My Corgi is still chewing!!!
Ok, I have had it! My 17 month old female Corgi "Lola" is still chewing stuff. In fact she now knows she gets attention if she chews the couch! How do you get them to stop or is this something that takes more time? She has every chew toy known to man. She gets a lot of walks, can't figure out why she hasen't stopped yet.
Please help!
Please help!
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Alex on
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What type of attention is she getting when she chews the couch?
Have you tried bitter apple? That works wonders for us. We were able to use that to stop Kenji from nipping ever since he was 10 weeks old.
I would use bitter apple in conjunction with one of her chew toy. After she gives that nasty expression with the bitter apple, tell her no and then give her the chew toy, then tell her, yes, good girl or whatever command you say when your dog does something correct.
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Permalink Reply by Sky and Lyla on
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Do you give her appropriate things to chew on? Some dogs just like to chew more than other and I don't think it's something that most dogs just grow out of. Chewing is a natural thing for dogs to want to do, and it is your job to make sure they know what is okay go chew and what is not. My Aussie is older than your Corgi and loves to chew, I doubt he'll ever stop. I make sure he has lots of safe things to chew and we are both happy. :)
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Just realized you said she had a lot of chew toys. Anytime she chews on something inappropriate like the couch, give her a firm "leave it" and give her one of her toys. When she chews on her toy praise her. The chewing will probably never stop, but you can train her to only chew appropriate items.
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Permalink Reply by Izzy on
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When Lilibet was a puppy, up until age 2, she chewed anything that was cardboard and shredded heavy duty chew ropes in minutes. But by the time she was 24 months old she stopped chewing - even stopped chewing her rubber kongs. There is hope. I actually miss her chewing antics - although she never chewed furniture. When you are gone from home, do you crate her? Crating is good and comforting. Lilibet just turned 7 and we crate her every night because that is what she likes - barks at us until we latch the door of the crate! (We can leave her loose in the house, however, when we go out without any worries - she usually goes to sleep under a bed!)
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Permalink Reply by Beth on
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Is she chewing when she is alone, or when you are right there?
If the former, remember that being loose unsupervised in the house is a privilege for a dog, not a right. They get that privilege when they earn it by showing they are trustworthy unsupervised, and the privilege can be revoked at any time. Sometimes problems arise when a young dog is left alone before it's ready, and bad behaviors quickly become habits.
If she does it right in front of you, then you need to practice conveying the concept that everything in the house is yours and she gets to use things like toys and bed by your good graces. The Nothing In Life is Free program is a good place to start. Make sure she'll let you pick up her dishes, her toys, and access her crate/bed without any signs of possessiveness on her part. And when you do give her a new toy or something, make sure that it's clear that you are giving her permission to have it. I use the "Do you want this?" phrase repeated excitedly whenever I give my dogs something new, so they know without a doubt that it is theirs. Jack likes to shred boxes, for example, but I can safely leave boxes lying around and he won't touch them unless I give them to him, because he knows that when he is inside the house anything he gets is because I say he has it. Not all dogs are that perceptive, though, and some are never totally trustworthy unsupervised.
Good luck!
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Permalink Reply by Bob on
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Well she doesn't seem to chew anything when we are away, only when we are there. Sometimes when she wants attention she will look at us and chomp into the couch just to get our attention because she knows we don't like it ( she has some nerve! ) Maybe at that point we should just ignore her, the couch is pretty much toast anyway. I get the feeling from all the other posts that we have not been firm enough with her when she goes for something we don't want her to. Bitter apple doesn't seem to work. She has wiped out woodwork, chairs of assorted types shoes etc.... She gets lots of attention and walks and usually there is always someone here so it isn't for lack of attention. I think really letting her know what's ok and not ok might be something we need to work on more.
Thanks for the tips!
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Yes, you have to really mean it when you tell her no! That doesn't mean you have to be mean or anything, of course. Deep down, when your dog is being openly disobedient, there should be a part of you whose first reaction is "Why you little stinker, how dare you disregard me that way!" and that will come across in your correction. Dogs are excellent readers of body language. I actually have more trouble getting my little submissive one, Maddie, to stop doing stuff because she's just such an airhead and so cute it makes me laugh, so she knows darn well I'm not actually mad. Whereas Jack is more likely to challenge me, so ironically I come across as much more serious when I correct him, he knows I mean business and he'll mind me right away. The difference is my own attitude. Your dog reads your body language, not what you are saying, so you want to think to yourself of who you see as a very convincing authority figure and sort of channel that energy.
Good luck!
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Permalink Reply by Joanna Kimball on
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Digging, barking, and chewing are like TV to dogs. They may understand that they're not allowed to do them when you're looking right at them, but they're never going to think those activities are "wrong." The best you can do is consistently correct her and give her attractive stuff to chew. And I mean REALLY attractive, like raw knuckle bones and bully sticks, not like Kongs (unless you stuff it; then a Kong will probably be more competitive).
While she's obviously a hard chewer and needs lots of competitive chew items, in my experience annoyance chewing like you're describing is boredom. (I.e., she has two problems: needs better chew objects and needs boredom relief.) I know you said she gets walks, but is she being exercised to the point of exhaustion at least once a day? Walking is a great way to do that, but it can mean MILES for a good athletic corgi. You want her to come home and not even think about doing anything but crashing out on her back for a good 2-3 hours. If you do that, I would bet you a lot that the deliberate annoying chewing will stop.
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Permalink Reply by Bev Levy on
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My "go to" correction is to leash the offender and attach their leash to me while I am in the house. You really ought to be able to keep track of her then. I have one very determined chewer, Sparty. He is ten and has never damaged anything in the house since he was 2 months old. He did wear the enamel off his back teeth with nylabones so he can not have them anymore but he loves to chew cow bones (he can not crank on his back teeth as well with them). It sounds to me like she is bored ( as has been mentioned) and is just trying to shake things up a bit. She is not convinced that you REALLY don't want her to chew stuff. She probably needs long walks (minimum 45 min twice a day for that age) and some training sessions. Learning tricks as well as obedience commands is stimulating both mentally and physically. I have one couch potato corgi and one working type and you sound like yours is a working type. She needs more training at her age. These are very adaptable dogs as adults but they are a working breed and their needs have to be met. Obedience classes will be the best time and $ you can spend.
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Permalink Reply by Roger/Laurie on
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My Tenby at age 3 is still chewing. He can shred a toy in minutes. We finally found Nylabones and they have worked wonders. We keep them all over the house and he rarely chews on any thing else. He probably spends a total of 3 hours a day chewing on these bones.
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