What's the best way to stop 13month old dog chewing everything

[Swivel3Smile]

13month tugs on rug curtains his bed and duvet in our room.. He will pick them up and thrash them what's the most efficient way of curbing this? 

He gets lots of trick training, tug fetch and 2 one hour walks a day. 

He seems to do it out of frustration and used to bite his lead a lot. 

Any ideas to extinguish this.. Redirecting does not work well. 

[gcv-border]

Crate him with a filled long (assuming he is OK in the crate).

[Swivel3Smile]

1 hour ago, gcv-border said:

Crate him with a filled long (assuming he is OK in the crate).

He's fine in the crate that's where he's sleeping.. But he does this in front of us in between being in a crate

[Lawgirl]

It sounds as though he may be either overstimulated or attention seeking when he behaves like this. It is difficult to be sure from your description.

If it is over-stimulation, he is not yet able to settle himself, i.e. he has not learned the mystical 'off-switch'.  It comes naturally to some dogs, others need help to learn it.

If it is attention seeking, he has learned that you respond when he behaves like this, therefore it is self rewarding (and it may just also be fun!)

In both cases, the answer is simply to respond in the same way - a consequence of this unwanted behaviour is time in the crate.  This is not a punishment.  It is simply a force of nature.  Say calmly something like "Uh oh, someone needs a time out." and then just put him in the crate until he calms down.  If he naps, even better.  A filled kong or other chew toy, to emphasise that this is not a punishment is good (although not every time, or he may start to do this to get the treat!). Once he is calm, you can let him out.  If he does it again, rinse and repeat. Over and over until he learns.

Be aware of something called an extinction burst, where a dog escalates their behaviour because it is no longer getting the desired effect, before they give up entirely.

An alternative would be to teach place, by training him to lie on a mat, and rewarding calm lying on a mat for longer and longer periods.  But if he is as over the top with furnishings as you suggest, and he is already crate trained, I suggest the crate would be best.

[gcv-border]

Agree with lawgirl. Possibly attention-seeking.

If you don't want to use the crate, if you have a half-back or other small room nearby, use that for time-out. I do 1-2 minute time-outs. And be prepared to put him in the time-out space more than once, at least in the beginning.

I have also tethered a misbehaving dog to me so I can always be watching them. After all, we are only human, and even though we think we are going to watch them, if the dog isn't tethered to me. I get distracted.

[Swivel3Smile]

7 hours ago, Lawgirl said:

It sounds as though he may be either overstimulated or attention seeking when he behaves like this. It is difficult to be sure from your description.

If it is over-stimulation, he is not yet able to settle himself, i.e. he has not learned the mystical 'off-switch'.  It comes naturally to some dogs, others need help to learn it.

If it is attention seeking, he has learned that you respond when he behaves like this, therefore it is self rewarding (and it may just also be fun!)

In both cases, the answer is simply to respond in the same way - a consequence of this unwanted behaviour is time in the crate.  This is not a punishment.  It is simply a force of nature.  Say calmly something like "Uh oh, someone needs a time out." and then just put him in the crate until he calms down.  If he naps, even better.  A filled kong or other chew toy, to emphasise that this is not a punishment is good (although not every time, or he may start to do this to get the treat!). Once he is calm, you can let him out.  If he does it again, rinse and repeat. Over and over until he learns.

Be aware of something called an extinction burst, where a dog escalates their behaviour because it is no longer getting the desired effect, before they give up entirely.

An alternative would be to teach place, by training him to lie on a mat, and rewarding calm lying on a mat for longer and longer periods.  But if he is as over the top with furnishings as you suggest, and he is already crate trained, I suggest the crate would be best.

This is it he can only settle when extremely worn out... Which isn't great because I don't want to have to constantly do more and more to get him there. He can't settle when tired and waits for us to put him in his crate any suggestions on how to implant that off switch. The rest of your advice was fantastic. Thank you 

[GentleLake]

Dogs who can't settle until they're worn out need to be taught how to. It's often (though not always) the unintended result of puppy owners who primarily entertain and interact with their puppies when they're active but tend to ignore them when they're resting or being quiet. Every time a new puppy (or adult dog) enters my home, I quietly and calmly praise for those restful, quiet moments, even if they occur only because the puppy's worn itself out and has no other choice than to take a nap. It helps them to learn that quiet time is valued, recognized and rewarded just as other more active sorts of behaviors are.

