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Location: North-East Birmingham, UK
Joined: Mar 2010
Posts: 1,122
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Originally Posted by
Wysiwyg
When you say she's hoarding these things, could you give some more information? as some dogs have hormones which lead them to think they are pregnant and behave accordingly. Not sure if this might be it, from your description
I agree that teaching leave and swap is very good. Also you can minimise problems by setting her up for success, ie giving her lots of attention for bringing you her own toy/s. Dogs are often given more attention when they are being a pest
than when they are lying quietly "being good" - try to ensure that with your dog, it is the other way round. This is one of the key things to do, to having a "good dog" IMO
Wys
x
Hi Wys, thanks for the reply!
I'm unsure as to whether that's her problem, although it could be as I wouldn't really know! The way she 'hoards' she will often steal a few shoes & stick them in her bed for safe keeping or rip up tissues from the bin and hide them under my duvet. Occasionally she will also take things like socks off the radiators & create a little pile for her to burry her 'treasures' in!
As for giving her more praise/attention for being good & less for being bad, I have been trying that actually with her recently. Usually I will ignore her if she has something that isn't hers or try to swap it with something nice like one of her own toys & praise her if she swaps but often she isn't interested. I'm unsure if i'm rewarding her for her good behaviour but I think I am...? I usually make an effort to sit down & actually play with her toys together & make it fun for her. Like hiding a treat in the snout of her piggy toy & praising when she finds it or hiding her toys around the house & getting her to find them & bring them to me, or just making a massive fuss of her when she plays fetch with me (It's taken her ages to learn that!) if that's the sort of thing you mean?
Thanks again!
Originally Posted by
Ben Mcfuzzylugs
agree with all the above
Also why not give her fun toys that she CAN rip up
I restuff some of Mias toys so she can rip the stuffing out again, I give ther cardbord loo rolls she can rip up, empty drinks bottles
and when you are swapping and teaching a leave remember dont always take the item away, swap for something yummy and (if its an OK thing to destroy) give it back to her - then she has no reason to keep things from you
Thanks for the reply!
I have got a couple of her stuffed dog toys that I've sewn up so she can re-destroy them but the moment she chews through them she seems to become far less interested in them.
Is it alright to give her household stuff that is 'okay' for her to rip up? I only ask because when I was in the rescue centre I was reading a poster on the wall about a puppy being unable to distinguish between things of yours that they're 'allowed' and things of yours that they're not 'allowed' so I took that to mean that I should avoid letting her chew anything that wasn't 'hers'. If it is okay though I bet she would love some toilet rolls as they're one of the things she likes to steal
Thanks again!