My family has a 18month old, female kelpie x. We take her on a walk and visit the dog park everyday. However, we have found that she chews up our carpets, furniture and mats. We give her bones and other chew toys to pay with, but it doesn't stop her destructive behavior. What should we do?
Hi Charlotte If I’m thinking of the correct breed, she is a high energy breed and intelligent, add an 18 month (maybe teething ) pup into the mix and you will have to up your game I don’t mean you aren’t doing the right thing already, it’s just a tired pup is a calm pup Mental stimulation will tire her as well as physical excercise. Training and playing “ search “ games with treats is always fun Have you ever considered crate training, we did for a while, it was great, Yoji is 15 months now and doesn’t go in it at all I know the idea of crates don’t suit everyone, for us it worked well and gave peace of mind whilst he was unsupervised Do you think she is getting enough physical exercise ? Let me know what you think Philippa
Hi Philippa, I hadn't thought of crate training, but i do believe she is getting enough exercise as we take her on a 2 km walk in the morning and an hour run at the dog park in the afternoon. We have been trying to train her with the local dog club; she is doing well there, but when we attempt to discipline her at home (putting her in time out after making a mess) she seems to break things in defiance when we're not watching her.
There is a lot of quidance on the internet about “ crate training “ I particularly liked this article http://rspcavic.org/health-and-behaviour/dogs/crate-training-your-dog/