I'm Confused. - Page 2

Hallix, you own one of the smartest breeds on earth, and the trainer thinks she can't tell the difference between something you give and something you don't?  Lord, I agree with the general feeling on here.  When I first brought home my GSD, Prince, he chewed on everything.  I was very vigilant, and everytime he went for something he shouldn't, I gave him the "Leave It" command, and then gave him one of his toys.  In about a week, he was doing very well, and I can't remember him destroying anything after that.  I used his own urge to chew to teach him the leave it, and when he was grown, the command came in very handy.

Crys

Your dog WILL chew! Either you pick what your dog will chew on by providing chew toys, or your dog will choose what to chew on.

Your dog can certainly tell the difference between the things you GIVE her to chew and the things that are YOURS.

Of course, they can't  tell not to chew on the $250.00 Garolini's if you've given another type shoe to chew on,  Smart they are, cost and fashion-concious NOT!  Just use common sense and give readily distinguished DOG stuff to chew.

Our Czech girl Ozeta got out of her crate once when we were gone.  She had very, not-so-carefully, but VERY thoroughly ransacked the entire house for every tug, chew toy, squeaker, kong, tennis ball, ect., you name it, that had EVER been o.k.'d as for dog use, and piled the lot on the bed and made a nest for her trove.  She certainly knew the difference between EVERYTHING she had been told O.K. to have and everything she had  not.  Out of a substantial pile of goodies, NOT ONE ITEM was anything she should not have had.


There was a bit of collateral damage since she wasn't especially careful about moving that annoying human-owned stuff out of her way on the quest for HER stuff!

I agree with Okie,  of course they can tell the difference between their toys and yours.  It just takes a few times of teaching, and they've got it down pat. 

 

Okay.  Thanks for everything! 

For bones, I know not to give her rawhide ones and I tried nylabones when she was a puppy but she ate those. Quickly.  Is there ANYTHING that is good for her, but that will last a while?

The *only* toys that have held up to my guy are the big Kongs. If you smear a little something that she likes on the inside, like soft cheese, it will keep her busy for a long time. I keep adding more Kongs and haven't had to throw one away yet. Meanwhile, I spent $20 on this supposedly indestructible blue thing that he massacred in about 15 minutes.

For a chewy treat, bully sticks are good. They're gone after one good chewing session, though.

My GSD ATE 1/4 of her puppy kong!

I got her a black kong. She ate part of that, too!

The only toys that have stood up are the Bad Cuz toys, but even with those, she will eat the feet off them unless I remove them before I give it to her. She'll also work on the squeaker until it no longer squeaks, which can be a blessing to the dog owner's ears! (I wish they'd make a quieter squeaker for those things! Even though I have limited hearing, they drive me NUTS!)

Now that she is 2 years old, she's much better about chewing stuff. Now I can actually put bedding in her crate. Before she would just tear it up: towels, blankets, sleeping pads, etc.

Some of the nylabones are too hard (rhino bone epecially) and will crack teeth if your dog is a heavy chewer. Let's hope the kong works for you....

I'm with many others here.  Mine have "their" toys and have never chewed on my stuff.  The other thing I was careful about was no leather toys, I have a lot of equine equipment around and didn't want them thinking leather was okay.  So far so good.  They will occasionally "borrow" one of the cats toys. 

I could place one of my dog's toys in a pile of my shoes and he'll dig to find his toy. I haven't lost a pair of shoes yet, and I'm a kick them off wherever I plant my ass sort of girl.  I actually have a small basket with his chew toys in it. Right now he's learning to return a toy to the basket before taking another one out.  You need to find a new trainer.