advise please

[beaverlakeman]

Just got a gsp about 2 weeks ago. he's about 7 to 8 months old and chews everything he can reach in the house when we are at work. I have a kennel that he was in for the first week we had him and had a bitchy neighbor saying he is bothering her when we leave from him howling and whining ect.. so, we thought by letting him free roam the house he wont bark. He stopped barking as far as i know, but destroys my house. Shoes,lamps,computer cables, phone cables, pictures and frames, ect. anything and everything this dog can reach he will eat. Any advise? I need to do something soon or wife will make me get rid of him.

Another question, I bought this dog from a couple that bought him from a "breeder" He isnt reg. and i asked them if he had papers and they said they didnt know. So i asked if the dame and sire had papers and they said yes, but cant get ahold of him since he moved to the cities.

If i dont have any info on dame or sire or breeder, can i still register my gsp? if so how would i go about doing this?

thanks alot.

[marine_man]

Do you or your wife work close to home where you can get home to let him out over lunch? The best solution I can recommend is to keep him in a pet porter / kennel inside when he can't be supervised.... if you let him go unsupervised in the house he'll continue to do what he's been doing.. destryoing everything.

A last resort to stop the barking while you're gone would be a bark collar... but I have heard that they work well in most applications.

Good Luck! I'm thankfull we have understanding neighbors with my 9 month old lab mix... he doesn't bark too much.. but still does from time to time

marine_man

[setterguy]

Can you put the kennel downstairs or something? Unless you are willing to lose the dog or get a divorce I would say you have to keep him in there. One thing you could try is getting up a little early and take the dog for a 30 minute run, it might burn up some of his energy.....

I don't know about registering a dog without papers, I would contact the AKC or whatever organization you plan on using to register the dog.

[hoggs222]

I feel your pain. My dog tears up stuff too while I'm gone. I had to leave her out because she got spayed & dew claws removed. The lampshade helps her from destroying too much. Also, I spray the furniture with Bitter Apple. Keeps them from chewing on it. Another option would be to kennel em up right when you catch them in the act, if possible.

[BLACKJACK]

Unsupervised pups are going to chew on something. You need to lock it in a portable kennel. Play a radio beside it. After a few days, it will stop the noise.

[MIKE IN lINO III]

How about giving him is own toys? I.E. tennis balls, stuffed dog toys, chew toys. Everytime you catch him chewing on something stop him and give him HIS chew toy.

[Eric Wettschreck]

I don't know about the registering thing, but I can tell ya, fish gotta swim, bird gotta fly, puppy gotta chew. Mike in Lino hit the nail on the head. When ya bust him chewing on something take it away and immediately replace it with something he CAN chew on.

[danny berg]

I tried the bitter apple stuff and it didn't work with my dog. Mom suggested dishsoap and cayanne pepper.

Worked pretty good, but then the dog got a taste for hot stuff, got into a bowl of salsa while I wasn't looking, Man did I have a stinky house for a while

[BigWormin]

I'd say kennel em up and get a bark collar. This wasn't my first choice but I live in an apartment and can't have the dog barking all day when i'm at work. I got one for $50 at petsmart and my dog stopped barking real quick. I tried it on myself first, I gave the biggest meanest bark I could, it's not that bad. I wouldn't put something on my dog that hurts me. Good luck!

[cyberamish]

Give him something to chew on, Nylabones, kongs, hard plastic street hockey balls (my old male GSP loved the street hockey ball, only thing he couldn't destroy).... . Also excercise....a tired puppy is a quiet, well behaved puppy.

[Slowfinger]

Speaking of destroying things...my pup, who is almost a year has gone through dozens of chew toys. I've spent a boat-load of money on the cheap ones AND the spendy ones. But the one thing I can't get over is how she keeps after this set of real bones we got from Cub's meat section. I boiled them and pulled all the marrow out and she's been working on it for a month, and won't quit!

[cyberamish]

My old male was the same way, those "indestructable" kongs? they would last maybe an hour. I found that hard street hockey ball and he just loved it. He would put it in his big ol' mouth and chew it like bubblegum but never broke it.