Puppy Is Chewing Electrical Cords

It is also important to keep the dog out of certain areas when they are puppies. I agree with the raw-hides they are great for puppies. Just dont get the ones that are flavored if you have carpet, b/c it will stain.

Hi L.,

I can speak from much experience with a trouble-making dog. We have two German Shepherds (Sydney, 10.5 and Raven, 7 y/o). Sydney was an angel. VERY smart, very trainable, and non-destructive. We crate trained her and she was free in the house after about a year. Yes, a year. Raven has been a nightmare since we got her. She was impossible to house-train, destructive, not the brightest bulb in the pack and hated training. Polar opposite of Syd. Luckily Raven is absolutely the sweetest dog you could ask for...that has been her saving grace. Lol. Anyway, Raven was crated until she was over 2 years old. During the day and also at night. It was the best thing for her. One night, I was feeling adventurous and let her in the laundry room area for the night. That resulted in a trip the the ER vet. She ate an entire ceramic bowl - her food dish.

When Syd was a pup, we used to buy the beef soup bones from the butcher and cook them up. She chewed on those like crazy. We tried it with Raven, but she got sick from it and had poops all over the crate (shocker, right?). We ended up using the COMPRESSED rawhide for her. It takes a LONG time for them to chew.

If you want to keep your pup safe, in my opinion the crate is the best option. As long as you give her attention and freedom when you are home to watch her, that would be my suggestion. Also, have you started puppy training? This will give you an amazing bonding experience with your dog and will teach her boundries and rules at the same time.

Good luck!

T.

OH yea, we did try the bitter apple and even tobasco for Raven. She liked it. I'm not kidding. But, Sydney HATED it. Just a whiff of the spray when we were trying to use it for Raven and she would sneeze and growl at it.

L. - We have two 7-month old Rottweiler puppies who went through the same thing. The best thing we bought them were rawhide bones! It satisfies their craving to chew something and they're quiet for hours!! We try to always have some handy -- the one time we didn't, I had a hole in my carpet and my husband's cellphone was mangled. Try the rawhide.

I agree with the bitter apple. We put that on EVERYTHING.

I saw the comment about rawhide bones. They are good chew toys, unless you have carpet. Then the rawhide can get onto your carpet when they chew and then you have a dog that can possibly chew the carpet (not fun!). I would recommend Nylabones instead. They are more expensive than the other chew bones, but certainly worth it.

I grew up with Labs - my parents are on their 3rd chocalate. They are great dogs. My parents current "pup" is 2 and they said that the puppy stage lasts until about 1 1/2. I KNOW it seems like forever. Our boxer pup turned 1 in November - I cna't wait until he hits that year and a half mark!

Best of Luck,
B.
(fellow dog lover!!)

After posting this, I realized your dog is female.... I apologize for the oversight, but I'm too lazy to go back and change every "he" to "she" and every "him" to "her" LOL

I know EVERYONE is suggesting rawhides, but they are actually bad for your puppy. Yes, they will give your puppy something to chew on besides electrical cords, but they do not easily digest them. A better choice would be Nylabones - they are very durable, too. Avoid ropes or other similar kinds of chewtoys because your puppy could tear off the strings, eat them, and get them hung in his throat. I co-founded (with my mom) a dog rescue several years ago, shared my home with a minimum of 7 dogs (sometimes as many as 15!!) and my sister is a vet tech. From our combined experience... the links below (petsmart, but you can get them elsewhere) are the products we would recommend:
Galileo by Nylabone:
http://www.petsmart.com/global/product_detail.jsp?PRODUCT...
Gumabone dog chews:
http://www.petsmart.com/global/product_detail.jsp?PRODUCT...
Nylabone Healthy Edibles:
http://www.petsmart.com/global/product_detail.jsp?PRODUCT...
Sterilized Bones (they come with goodies stuffed inside, take the bone away when the dog starts breaking pieces off)
http://www.petsmart.com/global/product_detail.jsp?PRODUCT...

We also suggest using Bitter Apple - spray it on things you dont want the dog to chew:
http://www.petsmart.com/global/product_detail.jsp?PRODUCT...

and, No-Stay Furniture Spray - spray it on furntiture and areas you dont want your puppy to be: http://www.petsmart.com/global/product_detail.jsp?PRODUCT...

Also... make sure you are playing with him enough - and that you have other kinds of toys (balls, squeaky toys, etc) to keep him occupied, he may chew less if he is too busy playing.

Crate the puppy when you arent home (we use metal crates and place dog beds/mats in the bottom so the animal is comfortable - however, you may find that you will replace these often if your dog chews them.

If you can't be right there to watch your puppy while you are home, puppy-proof at least one room you can put him in and use gates to keep him there. Use cord ties to snugly confine all extra cords. Get on the floor, at your puppy's eye level (like you do for kids) and see what he sees. Use the bitter apple and No-Stay to keep him away from areas he could get hurt. Training him now at an obedience class will help you further down the line - Petsmart and other chains offer classes and there are many private trainers as well.

good luck....

and know that for some dogs, thew chewing never stops. Despite the best efforts.... one of our rottweilers, at 8 yrs old, is STILL a destructive chewer. We love her anyway and she keeps us on our toes - and inspires us to make sure we pick up after ourselves (no leaves shoes out on the floor, or clothes out of the dresser drawers, and my son picks up ALL of his toys without being asked!)

i know everyone one here says that rawhides are bad for dogs, to some point i agree lol, if you want to give your dog something to chew try real pig ears, i have talked to 2 vets about it, it doesn't hurt them in any way, it is just a treat no value in them either, you can buy them at the reg store. where you buy your meat, they sell them buy packages, i buy them all the time for my huskys and they love them. and they are cheap too. i get 4 in a pack for 1.50 lol good luck, i use to breed huskys and chi dogs, and the chewing is always going to be there unless you stop them when they are just puppies

Check the pet section of your Walmart, or call PetSmart or PetCo (or even your vet, though they may be more expensive) and see if they have anything bitter that you can paint on the cords around your home (any anything else you don't want chewed on!) OR if you can't find that, look in the nail polish section- there is usually a little bottle that you can paint on your nails to try to stop biting them and it tastes really bitter. I would paint it on the cords while they are UNplugged of course, so that it can dry before you plug them back in to keep from shocking you!

Other than that, I'll bet that if puppy gets shocked once, that will be the end of the cord biting!!

Labs are sweet and very easy to train. Check out a few books at the library and be consistant and you will have a friend for life :)

'M.

Hi!
The pet stores sell a bitter apple spray that you spray where they may chew and they will stay away. The only downside is you have to reapply daily. It worked for my lab when she was a puppy! I feel your pain!! I would also crate her when you are not home and use baby gates to keep her in areas that are "puppy proof" when you can't watch her closely! I woudl also take her to a puppy obedience class. It is a lot easier to train them right from the start than "untrain" them later.
Good Luck!