every opportunity!) However I felt EmmOr's opening comment was another such blanket statement - perhaps I am overly sensitive due to the prejudice I encounter on a daily basis, who knows :rolleyes:
 
Nobody is saying you are not experienced and I don't know why you are taking things so personally? :)

You obviously have put a lot of time and training into your own dogs but everyone has to start somewhere and a fresh pair of eyes always helps.
It's not just about training commands but about asserting control, giving the dog something to think about and occupy itself and tiring the buggers out so they don't feel the need to chew :p

I think any dog, but especially large working breeds, should spend at least a little time in a training class or training programme to give the owners a good idea of what direction they should be going in. JMO :)

FWIW, my dog is never happiest unless he has something in his mouth, as you mention, if I am not there I cannot control it, so I crate him overnight.
 
I am sorry if I offended you !! However I am also very passionate about the breed and as you say yours are obedient but if you dont know how to train these commands or your dog is particularly difficult then you should attend some form of training to learn to do this ! With clear boundaries set no dog should chew what isn't theirs !! And I stick by what I said ! If the dog is stimulated enough and has the correct amount of exercise with clear boundaries they shouldn't chew ! Good luck OP and enjoy your puppy :)
 
Rotties don't require training more than any other breed, its just that with any large or active dog the effects are more detrimental than an untrained small breed. Op- I could write pages off stuff & still not be done of stuff my dog chewed when he was young. Only advice I can give is to move anything you can, and if you catch him at it once you've dealt with it direct him to something he can chew, eventually he'll direct himself to the appropriate item when he wants to chew. And in time he will stop. In 7 yrs my dog hasn't touched anything but was the most constantly destructive dog I've known up to 18 months and still a prolific chewer till 2. If it makes you feel better, my friend used to leave her rottie in the kitchen to minimise the damage. She came home to find he'd chewed his way through a flat fronted solid wood door leaving just the top half in place!
Wagtail-our pyreneans weren't really bad chewers, just that when they did the damage was huge. Remember stuff like thinking a chair had been moved to another room only to discover it was in pieces in a corner. And remember my parents puzzling over why a coffee table appeared lower & unlevel before it was checked & found to have the bottom few inches from each leg gone!
 
Littlelegs - one could argue that because of their size and the fact that what they do is more detrimental they do require more training ..... Not necessarily Need ....
 
littlelegs said:
Wagtail-our pyreneans weren't really bad chewers, just that when they did the damage was huge. Remember stuff like thinking a chair had been moved to another room only to discover it was in pieces in a corner. And remember my parents puzzling over why a coffee table appeared lower & unlevel before it was checked & found to have the bottom few inches from each leg gone!
Click to expand...

Lol, I think you are right. Their ability to inflict damage is pretty huge!
 
Emm0r- I do see where you're coming from, the way I see it is that a badly trained small dog that runs & barks at strangers, jumps up etc will largely get away with it. A large breed will be labelled dangerous etc just for not coming to call or approaching strangers. So I do agree entirely its more important to have a big breed well trained, rather than them needing it as a breed requirement.
 
We seem to have gotten off the simple issue of "chewing" behaviour shared by alot of breeds for generally the same reasons (as I shared in my first post).
Training class is fine and will help work her brain as suggested but it won't necc stop the chewing;) but they do generally stop as they mature as suggested and I do not agree with the comment of they should know what is theirs to chew im affraid, a lovely chewy item is just that:p
Rotts are I agree easier to train than alot of other large breeds, they are a very bidable breed imo, I have had the pleasure of dealing with a lot, all sizes, sexes and ages (I would have a million if I could), we have a few in our rescue at present, and over the other large breeds that we have to put work into, give me a rotti any day:p (anyways thats still nowt to do with puppy chewing):p
I def think leaving her some more varied items (higher reward) and not the same old "stuff" will help, I would guess whilst Kane is happy to snooze the younger is just rather bored:)
How long is she left altogether OP?
 
Ps, I clear all chewy items when I have younger dogs in, at present I am boarding a husky and a ridgeback (7 months old) owner tell me they don't chew, I am still making my house looks like "I am about to move out" each time I go out:D
 
Left for no more than about 4 hours. Kane is very good at playing with her. Maybe I should try a chew toy just for being left? Kane isn't very interested in chewing. He would rather go to sleep or play with Milly.
 
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