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  1. #9
    BPnet Veteran voodoolamb's Avatar
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    I agree with the others... I doubt this dog is getting anywhere near enough exercise.

    Hint: a leashed walk is not exercise.

    This:
    Judging from the "obvious guilty dog" look he gives either of us, he KNOWS he's not supposed to.
    Is a misconception. He's picking up on your body language and mood. Unless you correct the dog IN THE ACT there is absolutely zero association between when he chewed and why you are so mad.

    The dog needs to be supervised 100% of the time or crated.

    Chewing and destruction can be very very hard to stop because it is a self rewarding behavior that is very natural. Think about what a pack of wild dogs does when it catches a deer - rips and tears at the hide. Chews the bone. Do you know how some people are "stress eaters" or "boredom eaters"? Dogs are the same way. Destroying stuff feels really really good to them. It makes all their icky feelings go away. It's soothing.

    think of it this way - dogs learn through reinforcement. Everytime he chews something you dont want him to and you do not correct him while he is doing it - he has rewarded himself for chewing just the same as if you were there to say "good boy!". You can get him to make better decisions about what to chew by consistently marking and rewarding when he chews on the right things. If he goes to chew his bone tell him he's a good dog and give him a treat. He will learn chewing on the right stuff is better. Imagine you have two fridges in your house. One in the same room as you, and one upstairs. Now imagine the one upstairs not only has food, but ALSO has a cash dispenser and will give you $20 everytime you open it. Think you'd go out of your way to get to the upstair fridge? Even if you were really really hungry?

    This reinforcement for chewing good stuff needs to be very very consistent and there needs to be a lot of it at first. I would make a goal of rewarding the dog for chewing his toys say 50 times every day for a month, then gradually reducing the reinforcement rates. And making sure you can correct him every time he goes for a forbidden object.

    Up his physical exercise. He needs off leash and running time. and make sure he is mentally stimulated. Fun factoid: none of my dogs eat their food out of a dog bowl. Feeding time is great for enrichment. I usually either feed a large hunk of meat and bone they get to chew or I feed them through foraging activities. Look into kong toys, wobblers, snuffle matts, etc. Lots of puzzle toys can be homemade. Cutting a small hole in the corner of an empty milk jug and filling his kibble with that.

    Personally I wouldn't waste my money on petsmart training. The good trainers in that company are few and far inbetween and they don't last long.
    My Collection:
    0.2 Normal Het Pied - 0.1 Lesser - 1.0 Pastel Het Pied -1.0 Mojave Het Lavender Albino 1.0 Low White Pied

  2. The Following 4 Users Say Thank You to voodoolamb For This Useful Post:

    GoingPostal (11-01-2016),Ogre (12-26-2016),PokeyTheNinja (11-01-2016),rabernet (11-02-2016)

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