brianamac Posted October 4, 2012 Share Posted October 4, 2012 (edited) Wasn't sure where to post this; I know there is already a 'chewing items' post in the food thread, but I am looking for non-food items. For the last two weeks, Boo REFUSES to go for walks. He gets excited, puts his leash on, but always thinks that means car ride. He will run to the car but cannot be pulled in any other direction for a walk. He just gets terrified. We tried putting him in the car and taking him a few minutes down the street to walk but he refuses. No amount of treats or squeaky mama voice will persuade him into a walk. He used to walk, before his dog attack, and was never bored at home. Now that he doesn't walk, he is clearly VERY bored at home. He goes through periods where he steals EVERYTHING in reach to chew. We have started to train him well to 'drop it' in exchange for a good treat. He is good at 'drop it', now. But it doesn't quell his desire to chew. He simply searches out new things (even if that means chewing the arm of the couch). Bones and bully sticks rectify this, however, he gets possessive about bones and bully sticks, and I don't see those as everyday options... they give him the trots, so we make them more of a treat than anything. He won't chew a kong or a nylabone. He carries them around as 'friends', but doesn't see them as something to chew. Even when he is in a mood, he will. not. chew them. So far, books and people clothing are the favorites as chewables. Does anyone have any NON-BONE chewing recommendations? We want him to have an entertaining alternative that isn't a food item, but none of the dog chewy items interest him. I'm tempted to just sacrifice a book we don't like, at this point. Edited October 4, 2012 by brianamac Quote Bri and Mike with Boo Radley (Williejohnwalker), Bubba (Carlos Danger), and the feline friends foes, Loois and Amir Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scooby172 Posted October 4, 2012 Share Posted October 4, 2012 Antlers? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest HHHounds Posted October 4, 2012 Share Posted October 4, 2012 What about a bouda bone (a knotted fabric bone found in pet stores)? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest kess Posted October 4, 2012 Share Posted October 4, 2012 He used to walk, before his dog attack, and was never bored at home.. poor baby, was he badly hurt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gracegirl Posted October 4, 2012 Share Posted October 4, 2012 If he is bored, I would recommend spending the time you normally would walking him on training instead. It will tire his brain out a bit, not in the same way exercise does of course, but it might help to take the edge off. Fenway knows sit, down, stay, play dead, jump (with my hand held high over my head...kid's got springs!), spin, shake, other paw, hug, tell me (bark), whisper, sing, crawl...when I put him through all of those its a bit of physical activity but also works his teeny brain so he usually has a nap afterwards. Is Boo food motivated? The other thing you might try is taking him in the car through the McD drive through. Get him a plain burger and them go to the park. See if you can coax him out of the car with the burger, show him that the park is good (it's not scary and he gets burgers) and eventually you can hopefully at least drive him to a park a few times a week for a walk. Quote Poppy the lurcher 11/24/23 Gabby the Airedale 7/1/18 Forever missing Grace (RT's Grace), Fenway (not registered, def a greyhound), Jackson (airedale terrier, honorary greyhound), and Tessie (PK's Cat Island) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest RMarie Posted October 4, 2012 Share Posted October 4, 2012 Antlers!!! My guy loves his antler. He will chew on it for hours, if I let him. Whereas, he'll only chew on a stuffie for about 5 minutes...or 5 seconds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest team_tonio Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 (edited) Is Boo food motivated? The other thing you might try is taking him in the car through the McD drive through. Get him a plain burger and them go to the park. See if you can coax him out of the car with the burger, show him that the park is good (it's not scary and he gets burgers) and eventually you can hopefully at least drive him to a park a few times a week for a walk. This. I was thinking the same thing. Maybe its not the walk but your neighborhood that's freaking him out. A park or trail would be a great way to get him walking with you again. Good luck! Edited October 5, 2012 by team_tonio Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest jenniferk Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 Hi! I can't find a way to message you on this forum but have been wanting to thank you for your kind words on my post when we were considering returning. The refusal to walk is exactly what we went through. But then he was fine after we brought him home from the kennel when we were on vacation. Maybe he needed time away from the environment that was scaring him? 3 days ago he got terrified again by a guy flying by on his bike (with his shirt open so it looked like a cape). I thought he'd refuse to walk at all again but this time he's getting over it more quickly than the first time that a newspaper delivery driver scared him. Still, sometimes he refuses to leave our front porch. We found 2 solutions: 1) Walk him with our neighbor's dog...this might not be good for you if Boo doesn't like other dogs now and 2) Drive him to a park to walk. Before we found these solutions we had the same situation where he would get bored and restless at night because he refused to walk. Django isn't a big chewer though, so what worked for him is the Kong treat release toys and training. As someone else suggested, the training does tire him out mentally, and that took care of his restlessness. And the Kong treat release toys (the genius ones but I'm sure there are other kinds of puzzles) keep him busy for a while. Feel free to email me if you want to talk further...seems our boys are really similar. jenniferkentpgh @ gmail Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a_daerr Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 My Truman just turned a year, and he went through a stage of stealing and chewing everything. It's funny that Boo chews books, because Truman used to take books from the bookshelf and tear out all the pages. When we got our dog door, I found tons of my belongings outside (underwear, bras, various items of clothing, TV remote controls, silverware, tupperware, a digital camera). It's super frustrating! One thing that helps us is taking him to run off-leash every few days. He tends to do less bad things with more exercise and mental stimulation. Good luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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