You're most likely going to have to make a deliberate effort to establish the value of and reward quiet behavior. Crate time as outlined above is one way. Place (mat, a particular spot, etc.) training is another excellent way and one that requires your dog to actively participate in the learning and to learn how to make appropriate choices.

I would also suggest you look into a couple of books that deal with creating calm behavior: Click to Calm and Fired Up, Frantic and Freaked Out. Both have been mentioned here before and a search will bring links to them up. YouTube also has video tutorials on the Click to Calm protocol, perhaps the other as well. The point here is that you're teaching the dog in tiny increments to practice calm behaviors.

 

 

[D'Elle]

Agree with the above. You have to teach him to settle down, just as you have to teach a two year old human child how to settle down rather than run ragged all over and then crash.

Make your emphasis be on rewarding quiet behavior and make sure you are not using the crate as a punishment and more than you would use nap time as a punishment for a human toddler. 

The crate is your friend in this.

the last thing you want to do is "do more and more to get him there", because that will create a dog who requires more and more stimulation and you will be creating a monster. If you put play time and rest time on a schedule, that may help. dogs like structure and thrive on routine.

[Swivel3Smile]

8 hours ago, gcv-border said:

Agree with lawgirl. Possibly attention-seeking.

If you don't want to use the crate, if you have a half-back or other small room nearby, use that for time-out. I do 1-2 minute time-outs. And be prepared to put him in the time-out space more than once, at least in the beginning.

I have also tethered a misbehaving dog to me so I can always be watching them. After all, we are only human, and even though we think we are going to watch them, if the dog isn't tethered to me. I get distracted.

We are trying the timeouts in the crate and asking him isn't going well. When he knows hes doing naughty things and I ask him to go to bed he gets frustrated and mouths at us and scratches us which results in us gently trying to put him in his crate

[D'Elle]

Don't ask him to go into his crate. Put him in there. Don't let him mouth or scratch you.   When he puts his mouth on you, make a loud yelping sound the way a dog would if hurt, and then get him by the scruff of the neck if you need to in order to control him, and put him gently but firmly into the crate and then ignore him. If you let him continue to mouth you, you may end up with a dog who thinks it is OK to bite. The yelp is to let him know he hurt you - it is a sound the dog will understand. 

Also, please give up the idea that "he knows he is doing naughty things". He is just doing things to get your attention, and is not deliberately doing things that are bad. Remember, what is bad to you is only neutral to him. If you think of him as deliberately doing bad things it will only create a feeling in you that will lead to an antagonistic relationship with your dog. This is not what you want. Simply reward good behavior and be no-nonsense and firm - but not angry - and crate him when he is doing things you don't want. You are the one who has to be in control here. Take control.

I am always kind to my dogs, but they don't get away with doing something I don't like. I may be a highly benevolent dictator, one who is very loving and generous with tie and treats and affection and attention, but I am a dictator and they have to do as I say. Since it has always been this way without exception, they don't attempt to do otherwise, as they know it won't work. Getting a dog to this point doesn't happen in a short time, but if you are 100% consistent while being fair and reasonable and kind, the dog will learn that resistance is futile.

[Lawgirl]

There is another way of teaching self control to a dog which does not involve a crate, but does require long periods of time commitment from the owner. It is a way of teaching a 'long down'.  There was a post called "Sit on the dog" a while back where this was discussed, but basically you put your dog on a lead, put the dog in a down, put the lead under a foot or under the leg of a chair so only a short length is available, sit on the chair and then sit and read a book, magazine, watch Netflix on your phone, whatever for half an hour or so.  Do this in a park, in your yard, in your living room, wherever. 

There is some debate about this being a dominance exercise, which is a theory which has been essentially debunked by modern animal behaviourist research, but the exercise itself may be useful if you approach it more as an opportunity to positively reinforce quiet, settled behaviour.

