Irritable Bowel Syndrome Message Boards | Chewing and my puppy...what hubby and I did

Cara,

Hi again! Your puppy is SO CUTE!

About chewing......get your dog LOTS of chew toys! Get a stuffed animal squeaky toy (the Petsmart trainer doesn't recommend rawhides cause they can swell the dog's intestines if they digest them...but there is contrevery on this), get your dog a REAL butcher bone or buy a coated one from a pet store (but watch your dog...the coating can cause diarrhea...so you gotta be careful there), and get some corn starch chews. ANY TIME(try to be consistent), your beagle chews on anything you don't want it to...redirect its attention to one of these items. When your dog is doing something you like (chewing on a one), tell it "Good girl/boy"! Consitency is key though! It's not easy (I'm right here with ya!), but it's well woth the effort.

Another thing my hubby and I do is we ignore Shana when she comes over to the table begging for food or when she tries to jump on us. It has helped tremendously! We also don't leave things around that we know she will want to chew...like napkins on the table...our house is kinda "babyproofed"

Lets see what else...I read it's best nort to give your puppy attention all the time. Attention is a GREAT way to get your puppy to do what you want...they crave attention and so if I save attention for when my pup is doing something I like...she feels good, keeps doing what I praised her for, and everyone's happy! :-)

Do you play tug of war with a rope with your pup? It's our dog's fav game! We only play with her thought if she'll give up her toy. when play gets rough, we stop playing and go back in 10 seconds and start again until she learns not to pull so hard. When she gets it right, we priase her. if she drops the rope, we also praise her. If not, we end the game and ignore her and go back after 10 seconds.

Drop it is important...later on when you want your pup to drop the tissue box, or whatever, if you can tell your dog to "drop it" you will save yourself a lot of mess and hassle!

WHEW! Sorry if this is too much info! Or if it's not easily understood. Let me know if I need to clarify anything!

I'm so thrilled for you! But it's HARD STUFF! I think you're doing a great job...and you sure love your pup enough! enjoy him/her!

Let us know if you have more questions!

*hugs*

Ruchie

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Formerly known as Ruchie

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