We have two black Labs. They are almost 1 year old. They are siblings. One male and one female. They are both outside dogs. We live on 2 acres. They are confined to the yard by invisible fence. We also have a large pen (20ft by 30 ft, 6 ft high) that we put them in occasionaly. They both can jump out of the pen. The problem we are having is the dogs are chewing up everything (Garden hoses, wooden benches, kids toys, each other's collars, etc.) They are also killed the kids' kittens and a guiena hen. The animals that they killed have been in cages. Help! My husband wants to get rid of the dogs, I just want to get the dogs to stop chewing everything and stop killing the kids' pets. I have tried giving the dogs chew bones thinking if they wouldn't chew on our stuff if they had something they could chew on, but a large chew bone for each only lasts a couple of hours.
I am sorry to hear that your dogs killed your kids pets. It sounds terrible.
The first thing came to my mind is -
How much time the dogs get to spend with your human family members everyday? You said they are outside dogs so they might be by themselves most of the day. I understand you have 2 acres and the dogs have each other to play with. People tend to think they are getting enough exercises and a lot of fun that way. But I don't think so. Dogs like to mingle with human beings and get a lot of attention from us.
I don't think it is fair to expect outside dogs to behave like dogs that live inside the house with us humans all the time. I can see your dogs having fun pulling/attacking and chewing the garden hoses! Dogs retain dogs' natural traits and behaviors more when they are with other dogs, especially if they are left outside.
My suggestion is to put all the objects including your kids pets away from your dogs' reach until they master basic obedience. It is hard to train them together so do it separately. If you expect your dogs to behave well, I am afraid you will have to spend a lot of time and energy with each of them until they learn to respond to your commands and reprimands. At this point it doesn't sounds like they are not paying much attention to or are not understanding how they are expected to behave when living with your family.
I personally think all pet dogs should live inside the house....
Hi, your dogs sound very bored and I agree with MaxHollyNoah that dogs should live inside as part of the family. At almost 1yr old they are still pups and I would expect them to get into mischief if left unsupervised. Labs are very easy to train if you have the time to do it properly. As for them jumping out of the run/pen...have you thought about roofing it? If you are confining your dog to a run/pen at least part of it should be covered anyway so they can get shome shade/shelter from the weather.
I think foxi7778 is right about putting a roof to the kennel.
If you can not train your dogs, you can always manage the situation like that. I suggested in my previous positng you put those objects out of your dogs reach and it is also management.
If you can manage situations, it will be better for both you and your dogs because you don't need to get angry at them, and they don't need to deal with angry owners all the time.
However, training is really essential for dogs and it will be a good way to build a trustworthy relationship between you and your dogs. Good luck
I appreciate the posts, but it didn't answer my question. It seems you were more concerned that the dogs are outside than helping me figure out a better way to get them to stop chewing on inappropriate objects. I do realize they are still puppies. The dogs are for the most part well behaved. They have been in obedience training, and have been since at least January. Although they know the difference from being at home and at the training site. Until recently, we took them twice a week to obedience classes that are 20 miles from our house. My 9 year old daughter showed one of the dogs (the more dominate one) in 4-H last week and did well. (She had weekly classes that her and her dog attended since mid-winter). They are not ignored or neglected. Their "Dog House" is a two room 38" x 67", and heated in the winter. At times I've wanted to stay there. We pick up as much stuff as we can, but with two kids, two dogs, pigs, sheep, etc. there are things that get missed by us, but not the dogs. I would like different ideas on how them to get to chew on only their things (toys, rawhides, etc.) I give the dogs chew bones almost daily, they get the occasional filled Kong. They also have chew ropes, etc. Any other ideas/suggestions on how to get them to keep them out of mischief?
I am sorry I didn't mean that you were not paying enough attention to your dogs. Now I know that your dogs have been attending obedience trainings, etc. then, you can teach them to "Leave it".
One thing I want to point out is though,
You are asking "how to get them to keep them out of mischief" but how can your dogs know the difference between the garden hoses and toy ropes? When they chew garden hoses, you call it "mischief" but from your dogs' point of view, chewing hoses and chewing ropes are the same. Maybe chewing hoses is more fun because they will soon get your attention (scolding=excitment)!
What they need to know is that some specific items are not OK to chew, right? You can train them by either keeping an eye on the moment they are about to chew and tell them to "Leave it" or reprimand each time patiently, or put some bitter tasting object such as tabasco sauce or something on the hose so that the dogs will learn to dislike it. Or, as I said, manage the situation - put the hose away, or supervise the dogs when they are outside.
There is no magic wand so I am afraid you will have to just keep telling them to "leave it" every time you see them getting to the hose, or anything you don't want them to access to.
Maybe someone else has some bright ideas????:rolleyes:
