[woollyval]

I have 2 lovely dogs, a gordon setter bitch and a Breton spaniel x beagley sort who looks and behaves like a foxhound.

The setter is lovely and would not chew anything.............BUT

The hound cannot stop chewing things including......

The skirting board, the dog bed, shreding any comfy bed in seconds once he gets going, lino, wellies......anything including any collar worn by the setter......she just lets him chew them off her!

I have tried every spray known to man....and the pet shop, to try and deter him......

He gets lots of excercise, so much the vet says he is one of the fittest dogs he has in his surgery!

Any ideas? I cannot stand too much more destruction!

He and the setter live in the boot room, they can see us as there is a dog gate, I cannot put him in a cage all the time he is not being exercised ....can I? Both dogs are devoted to each other and are inseperable!

[danndans]

 

maybe try caging him/her with something like a Konga, so he knows then that thats hes chew toy.

ours love there kongas, and you can fill them with allsorts 

[johnmac]

had a few dogs that chewed...the solution.... whatever the dogs chewing, put some crack black pepper on a strip of sticky clear plastic and stick it to the target...ie. corner of dog bed, corner of wall, trainer etc etc....

Make sure the dog has fresh water to hand and lots of it!!!!

Trust me, they get the message very quickly!!! 

[doganjo]

I have three of what you call Breton spaniels - pure ones!  I have owned the breed for 25 years. Epagneul Breton in France, Brittanys in the UK - same thing.  If you have a cross of one of these with a Beagle you have one hot dog!  Bretons are working dogs.  Like collies, if they don't have something to occupy their brains then they can be destructive or in a collie's case bad tempered.  Beagles are sight hounds and need to run in a straight line till there is no more land available!  They are both specialist breeds.  Whoever put them together should be shot!  (IMVHO) 
My dogs have an hour free running twice a day plus they are outside all the time.  I shoot with one, agility with another and obedience with the third.  They have about 30 different toys and bits of bones in their outside runs and only come inside in the evenings.  They need to be outside all day so they can see and hear what is going on in the world.  when they come in at night you would think butter wouldn't melt - real couch potatoes.
So, advice - find an occupation for your dog - even concentrated training with it 15 minutes a day will help; get lots, and I mean lots, of toys/old bones to keep it busy when you can't be with it.  Company of another dog is fine but playing together is exercising its body not its mind.  Get some of the specialised dog games that encourage them to use their brains. http://www.dog-games.co.uk/ Try agility - good fun and makes the dog think!  That's the sort of activity you need for it.
Look on our website, contact some committee members near you for advice/to see their dogs in action. www.brittanyclub.co.uk  Do the same with the Beagle side of its parentage. Thuis might help too - http://clubs.akc.org/NBC/NBC_FAQs.html
Feel free to ask questions about my breed.
Annie

[buddy]

I have a hound who will suddenly for no apparant reason chew anything and everything. It is in their nature, even if they are worked well, it has got better as she is aging. I have five dogs and she is the one who is always in trouble, but a cracking dog. I would use a cage for containment and prevention, better than disliking a dog for being naughty, it does get to you after a while, not to mention costs. I use-stop nail biting fluid from a chemist for my parrot and my hound certainly doesn't like it either or citrus. I have just had a new kitchen, not loosing solid wood doors,sides to my hound when she is kipping in the kitchen.

[woollyval]

Doganjo.............thanks for the help and the contact details!............he is a lovely gentle dog and gets tons and tons of excercise! He has been bought all sorts of toys but we cannot find anything but nylabones that he cannot destroy in 3 minutes.....and he dosent lke nylabones.....totally ignores them .............can also destroy the toughest konga within minutes  so cannot leave him with one as I am afraid he will swallow a bit of it!...........he has amazing teeth!

He was rescued in France from an indescriminate breeder.....ie she let her beagle type (looked more like a small foxhound actually) get out with the local casenova who was a breton and had 15 pups. I came along when he was 3 months old and still shut in a barn coz no one wanted him as he has a hernia. A couple fostered him until I could get him back to GB and so he arrived at nearly a year old. He would go off all day hunting if he could and is certainly not a sight hound.....he is a real 'chien de la chasse' as hunting enthusiasts have patted him in Brittany and commented on his looks and nose!

He is a bit dim in the training sort of way as we train all our dogs well.....he is a typical hound and selectively deaf
I think Buddy is accurate about the destruction being sudden and for no reason.....he will go for weeks and weeks without doing anything and then have a session!

I am going to try the nail biting fluid and pepper......already tried hot chilli.....he loved it

I think i will also cage him when indoors..........he really needs a kennel and run out side but I think he might lead the great escape and chew his way out!

Thanks folks!

[doganjo]

You're welcome, keep us posted. These are the outside runs mine are in
http://www.trystorme.co.uk/kennelrun.html

[sabrina]

Our staffie cross is always at something, the extra strong nylabones work for her but when outside in the back garden, she has pulled up all my blackcurrent bushes, eaten the kennel door and is half way through a fence post. Have you had his teeth check in case there is a problem in his mouth. I bought a large red ball from Robinsons that is dog proof and my lot have great fun playing with that outside for hours. Would not dare leave her with the other dog toys. I tried all sorts with Lizzie nothing has stopped her so she is outside with the German Shepherds when we are at work. She even likes chillies and hot curry.I blame the lurcher part of her.

[woollyval]

He has a beautiful set of teeth .!!! I have just discovered a black kong that is supposed to be indestructable!!! so I am going to try that! I have also investigated agility....he might like that! He spent an hour ball retrieving yesterday....he does enjoy that and I can now get him to drop it at my feet for a treat......wouldn't lik to do it in an unenclosed area though or he would be gone!!!!

[doganjo]

You need to enforce the recall and stop commands then!  Use a whistle fro normal use and a 'thunderer' for the stop at distance.  Treats will need to be extremely high value - chicken, pheasant, tripe, liver - cooked of course!

[charlie]

mustard

[doganjo]

mustard

Doesn't work!  My dogs enjoy it!

[Jackie]

The best thing I have found to stop dogs chewing is to paint whatever with clove oil. The dogs dont like their tongues going numb! 

[MiriMaran]

I've been using Cayenne pepper which has been working well with Henry.