Guest Greylover3803 Posted June 16, 2014 Share Posted June 16, 2014 We are fostering a greyhound this week with the hopes of adopting. This is our second greyhound so making sure our 2 get along before making it official. Janie is not quite 2 (birthday is in Aug)and is a bundle of energy. We try to keep her running and playing in the back yard to wear her out, but when she is in the house everything seems to be a toy including shoes, socks, pillows, stuffed animal (that aren't supposed to be toys). I was reading about bitter apple and other chew deterrent sprays. My question is do these work or does anyone have other ideas to use in addition to continually saying no and reinforcing what are and aren't toys? She seems to like her crate so also taking advantage of that when needing some down time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreytNut Posted June 16, 2014 Share Posted June 16, 2014 It's a multi-pronged approach. Correct when she's chewing something inappropriate and redirect her to something appropriate instead. Try to keep tempting stuff out of her reach so she's not set up to fail. Use bitter apple on stuff you can't put out of reach. Muzzle or crate when you can't directly supervise. She's still got a lot of puppy in her at this stage so it's not unusual behavior. Good luck! Quote Kristen with Penguin (L the Penguin) Flying Penske x L Alysana Costarring The Fabulous Felines: Squeak, Merlin, Bailey & Mystic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gryffenne Posted June 16, 2014 Share Posted June 16, 2014 I haven't used Bitter Apple yet with greyhounds (although it IS on my list if River goes after another cable), but I did use it a lot when I had ferrets years ago. It's great for stuff like cables/cords, table/chair legs, corners, moulding, etc.... NOT for kids toys, stuffed animals or multi-piece items like legos. I also would not recommend pillows or clothing. I remember the taste of that stuff and how it felt when I itched my eye after applying it to some computer cables, and before washing my hands. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeorgeofNE Posted June 17, 2014 Share Posted June 17, 2014 Bitter Apple is totally useless IMHO. You need to use the crate, use a muzzle if that helps, train your KIDS to put away their stuffed animals, watch her like a hawk, and this too shall pass! Quote Susan, Hamish, Mister Bigglesworth and Nikita Stanislav. Missing Ming, George, and Buck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest snowpuppy Posted June 17, 2014 Share Posted June 17, 2014 Bitter apple is useful for dogs that aren't really determined chewers...otherwise yeah, pretty useless. Dogs have a better sense of smell than taste...so they don't really care so much that it tastes like bitter apple, I mean seriously...they roll in animal poop and are diaper diving masters if given the chance....taste means nothing. Your on the right route with the activity...its just not enough. Pick up some chewies...lots and lots of chewies and try tethering. What that means is that the dog is attatched to you via leash in the house. It helps with a few things, namely bonding and you are immediately aware of their actions no matter what they are. For corrections we generally use a firm voice and a "No chew on the...blah blah" Then we offer a chewie and say in a ridiculously sing songy voice "Good chew on the chewies". This is to identify the behavior you don't want clearly for the dog, and replace it with something more rewarding immediately. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonnaBehr Posted June 17, 2014 Share Posted June 17, 2014 Bitter apple GEL is the only thing that save my furniture when I got my first greyhound and she decided that she liked to chew on the corners of my furniture. I just slathered it on practically every day for two weeks and she never touched it after that. Other stuff like books, newpapers, magazines, shoes and glasses - that was another story and she had to outgrow that problem. If she likes her crate, use it when you have to so she gets time out. Quote Mom to Melly and Dani Greyhound Bridge Angels - Jessie, Brittne, Buddy, Red, Chica, Ford and Dodge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Greylover3803 Posted June 17, 2014 Share Posted June 17, 2014 Thanks for the responses. We are doing a little bit of everything. We are fortunate that she likes her crate so that gives Dad some much needed down time when she gets a little too rambunctious during the day. It has been a long time since we have had a dog in this curious get into everything stage so we just try to keep a sense of humor, use the word no a lot, and try to keep her busy with her real toys. I was just hoping for an instant cure knowing all along that was just wishful thinking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest gomiesmom Posted June 25, 2014 Share Posted June 25, 2014 Second most the above replies, and I found bitter apple useless too. My Lilly was not quite 2 yrs when we got her- and the group director called her " busy" - yeah - busy--- is an extremely nice, non- scary way of putting it......... she's a little better now at 8 years & she certainly knows what is acceptable, & not, but sometimes she cannot help herself. Sometimes it's socks & underwear, although the chewing on the corners of antique secretaries & remotes has stopped. Basically Lilly just needs supervision & an environment without temptation when not directly supervised. Anytime she can get into my closet- she seizes the opportunity - true girly - girl!!!! Good luck !!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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