[Swivel3Smile]

On 10/16/2019 at 11:09 PM, D'Elle said:

Don't ask him to go into his crate. Put him in there. Don't let him mouth or scratch you.   When he puts his mouth on you, make a loud yelping sound the way a dog would if hurt, and then get him by the scruff of the neck if you need to in order to control him, and put him gently but firmly into the crate and then ignore him. If you let him continue to mouth you, you may end up with a dog who thinks it is OK to bite. The yelp is to let him know he hurt you - it is a sound the dog will understand. 

Also, please give up the idea that "he knows he is doing naughty things". He is just doing things to get your attention, and is not deliberately doing things that are bad. Remember, what is bad to you is only neutral to him. If you think of him as deliberately doing bad things it will only create a feeling in you that will lead to an antagonistic relationship with your dog. This is not what you want. Simply reward good behavior and be no-nonsense and firm - but not angry - and crate him when he is doing things you don't want. You are the one who has to be in control here. Take control.

I am always kind to my dogs, but they don't get away with doing something I don't like. I may be a highly benevolent dictator, one who is very loving and generous with tie and treats and affection and attention, but I am a dictator and they have to do as I say. Since it has always been this way without exception, they don't attempt to do otherwise, as they know it won't work. Getting a dog to this point doesn't happen in a short time, but if you are 100% consistent while being fair and reasonable and kind, the dog will learn that resistance is futile.

That makes a lot of sense but it kind of worries me this will cause aggression just because my heads full of all the stuff I have heard from positive only trainers. However this does seem logical and I did it today. He did give up eventually doing the bad behaviours. 

[Swivel3Smile]

On 10/16/2019 at 11:31 PM, Lawgirl said:

There is another way of teaching self control to a dog which does not involve a crate, but does require long periods of time commitment from the owner. It is a way of teaching a 'long down'.  There was a post called "Sit on the dog" a while back where this was discussed, but basically you put your dog on a lead, put the dog in a down, put the lead under a foot or under the leg of a chair so only a short length is available, sit on the chair and then sit and read a book, magazine, watch Netflix on your phone, whatever for half an hour or so.  Do this in a park, in your yard, in your living room, wherever. 

There is some debate about this being a dominance exercise, which is a theory which has been essentially debunked by modern animal behaviourist research, but the exercise itself may be useful if you approach it more as an opportunity to positively reinforce quiet, settled behaviour.

I have tried sit on the dog he just goes mental and rags on the lead. Super overstimulated and insane. 

[GentleLake]

I'd go mental if someone sat on me . . . . Just sayin'.

[Lawgirl]

I have never tried sit on the dog myself, which was why it was not my first or even second suggestion. 

I am very glad that crating worked eventually.  Persistence and consistency will work.  The other goal is to watch closely to try and catch him before he starts getting very overstimulated.  Try to learn the markers of him starting to get worked up, and catch him before he is in full flight, and it will make things easier.

[D'Elle]

On 10/17/2019 at 7:05 PM, Swivel3Smile said:

That makes a lot of sense but it kind of worries me this will cause aggression just because my heads full of all the stuff I have heard from positive only trainers. However this does seem logical and I did it today. He did give up eventually doing the bad behaviours. 

This will not cause aggression. And I am definitely a positive reinforcement trainer. The thing is, positive reinforcement doesn't mean you don't set boundaries and it doesn't mean the dog gets away with what he is not supposed to do. Training is training, and has a purpose and needed result, and you do need to be the boss on this. Setting boundaries and making rules has nothing to do with aggression on either your part or the dog's. Think about how a pack of dogs, or a mother dog, raises a puppy. If the puppy nips or gets too annoying, one of the adult dogs will snap at the pup or hold it down with a paw or drive it away. This is natural. For you to discipline your dog -- always with kindness, not with anger, never with violence -- is natural as well. 

I have never tried "sit on the dog", and am not so sure I like that technique. I also admit I don't know anything about it, but I don't think I would use it unless I had an extreme example of a frantic pup with whom all other approaches did not work. 

Patience. Consistency. Persistence.  Patience. Insisting on the pup behaving as you wish, and if not there are consequences. Patience. That's it in a nutshell. Oh, and did I mention patience?()