help...boxer chewing!!!

cmurph

hi guys,

well i need help....we got a boxer last november, at the time he was 16 months old and he is a real cutey. he had been very well looked after but his owners had to get a home for him as they circumstances changed..
anyway i have tried long and hard to change his ways but its not working , if i hang out washing its gone in a jiffy ,thrown round the yard...

he has eaten the saddle of my daughters bike..
the wipers off my hubbys car....twice!!
some toys and other bits and bobs..

well last night my cousin came to visit with his new motorbike...i was out and only himself here....as i got hoome mike was going away.....disaster had struck...the dog had ate the leather seat off the bike!!:eek:

so what i am asking is....is there anything i can do to stop this behaviour or is it that he didnt learn it as a pup and i have no hope training him now....
i really want to keep him as i am mad about him as are the kids and hubby, but its getting expensive replacing stuff and i hate having to tie him up....
if i catch him in the act....i immediately chain him up and just talk crossly to him......any advice would be great...thanks in advance..

boomer_ie

cmurph wrote:

if i catch him in the act....i immediately chain him up and just talk crossly to him......any advice would be great...thanks in advance..

This is whats going wrong, A dog does not know when you are being mad at them, they just see it as attention (Mind I am positive a boxer knows your mad just not why!).

It would appear that the boxer is bored (and like my two) chews things when this happens (luckily so far its only the bed knobs gone!). Boxers are very active and affectionate creatures and crave attention and someone to play with them.

Are you gone from the house for long periods of the day?

Shane

boomer_ie

boomer_ie wrote:

This is whats going wrong, A dog does not know when you are being mad at them, they just see it as attention (Mind I am positive a boxer knows your mad just not why!).

It would appear that the boxer is bored (and like my two) chews things when this happens (luckily so far its only the bed knobs gone!). Boxers are very active and affectionate creatures and crave attention and someone to play with them.

Are you gone from the house for long periods of the day?

Shane

Opps left out the advice bit,

There are a few options

Crate them while away (ie Dog Kennel)
Get the kids to play with the boxer to wear it out (How big is the garden btw, is there room to run around?)
Take the boxer for LONG walks, or better still to the forest when its quiet and let him/her run (Ensure that they do the recall tho!)
Or the forth option, boxerproof the place they are in, ie go by the mantra, if its loose, can be reached, can be chewed they will take it and destroy it (not and easy thing to do!)
Oh and the final option is to get a companion, Tyson is a lot more relaxed since i got ali, there is a little more work and expense having two but boy is the loving twice as fun

peasant

"Talking crossly" to a dog achieves sweet eff A ...especially after the deed is done.

If you want to influence behavior, you have to do so while it is being displayed ...i.e. catch him in the act.

For example your washing:

Put out some "fake" washing, some old rags, and watch the little darling from somewhere where he can't see you.
As soon as you see him pulling at the stuff, you don't just "talk crossly" to him, you come down on him like a ton of bricks.

Well not literally of course ...play a bit of theatre ...rumble him, be really angry with him (just hide that inward smile well!), tell him off and send him away.

He'll get the message fairly quickly.

Repeat the excercise with his other forbidden "toys" and you should start seeing results pretty quickly.

Just keep an eye on things, because bad habits might creep back in again after a while.


And get him something (a kong, for example) that he is allowed to chew on.

Jip

After raising 2 boxers over the years the best thing is to get plenty of chewy toys for him, we've never had a problem with either of them chewing as long as they've had something of their own.

boomer_ie

Jip wrote:

After raising 2 boxers over the years the best thing is to get plenty of chewy toys for him, we've never had a problem with either of them chewing as long as they've had something of their own.

