Chewing

[sarahlt103]

Hello Greyhound Folk,

I introduced my female hound to a husband to help with some behavior issues and luckily it worked. However, .....

My male dog has developed a few problems of his own. He keeps stealing footwear and chewing them to bits. What started off as cute is now becoming eexpensive. He doesn't want shoes that are donated to him. Whist the obvious solution is to keep shoes well away, our house is busy with young children.

In addition, I 've fenced the grass off in the back garden as it's like a mud bath. Now my boy is refusing to go to the loo out there.

Help please!

Sarah

[lurcherlot]

How long have you had the male greyhound? It may well be he is struggling to settle in and needs, and is comforted by, the possessions of his human people. Apart from making sure everything is put away, it may just be a matter of time until he settles in?
Is it possible to fence off another area? Some hounds really don't like to get their feet dirty!

[ragsysmum]

Feb 8, 2015 7:31:40 GMT -5 sarahlt103 said:

Hello Greyhound Folk,

I introduced my female hound to a husband to help with some behavior issues and luckily it worked. However, .....

My male dog has developed a few problems of his own. He keeps stealing footwear and chewing them to bits. What started off as cute is now becoming eexpensive. He doesn't want shoes that are donated to him. Whist the obvious solution is to keep shoes well away, our house is busy with young children.

In addition, I 've fenced the grass off in the back garden as it's like a mud bath. Now my boy is refusing to go to the loo out there.

Help please!

Sarah

No doubt you found his shoe stealing cute initially and laughed, chased him etc. so he thought this was a game and pleasing to you and so continues to do it. Many new owners unwittingly encourage dogs to do things they later regret. He obviously likes things with your scent on so I would give him an old item of clothing smelling strongly of your scent , give him an alternative to the shoes and act really pleased when he plays with that. Or encourage him much more to play with proper dog toys.
As far as the garden is concerned, do you mean you have fenced off all the grass so he can only relieve himself on a hard surface....gravel, paving slab, concrete or whatever you have? Many dogs don't like to go on hard surfaces.

[sarahlt103]

Thank you all for your comments.

We've had our male dog since April last year and he seems happy enough.

We've never expressed excitement or pleasure when he's taken our Shoes so I'm confident he hasn't been encouraged.

In the garden it's the grass area that's been screened off. There is a large concrete area and a disused vegetable patch that they can use.

These dogs keep me guessing. Just when I resolve one issue they present me with another!