debo 1 Posted October 11, 2009 Report Share Posted October 11, 2009 Forget the toilet paper, now a shoe obsession has set in! DD has always been bad about leaving her shoes in the living room floor. Before I brought Oliver home, I told her she needed to keep them put away. Her solution was to put them on the couch. Well, now he's learned to jump up there and took one of her tennis shoes outside and chewed the sole out of it. I told her the couch was no longer a safe place and to put them away. Yesterday Oliver ran into the den with one of her houseshoes in his mouth (I swear he was 'showing' it to me!) then dashed out the doggie door with it. I retrieved it and reminded her to keep her shoes put away, as the combination of leather and people smell is too hard to resist! Now here's where I should take my own advice! Oliver's crate is near my closet and instead of taking the trouble to open the closet door and put my shoes away, I put them on top of his crate. This morning when I was reading the paper, he came tearing through the kitchen with one of my shoes in his mouth and out the doggie door he went with it. Evidently, he jumped up on his crate and snatched it!! That should teach me a thing or two! LOL! He hasn't bothered anything of ours in months, so I guess I was lulled into a false sense of security and stopped being so careful about what's about. All the sudden, he's getting into things! Back to ultra watchfulness for me! It's sooo hard not to laugh when he does stuff like this!! He's too cute for his own good and smiles and wags his tail after he does something naughty. It takes all the self control I have not to melt and shower him with hugs and kisses! I'm trying to stay strong for both our sakes... Silly little stinker! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Tzumommy 1 Posted October 11, 2009 Report Share Posted October 11, 2009 I don't have this problem, because we have they're toy box in the living room and I leave my flip flops by the front door so I can slip them on when I go outside to take the dogs out and I have pair by the back door also, they have never saw our shoes as a toy they have loads of toys and have left them alone. If I were you when he does this I would take the item from him and give him a toy to replace it and see if that teaches him not to take the shoe instead go get his toys instead and leave the shoes alone. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Wicket's mom 1 Posted October 11, 2009 Report Share Posted October 11, 2009 My 2 boys are shoe chewers as well. I can't seem to break this habit. I've never caught them in the act so I can't really correct it, and I've also tried that bitter yuck spray which worked on Wicket, but Brutus seems immune to it. So we always put our shoes right in the closet as soon as we come in. The really strange thing with my boys is we always leave each a pair at the back door to slip on when we take them out and they've never touched those. But if we leave them in the room alone with a shoe at the front door, it's guaranteed they're gonna chew on it. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
kcsheperd 13 Posted October 12, 2009 Report Share Posted October 12, 2009 (edited) Tammy offered you some great advice..Thats what I do. Although mine don't chew shoes, they will sometimes put their mouths on stuff they should NOT have, and I just take whatever it is, and substitute it with a chew, or another toy..I also totally agree that when they are being naughty sometimes its so hard to dicipline those sweet, cute faces!! :group: Edited October 13, 2009 by kcsheperd Quote Link to post Share on other sites
tunisianswife 0 Posted October 12, 2009 Report Share Posted October 12, 2009 no shoe chewers here either but I just have this image of the flying fur and pitter patter of little tzu feet flying out the doggie door with shoe in tow. LOL Quote Link to post Share on other sites
debo 1 Posted October 13, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 13, 2009 Thanks for the advice. It's just so funny that he didn't bother anything before, but all the sudden he is! He has toys and chewies all over the house and he was perfectly happy with them. It's almost like he's just looking for mischief to get into. He's also started jumping on people and assertively trying to lick their faces off. I'm working with him to teach him better manners and he's very obedient when I tell him to stop doing something, but so far he's not convinced that behaving like that is really and truly a 'no no' so it's an ongoing thing that he keeps trying. I'm using lots of praise when he's a good boy and he really responds to that. I know he'll learn and eventually settle down, but that's why I was wondering if this is a 'teenage' puberty thing? On the positive side, he's also become more affectionate and cuddly and I hope that's a permanent change!! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
