# 11 week old English Bulldog and Chewing



## Ian Shaughnessy (Feb 25, 2010)

I am having an increasingly tough time with my 11 week old male english bulldog when it comes to chewing.

I have had him for 3 weeks, and I am crate training him. I keep him crated most of the time, letting him out for an hour or so at a time to play around and get some excersise. I should also mention that I work from home so I am constantly home, even when he is crated during the day.

I feel like when he is out of the crate, I cannot take my eye off of him for one second. He has anywhere from eight to ten toys outside of his crate at any given time, but even when his attention is focused on one of those, he will eventually mosey on over to one of 3 problem areas that I cannot seem to keep his attention away from: my laptop's power cord, the power cord to a floor lamp, or the curtains. It's been three weeks of constant, stern "NO!"s when he approaches these areas, yet he will still beeline directly for them over any other chew toy in his eyesight.

It even gets to the point sometimes where he will walk to the curtains or lamp, I will go and turn him away from them and hand him a chew toy, he will drop the toy, turn around and walk back to the curtains or lamp...over and over and over again. I cannot seem to keep his attention off of these spots.

What can I do to get his mind away from these places?


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## Elana55 (Jan 7, 2008)

Most dog training requires us to be more persistant than the dog. what you are doing is correct. You can try to teach "leave it" which involves putting a teat on the floor and having a treat in your hand. When he goes for the treat on the floor, cover it with your foot. When he refocuses on you, reward. Eventually, when he automatically refocuses to you after you cover the treat on the floor with your foot, add the cue "Leave it.' NEVER allow him to have the treat on the floor. 

Eventually he should "leave it" without you covering it with your foot. You can then start to transfer the cue to other things (like the things mentioned here). Keep a treat with you that you can offer when he refocuses to you.

In the mean time, and to keep your dog safe, you can spray the items you wnat him to leave alone with "Bitter apple." This stuff works but does not have a lot of residual staying power.


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## DeniseV (Nov 8, 2009)

*!*



Ian Shaughnessy said:


> I am having an increasingly tough time with my 11 week old male english bulldog when it comes to chewing.
> 
> I have had him for 3 weeks, and I am crate training him. I keep him crated most of the time, letting him out for an hour or so at a time to play around and get some excersise. I should also mention that I work from home so I am constantly home, even when he is crated during the day.
> 
> ...


We had GREAT success with using a training spray, that you spray on surfaces you don't want your dog to go near. It worked WONDERS.

try this (they sell all sorts of kinds at Petsmart, Petco, etc), combined with keeping wires and things out of his reach. When he does start to bite something he shouldn't, a firm "NO!" and an immediate re-direction to a chewy stick should happen. When he starts chewing the appropriate chewy stick or toy, praise him galore! "Good boy!! Good Boy!!"

Be consisten with this....When he chews what he is allowed to have praise him like you are the happiest person on earth. He will eventually get the picture!

Try these for chewies:

Bully sticks (my pug puppy LOVES them and they last)
Kongs...you can fill them with all sorts of things. Try peanut butter and stick it in the freezer. This will make it last longer. You can put other treats, too; little milk bones, Kong treats, etc.

I would steer clear from rawhide chews. The bully sticks are GREAT as they are digestable, they last and the pups love them. I stick mine in my bone shpaed Kong so she can hold the bottom part of the bone in her hands, and chew on the other end, where the bully stick is sticking out. I can't say enough about these. 

What bully sticks actually ARE makes me sick, but they are good for dogs. And they don;t get those huge hunks hnaging off like rawhide chewies. The bully sticks get a little stringy so I snip them a little from time to time, but evevn if she got some and digested it they are easier on her tummy than rawhide and won't cause blockages like rawhide.

And as always, just keep an eye on your pup when he is chewing.

I have to also say I am totally jealous. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE English Bulldogs! A pug was my first choice for many reasons but a Bulldog has always been a favoriote of mine. Do you have pics? PLEASE post!!!! I love them so much!

