Need dog help!

We rescued our dog a few months ago.
He is somewhere between 7 months and 1 year.
Husky and Shiba Inu mix.
He's such a great dog. We really do love him (especially DD). THey are best friends! I will say he does get jealous if she is getting attention and he isn't and he tries to push his way in between her and someone else.

I CANNOT get him to stop chewing her toys when we go out!

He knows how to open her toy box (no matter how well I close it or what I pile on top). He takes her stuffed animals out and chews off their eyes and ears and then hides it all behind the couch cushions.

He also chews my slippers. OPens the closet door, finds them (always slippers) and chews them up.

Does it at night when we are sleeping or when we go out.

There are a million things around for him to chew, but he is very selective.

Does anyone have ANY advice on how to handle this? DH and I have had dogs our whole lives,but never had to deal with this issue.

Its getting very frustrating!

Re: Need dog help!

have you tried filling a kong w/peanut butter to keep him busy? or other toys where you can hide treats in them to keep him busy
when you see him w/ a toy, take it away and give him something that he should be chewing on

can you move the toy chest to another room?

Re: Need dog help!

Re: Need dog help!

Crate training! One of my dogs is a big chewer, but I never really worry about it since she's crated while we're out. But your dog is still a baby, so he may yet grow out of it. I started noticing my dogs "growing up" around 2 years of age. I swear it was like someone flipped a switch. But in the mean time, I'd consider a crate for him! They really seem to love it!

Re: Need dog help!

The one thing that really worked for my rescue was bone marrow. I asked the butcher to cut me the longer ones and he loved those. After a while I stopped and now once in a while we still have an issue but its better.

Re: Need dog help!

Our pup hasn't chewed on things other than their toys - but here's a few things I've heard could work: (1) Chewing on bully sticks - keeps them busy for hours, (2) some people put things like hot sauce on things u don't want to them to touch - over time they learn not to. This actually worked w/ our pup -- he kept going to the trash bin and trying to open the top. We put some hot sauce and he stopped.

P.S. your dog must be gorgeous to be a husky and shiba!!!

Re: Need dog help!

Thanks everyone!
I don't think hot sauce would work b/c it's my DD's belongings and then she would be touching it too.
As for a crate....he FREAKS out when he realizes he is locked in somewhere and will stop at nothing to get out. The rescue agency/foster family that we used mentioned his hatred/anxiety with crates right off the bat.
Once I closed the baby gates and left him int he upstairs hallway which is big and open and he slammed himself into the gate until it was knocked out of the wall to break free.

I contacted Best Friends (training) and they are coming next week to give some suggestions.

He is gorgeous! I will try and post a picture.

Message edited 2/11/2013 5:11:53 PM.

Need dog help!

No advice here. My dog was a chewer until he was about
3. He ate remotes, coach shoes, anything he wasn't supposed to. Now he just eats the garbage which we are now working on. Gotta love them.

Re: Need dog help!

Need dog help!

I would start by teaching him to use and love his crate. He is safer in the crate than getting into trouble in the house. It might take a few weeks of slowly getting him to love his crate but it can be done.

Re: Need dog help!

I have a husky as well, got her around 6 months. She also HATED her crate. She would howl relentlessly when put in it. Which was tough because when I first got her, I still lived at home and was a bartender. My parents were ready to kick me, the dog, or both of us out. Lol! So I was forced to leave her loose. She too, was a chewer. To be honest, the only thing that worked was time. She just needed to constantly be corrected and needed to mature. One thing that did help was to tire her out before I left- go for a run, the dog park, etc...
They are a pack breed. They don't like being left alone and tend to act out. My dog actually pooped IN DHs shoe one time. Not near it, but IN IT.

Need dog help!

I think it's just going to take time.
He has had a really great run for the last week.
Then today I ran to Target and came home to a disaster!

I am trying to be patient. DH is starting to lose patience.

Need dog help!

For what it's worth, My current foster dog hated the crate at first. The rescue group I got her from warned me that when they crated her she barked non stop until she came out. If she was in there for 2 hours she barked for 2 hours. Unfortunately she is a super destructive adolescent and had to be crated because it would be too dangerous to leave her loose to eat something that could hurt her. Foreign object removal is an expensive surgery. Dogs need to earn their freedom.

I had to crate train her and I couldn't allow the barking. It took about a week of incessant barking, behavior modification training, combined with incentives to stay in the crate (nylabones and kongs filled with stuffin paste) and treats when she went in as well as feeding in the crate. It doens't have to be a bad place and since dogs are den animals by nature they prefer a nice small space to call their own.

Now she leaps into her crate for a treat, and lays in her crate willingly when the door is open. She started loving her crate after about 5 weeks and sleeps in there at night. If you want to crate train her you might have to battle it out for a couple of weeks but it will make the next year or possibly much longer a lot easier on you.

I was a dog handler for 18 years and have seen some pretty destructive dogs in my day. I knew a dog that destroyed 4 brand new couches/loveseats and countless rugs before the owner finally had enough and bought a crate. Separation anxiety is not an easy one to fixed and the safest (and cheapest LOL) place for an anxious dog is in a crate.

I'd probably work on the jealousy thing with him getting in between you and DD. He sounds like he needs some basic training. And I think he is choosing things with yours and your DD's scent on them because he is anxious or lonely and does have a little separation anxiety.

Message edited 3/3/2013 11:13:32 AM.

Need dog help!

I totally get the crate training thing.
My only concern is that he will be even MORE anxious and destructive if I put him in there and leave.
The rescue group told me what he used to do to try and he out. He stopped at nothing.
Once I closed the baby gate at the stop of the stairs an d all the doors. It's a big landing. I put his bed and toys and bones with him. I came home and he had tried to chew thru the gate and ultimately ripped it out of the wall. Jumped over it down the steps and tore apart the living room.
The foster family said he destroyed 2 crates.

Message edited 3/3/2013 4:03:20 PM.

Need dog help!

I am not saying you HAVE to crate him, but you are running the risk of him ingesting something he shouldn't or possibly moving on to destroying your furniture etc.

There are training devices and methods you can use to teach him to behave properly in his crate or during any confinement. You would need to take it slowly and introduce him to the crate gradually. He is still very young. There is no reason if he is a normal and sane dog that he can't be trained. If you got him several months ago the fosters couldn't have had him for very long since he is very young. So for a 30-40 lb 4-6 month old puppy to destroy two crates doesn't sound like they were very good crates.

You could call in a trainer for a consultation/evaluation and see what they suggest...