Louis is 5,5 months now and is generally a fantastic dog. From puppyhood he liked to bite stuff and now with change of teath its not getting easy. When I am at home, he is out of his crate most of the time but I observe him and when he starts chewing on floor panels, walls, table etc I tell him no and give him toys. Also, we do at lot of walks and trainings and he gets most of his food in kongs, now frozen so its more difficult. I would say that when I am at home the chewing is at an acceptable level for a 5,5 month lab although I would hope it was zero. I cannot leave him alone around the house at no risk. However, when I am at work the nanny (she cleans) is here. She loves Louis and cares about him so that is great. However, I have noticed that quite a lot of items has fell victim to Louis teeth and from the amount of damage, it seems like its more than he can do in 5-10 seconds until stopped. I think we are talking more like 5-10 mins of chewing on a spot, and there are several spots around the house where he hasnt chewed when I am around that are pretty damaged. All that leads me to conclude that he is probably left on his own unobserved for quite some time. I know the nanny for several years and I am sure she does not do that of badwill, she probably just do not know better. That is of course not okay, its a risk to Louis, to his education and to the house. What should I do? A. Provide the nanny with a very fixed schedule about when Louis should be in the crate and when he should not (and when he should not she should be doing something with him like walking, playing, feeding) B. Provide the nanny with overall guidelines like "when you cannot keep him under continious observation, put him in the crate" I have done B so far but wondering if A would be better because I have already told her B before. I think she cares a lot about him but think its better to have him out of the crate alone misbehaving than in the crate while she is working. Thanks
Re: Louis eating the house esp when I am not at home - what to do? Play pen with crate inside so he's not likely to chew anything he cannot get access too and there's room for him to roam around / sleep / play? Works for my Bella and now at 6 months I can leave her alone in the house whilst I nip to the shop, but during day she's in the kitchen which is cornered off using a play pen ( opened out) . The only way to prevent chewing is to minimise the risk and use distraction toys etc, if you are not in you need an area to keep him safe. She would have to be super nanny to clean and be on chew alert, they are so fast unless you are watching 24/7 it's too tricky.
Re: Louis eating the house esp when I am not at home - what to do? I used plan B. Molly was never alone in a room until we were confident that she wouldn't destroy it. However, they can inflict a lot of damage with those teeth in very few seconds. Teaching both dog and nanny the "leave it " would seem the best plan. Swapping whatever contraband they have in their mouth for a toy or a treat is better than trying to remove the object by force. It seems tomexcite them and the item always winds up damaged. His chewing should become less now he has his adult teeth.
Re: Louis eating the house esp when I am not at home - what to do? [quote author=CDM link=topic=10636.msg157544#msg157544 date=1429469763] Play pen with crate inside so he's not likely to chew anything he cannot get access too and there's room for him to roam around / sleep / play? Works for my Bella and now at 6 months I can leave her alone in the house whilst I nip to the shop, but during day she's in the kitchen which is cornered off using a play pen ( opened out) . The only way to prevent chewing is to minimise the risk and use distraction toys etc, if you are not in you need an area to keep him safe. She would have to be super nanny to clean and be on chew alert, they are so fast unless you are watching 24/7 it's too tricky. [/quote] Agree. Impossible to be focused on something and be on chew alert at the same time. When I am at home, I am on chew alert and doing other stuff at the same time but not anything that prevents me of keeping an eye and ear on the croco I think I will give her some fixed hours for when to have him in crate & play pen and when to excersise feed and play -- she can deviate from that schedule only when she can pay full attention to him. I think that is the best solution for all. For now, its only furniture and the house that is suffering but eventually he might chew something really dangerous