Good luck and try that spray. Bella, my pug, stopped chewing on the drawer knobs, door stops and the chair legs after two days of spraying. It was a miracle, actually.

Denise and Bella, 6 month old Fawn Pug


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## tsc (Dec 7, 2009)

Congrats, your puppy is functioning as intended 

Dogs don't know what 'no' means. Keep redirecting onto appropriate toys when he chews, and you may want to consider tethering-- a shortish leash keeping the dog at your side. He won't be able to get unto trouble unless you're there, where you can immediately stop it. 

When he goes for something and you're able to successfully redirect him (if he goes for a cord, call him over), and the second he looks away, shove something really tasty in his mouth. It may just be that toys aren't high value enough to turn him away from that other chewy thing over there. They do eventually get that you're way more awesome than anything else, promise.


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## DeniseV (Nov 8, 2009)

tsc said:


> When he goes for something and you're able to successfully redirect him (if he goes for a cord, call him over), and the second he looks away, shove something really tasty in his mouth.


I have to disagree (respectfully, of course!).

If a pup is doing something he shouldn't, such as chewing on wires, and you call him over and give him a treat....you are essetnially rewarding bad behavior.

When pup wants something yummy, what will he do? Go afte rthose wires knowing he will get a attention from his master and a yummy treat right after.

Not a good idea. Again, just my opinion.

A "No!" may not be understood but the dog understands the firmness in the tone and will eventually understand "no" as something that isn;t good. Then redirection to something he CAN chew on, such as a chewy stick or a toy, and positive priase for taking the appropriate chewy is a good way to get the pup to stop the chewing on inapproipriate things.

I wouldn;t ever give him a treat for stopping this....it is a recipe for "hmm...I want a yummy treat. I will go bite those wires and my master will give me a yummy treat when he sees me chewing the wires and he will call me over and give me a yummy treat." Sounds advanced but as we all know, I sometimes think these dogs are people in fur coats! It is amazing what they learn and how they associate!  They are amazing little beings. 

Denise


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## cshellenberger (Dec 2, 2006)

This is a training opportunity! Doggy Zen practice this and TEACH you dog 'leave it'. It's really best to teach a dog commands so it knows what you WANT rather than 'no' ing it to death, which teaches the dog NOTHING. Also keep in mind that training will wear a dog mentally just a playing will wear him out physically, both prevent boredom which often leads to misbehavior. This is a pup and he's most likely teething so you do need to provide him appropriate chew toys (which it sounmds like you're doing). I also like the idea of tethering him to you as that will also help in potty training and preventing other accidents. 

Some other great training for your new pup...

Targeting AKA "Touch" (you can use this teach him to ring a bell)

Rev Up/Cool Down 

Greeting Politely at the door 

Training Dog to Greet Politely (in public)


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## DeniseV (Nov 8, 2009)

cshellenberger said:


> This is a training opportunity! Doggy Zen practice this and TEACH you dog 'leave it'. It's really best to teach a dog commands so it knows what you WANT rather than 'no' ing it to death, which teaches the dog NOTHING. Also keep in mind that training will wear a dog mentally just a playing will wear him out physically, both prevent boredom which often leads to misbehavior. This is a pup and he's most likely teething so you do need to provide him appropriate chew toys (which it sounmds like you're doing). I also like the idea of tethering him to you as that will also help in potty training and preventing other accidents.
> 
> Some other great training for your new pup...
> 
> ...


I just had to say I love your pug!!  I have a pug, too. She is a baby still; 6 months. How old is yours? So cute....


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## cshellenberger (Dec 2, 2006)

DeniseV said:


> I just had to say I love your pug!!  I have a pug, too. She is a baby still; 6 months. How old is yours? So cute....


My boy is 5 years old, I also have a 1 yr old EB and a 3 year old dobe. 

To the OP, remember that bullies are notoriously stubborn, you need to be absolutely consistent as well as patient with your training. Secure your cords where she can't get to them and ALWAYS keep an eye on her. Oh, and pictures are REQUIRED if you're sticking around the forum!!!!!


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