For me tyson wont chew any more, he will sometimes play with the squeaky penguin (heavens knows where it came from!) as for ali.... its the foot knobs of the bed, and lately the cross member, oh and i did catch her starting on the table which got stopped PDQ! (by distraction)

cmurph

thanks for the replies guys...

boomer ,we are living in the country or own site is just over a half an acre and he has the run of all that ,i also take him for a 3 mile walk most days unless something happens...nearing the end of the walk he slows up and gets lazy....i am at home most of the day so he has plenty company.....
he even plays with the cat...:rolleyes:

as for boxer proofing, well the yard and garden is at this stage but its the likes of cars and motorbikes, like last nights episode i'd like to get rid of.

i would prefer not to chain him up every time someone calls..


peasant i have done as you said with the washing ,abd i ran out guns blazing screaming like a fish wife....i then caught him and chained him up for a while, but he will still do it given the chance!!

he does have chewy toys, i even bought him a dinosaur bone at the petshop the other day...he has now bored of it though.....

this is not my first boxer, i have grown up with boxers and my own boxer died last year from cancer.....

peasant

Ah ...so he does it eventhough he FULLY knows he's not supposed to

In that case ...set up a trap.:rolleyes:

As soon as he starts pulling at the washing line, something really noisy will fall down and really scare him, or he will get showerd with water ...or whatever you can set up.

As for parked cars and motorbikes ...it might be worth creating a fenced off area for them

cmurph

ooh ya peasant he definately knows he is not to do it...he just dosen't care...

but he is so cute, he gets away with it

peasant

cmurph wrote:

but he is so cute, he gets away with it

In that case let me amend my posting from above to this:

Ah ...so he does it eventhough he knows he's not supposed to, because he knows FULL WELL that he'll be let away with it

Your fault ...not his

cmurph

true...:rolleyes:


thanks for the help guys...i managed to retrieve a towel off him today without the chase because i ignored him.....he had robbed the wsahing line again....so i think the ignoring and not giving out seems to work for him...


cheers

miss_sunshine

We have a scottie puppy and he has chewed everything in the kitchen, so my mum got some books out on dogs from the local library, and what they say is that there isn't a bad dog, but a bad owner (not saying you're bad!)

but to know your dog and let him realise what you expect from him, so, everytime he goes for the washing, by you chasing him, its fun and that is what you expect him to do, and by chaining him up afterwards, he's not realising what hes being punished for, because its fun when you chase him and then gets punished for you telling him its ok to chew the washing.....

My best advice is the next time he chews the washing, - like peasant says, to put some old rags out - and just ignore him, and he will soon realise its not fun anymore because you're no longer telling him its fun by not chasing him.

And if you tell him "No" or "leave" firmly, - no need to shout at him because he can hear you even if you whisper - he will know what you mean and then you reward him for leaving the washing alone, ie. doggie treats, just a simple stroke on his back is seen as a reward and being told he is a good boy and soon he will realise that by being good, he gets rewarded and not chained up....

This attitude will work with anything you see wrong in your dog, don't get mad, get even..... It will take a little time, its not going to be instant, but good luck!!!

Jotter

I dont know, boxers are brats! We have a boxer pup, my family owned a boxer for 10 yrs, and while the 2 differ in personality they were both bold as brass, boxer style! I think the ambush idea will work well, our guy is good as gold while we're around, he knows how to behave and most of the time he obeys without us having to tell him twice. Turn your back however and hes off doing all the things he knows fine well hes not ment to, like a bold child.
We have used the ambush idea on him and it worked, he used to bark like mad at empty bottles, considering theres usually a good supply of empties in our house this was a pain in the ass but it was cured by loud bangs every time he went near them, now he just sits and looks but wont touch and doesnt bark! He also has a fetish for teatowels so hes allowed one (bec its manky from him dragging it into the garden!) the rest are off limits and so far hes happy with the one he has! best of luck, they really are hard work you have to be one step ahead ALL the time!

cmurph

thanks ....i have now given him his own washing on the line and its working well...he leaves it alone if i'm there ,the minute i go in he rips it off the line and runs round the lawn with it....:D
he's very funny......i just hope he gets the message to leave mine alone soon!!

i started a couple days ago saying no to him and it actually seems to be working today...he has stopped ambushing me round the side of the house and side swiping me with a hug...
jester you are right they are brats...but they are very cute and worth while brats..

mind you our last boxer was a pure angel...she never ripped or stole anything that wasn't hers.....a real good girl...