These two dogs Foxy and Leo are determined to chew up the left tail light on this boat it seems no matter what. Guess I will have to do another fence to secure it from them. We scold the heck out of them and then they come back later and chew it up. I have the two new ones but was smart enough to wait until it's safe from the little chewers.
Did you try mixing cayenne in with some oil or shortening and putting that on the taillight, @Jake Smith ? I have found that most dogs do not like chewing anything that has cayenne put on it. I remember having to do that to stuff that puppies were chewing on, and even to stop horses that chewed on posts.
Not yet, but I will try it, got to stop them from doing it somehow before they cause themselves a stomach issue. Thanks, Yvonne. Will let you know how they do after that.
@Yvonne Smith, a little early, but Leo walked up to it and licked it, then just kept licking his lips for a while, then turn and tried to pee on it. So then I put him in the back yard and let Foxy in front, where I had put the boat, away from Leo. She went right to the light and kept smelling it, but she didn't lick it yet, though, I will keep an eye on her and see what she does. Thanks again, Yvonne.
Yvonne, so far so good with cayenne pepper and olive oil, they don't seem to like it. Still waiting before putting new lights on, until I'm sure they won't chew on them. Foxy did get a little on her when she was smelling it yesterday and drank a lot of water, but so far she has stayed clear of it. Snapped a couple of photos of them and of the tail light they chewed up. They're like we not doing anything bad now.
I am glad that it is working for you guys ! If they are still stealing the chair towels, you might try just sprinkling some cayenne on that and then give it a spray with some water in a spray bottle (so it will stick, you do not want to put any oil on the towel), and leave that as bait and it might stop the towel stealing , too. Just use a different towel to sit on after you have one out with cayenne, and only leave that one towel for them to try and run off with.
Great advice, Yvonne, I will try that too with a towel and see what happens. Lately, they haven't grabbed my chair or our towels, but when they get mad about something, is when they did it. Thanks for the help, it really helps with these two.
I need to figure out a way to stop Leo and Foxy from fighting before Leo ends up really hurting Foxy, and then you never know if Foxy, though smaller, could hurt him, but in any case, hurt each other, any worse than he or she has already done a few times already. She will go after him a lot of the time, and he won't be wanting to fight, but she will keep going after him until he hurts her, then she gets up most time after I scream at them to stop, and run to the porch and try to stay away from him and act scared. Then later that day she does it again, or he will initiate it. I've tried lots of things to stop them to no avail. I still think the malnutrition they had, has caused a lot of their behavior problems. They're really smart dogs, but it's teaching them that seems to be what most of the problems are. They know what we're telling them but sometimes choose to ignore our lessons, about certain things they have already proved they understood. @Yvonne Smith, do you have any ideas on stopping this behavior? I mean the cayenne pepper has helped so far. Just thought I would ask you.
Since they are still young dogs, they are probably going to want to play, and when it gets too rough, then they get hurt. You can keep them apart, but then they can’t play at all. Possibly, get a muzzle for each of them so that they can’t hurt each other and put it on when you leave them together, and then they can get the playing and running done without hurting each other. Then, when you have them separated, they do not need the muzzle. It will also help stop the chewing if they are not able to chew with the muzzle. I once had a really smart dog, and he would only chase chickens when we were not at home, so I had to either tie him up or put a muzzle on him when we could not watch him. (He absolutely knew he was not supposed to chase the chickens, so he waited until no one was watching him and then did it.) Using a muzzle also makes the animal feel insecure, so they are less apt to even try to fight with each other, like hobbling a horse that is aggressive stops that behavior, but still allows them to be with the other horses. You might look on youtube for more ideas, @Jake Smith .
Thanks, Yvonne, and I have been checking youtube and trying all kinds of different stuff, so thought I would get your opinion too. Have muzzles and will try those too. It's gonna take some time, but every now and then it takes a toll on you.
Another thing you might want to do is check your dog food and make sure that you are not accidentally feeding them one of the high protein/high energy dog foods, which makes them more aggressive as well as wanting to run and play more than a regular dog food does. It is fine for working dogs, like a cattle dog ; but not so good for a dog that does not require all of that energy. Dog food commercials tell people that they need all of that high-protein (expensive) food, when all they need for most dogs is a regular food that has good ingredients in it. Beet pulp is good in dog food because it has a lot of nutrients and does not make an animal hyper, but will help them gain weight and have a nice coat.
The folks had a large dog brother to my female dog, they had a large outdoor parking space big enough for 4 vehicles but open 360 degrees. The dog they had would tear out all the wiring on the step fathers tail lights of his little truck. Also they had a nice covered breezeway between the back door of the house and the wash shed that had the washing machine and dryer. It used a large timber like 10 inches in the center of the roof and the dog chewed around it until it looked like a beaver had chewed it. They finally built a large closed area under the breezeway for the dog and kept him there until they could let him run the back yard when they had time to watch him. He even ripped the screens off the back windows. It finally became too much and such a shame they had to give him away. His sister my dog lived 13 years and went to Nevada with me. She had a heart attack and died one night in 2007 in Houston. I took her to Hempstead Tx and put her in a family pet cemetery of friends. It is in the middle of a little clearing with a pretty pond nearby. Not much chance of her being disturbed because it sit back from the highway a good distance.
His sister that you had, didn't chew things? Sounds like you cared for her, and laid her to rest, in a good way.
They were so malnourished, I did put them on a high-protein food, and we cook the chicken to mix with it. At one-year-old Foxy weighs 13 lbs and Leo 24 lbs; when we first got them, which is very underweight, so not sure they didn't need the nutrition and protein until they're a better weight, which now they are. But maybe now I should change it, soon, if they continue to be too active.