TheShihtzuation 0 Posted October 13, 2009 Report Share Posted October 13, 2009 (edited) Oh this sounds like my little Pokeyman a few months ago! I thought the same thing.. puberty or his "terrible twos" (though he wasn't even a year old yet, haha) must be setting in! Things he never had an interest in before.. suddenly were his for the taking! Although it may be unattractive to the eye.. what if you had a box that your daughter could just quickly throw her shoes in when she takes them off.. rather than on the couch? Not a shoe box, but an actual decent sized box that could fit 4 or 5 tossed pairs of shoes in? Though.. if Oliver is like Pokey.. give him awhile with the box.. not touching it, totally ignoring it.. and by the 2nd month he'll find a new fascination with chewing the corners! And the snuggly thing!! YES! Pokey was never a lap pup or a snuggly muffin until around 6-7 months. Now he's definitely snugglelicious!! Good luck with the shoes!! :) Edited October 13, 2009 by thepupstuff Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mr.coffee 364 Posted October 13, 2009 Report Share Posted October 13, 2009 Hey, honestly, Pokester just plain ~looks~ cuddly! Harley doesn't chew shoes, he sleeps on them...although he likes stringy or strappy things and will chew laces from time to time. Also leash, collar, harness, seat belt, bag handles or straps, lanyards...oddly enough he's always been wise enough to steer clear of the guitars & their straps. Not sure why, maybe he's got that sixth sense thing going on, knows I'd blow a fuse if he chewed on those. But yeah, we can leave shoes anywhere. Good thing, 'cuz Shannon's an incurable shoe junkie. Now, socks on the other hand....do NOT leave your socks within reach, they WILL be eaten. That's interesting about Oliver and the couch, too, Harley has had run of the couch at our discretion and we've kept a little stepstool out for him to get there, but within the last week or two he's discovered or perhaps developed the strength to make the jump directly. I guess we need to upgrade the hurdle...he clears 8" with ease, I wonder if he can pull off 12"? -m Quote Link to post Share on other sites
debo 1 Posted October 14, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 14, 2009 I bought her a crate thing to throw her shoes in - now if she'll just take the few extra steps to her room to toss them in! She needs training as much as Oliver!!! Ok, it's something new every day! Last night Oliver discovered he can jump in and out of the bathtub. Why? Because he can, I guess... He was so proud of himself, he did it over and over! I think he's going through a 'discovery' stage. He's getting bigger and stronger and is trying to see what all he can do. I bought this book that has 50 games to play with your dog and I really think we need to get going on that! He needs stuff to do. He's loves to fetch balls and I'm thinking about trying to find flyball around here. I think he might really like it and it would give him an outlet for his energy and allow him to meet more people and more dogs - his favorite thing in the world! I've heard a tired dog is a happy dog. He has way too much spunk and personality to just hang out at home! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
kcsheperd 13 Posted October 14, 2009 Report Share Posted October 14, 2009 Yes, Tired dogs = happy people.. lol.. I have to do about a 20 minute (or more) walk/run with mine so they will sleep happily at night..I firmly believe that exercise can make a HUGE difference with behavior issues. Payslee has been going on long walks since she was 8 weeks old. If its bad out, I just put Rally on the treadmill for awhile.. The walks also seem to tire their mind with all the new smells, sights and sounds..so I know they truly enjoy that part of our day. Payslee loves jumping in the bathtub..Like you, I dont get it..but it seems to make her happy, so we just roll with it! haha! Sawyer went through a discovery phase too..it was funny when he 'discovered' cows.. Its like one day he just looked up and a giant creature was standing there and he was like "MAMA! A giant Cow!" and started barking and got all excited. My trainer told me that for little dogs they only see the world at knee high level, and sometimes forget to look up, so when they do its a whole new world! I thought that was a great anaolgy, because I had never thought of it that way..But I love when they discover new things. Its so fun to watch them see things through their new little eyes! Can't wait to see the flyball stuff..keep us posted! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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