Nothing to do with food - need advice to stop dog chewing wires

[curious aardvark]

I say chewing - she's got jaws like shears. So she just chops them into little bits.

Now so far the only thing she's chomped that was plugged in was charging up my nook e-book. So only 5 volts through that.

But between yesterday and today she's chopped 2 charging cables a mouse and a usb cable that I have no idea what was on the other end.

I'm thinking of leaving some 'prepared' cables around for her to munch.

Just not sure what to coat them with. Don't want to use strong chilli as that will hurt the dog.

So I need ideas for stuff dogs don't like that aren't chilli.

[Meat Hunter]

Alex, I wouldn't hesitate to use some sort of capsaicin on the cords. It won't hurt em. Had to do this myself with ours when it wanted to chew a table leg. Its no worse than when we eat a really hot pepper. Makes us think twice about trying it again LOL. Do NOT leave random cords for it to chew on, it won't be able to distinguish which ones are meant for it and which ones are not. Either that, or make them unreachable. Our newest dog, we have to remove the chairs from the table, and it still manages to jump up on the table to retrieve pens and small items. So now, we have to remove anything we don't want chewed up

[curious aardvark]

was just going to leave some of the prechewed cables by her bed with something nasty on them.

I'd rather try something like bittrex than chilli.
No idea if dogs dislike bitter stuff or not.

[cmon621]

They sell this spray in pet stores called bitter Apple and it deters biting and chewing. Maybe give that a try. I have never used it myself, I was lucky enough to have a dog that didn't chew on anything, but I heard it works well.

http://www.bitterapple.com

[BBQ Engineer]

I was going to suggest the bitter apple...but the only thing I have found that really works if just to "Puppy Proof" the entire house..and in my case that involved making adjustments to Mrs. Engineer. Cowgirl Cassidy (god bless that little dog) was a chewing machine! Mrs. Engineer lost two pair of glasses in about a 2 weeks...I about came unhinged. I swore we weren't going to buy another pair until she could put them up so the dog couldn't get them.

I know it is tough because the pups are so fast and if your dog has a powerful bite, one snap of those scissors and they are about through most things. Try like heck to redirect their attention. find a toy that they love and keep it handy. smear peanut butter deep into a kong toy or other made for dogs type of toy.

You don't have to spend a lot of money on a dog toy either...I made a giant braided rope with a monkey fist knot on one end. rub a little peanut butter on that and watch them go to town.

Good luck, and remember it is easy to get angry, but it isn't the pup's fault, they are just being a pup like they are supposed to be. Love them and redirect their energy. Praise them like heck when they are being good.

[blues_n_cues]

put the dog outside?

you could always get it a cat to chew on.

[Bbqgoddess]

What Dana said - I tried chili when Gemma was a puppy, it didn't work and I am here to tell ya she still chews anything she can get her teeth on! And SHE knows its a bad thing to do. I will pick up said item and go who did this, and SAMCRO just looks at her and she lowers her head and goes off to her safe spot!
Dana thanks for that handy knot link, I think I am gonna make her a rope to play with!

[Slanted88]

friend of mine routed all his in pvc...worked plus cleaned all that mess up...scuffed it with scotchbrite painted it...dog only chewed the computer stuff..

[Fairview]

Okay guys and gals. They make stuff to add to a dogs food so that its feces won't taste good and they won't eat it. that is so wrong on so many levels. Every dog I had was a psycho dog. Tabasco sauce, chile pepper, vinegar, bitter apple it didn't fricking matter. They loved everything I sprayed. And then the morons would proceed to lick it with a vengence instead of chewing. Lord God, after several minutes I was hoping the dog would start chewing it because the slurping was driving me insane.

Here is what I suggest. Find a friend with a fencer, preferably a pulsing one. What ever wires she is OCD on chewing, hook the fencer up to it and give the moron access to it. I'd even strip the ground wire to make sure a complete circuit was made in case she is real fast. Fencers don't kill animals but 120v will.

The other thing is it is a dogs nature to chew. They are programmed that way. Some have it bad others barely noticeable. It is also a social thing done with the pack so they carry the bone to wherever their pack is gathered in the house. Chewing is a dogs valium. A good pet store has femur bones for sale. Encouraging them to chew this as an alternative and they will probably take you up on it.

A rawhide bone causes problems, usually twisted gut. Be nice and don't get them for your pup.

[Courser]

If you decide to go with the "Bitter Apple" stuff from a pet store, my only suggestion is that you give them a FULL dose of it directly in their mouth to start with. Then any whiff of it usually deters them from whatever it is applied to.
It doesn't work with all dogs. I've had a couple that it had no effect on. Others that it worked 100% with.

[IrishChef]

Electric fence transformer.

[curious aardvark]

well. with phoebe it actually seems to be things that smell like me.
She had my old driving licence the other day. Whole room of stuff and that's what she nicked - had been in my old wallets for nearly 30 years, hadn't got round to moving it to the new one.
So I had to order one of the new photo id licences. I say 'new'. They've probably had them for 15 years or so. I just couldn't be arsed to trade in my old tatty paper one till phoebe took it to bits.

She has had a few photo frames and a carpet as well - but mostly it's stuff I've handled or had in my pocket she goes for.
Maybe I should eat more chilli :-)

I was happy leaving her in the big cage - but apparently a big metal cage in the dining room isn't pretty - women huh

I made a big tug toy when we had our first ridgeback. Braided three lengths of tow rope together and put huge knots at each end. I could swing him round by it with his feet off the ground. Phoebe would just chop it to bits in no time.

[blues_n_cues]

does she only do this when you're out of the house and how old is she?
it could be separation anxiety. give her an old t-shirt or shoe you don't need anymore.

[zombini]

It doesn't have to be a big metal cage. A plastic pet porter in the corner or out of site will work. We had 2 golden retrievers in the house at the same time. When we left the house or at night the dogs were put in their porters. If you leave a dog unattended around stuff that you think they might get into, they will. All of us have learned this the hard way.
Get a good dog training book or DVD. Training a dog is a process much like smoking meat. There can be some frustration along the way but be very rewarding as well.