QUESTION:

 

My dog Eyce is a 4 year old female bichon frise that just cannot be trained. Eyce is very annoying, she chews up my underwearI am not quite sure why, does she like the smell?

I keep telling her Bad dog, You dont do that but it never seems to work no matter how many
times I discipline her. I am getting very frustrated. She always gets
into trouble, and I dont know how to train her to stop and be a good
dog.

She probably wont get sick because she has eaten a lot of
stuffIncluding underwear, chocolate, clothes, socks, paper, paper
towel, mouse poison, etc. So, she has an immunity that is built up to
junk. Thank you so so muchplease help me!! Thanks!!

ANSWER:

 

Hi there,

Unfortunately, Eyce probably doesnt speak English. My guess is that
she has no idea what bad dog, you dont do that means. It is always
best to think of solution-based training what do I want my dog to do
instead of the unwanted behavior? It is much easier to teach a dog how
to do the right thing than it is to teach them not to do the wrong
thing.

While it is a very good thing that Eyce has not yet hurt herself
chewing on these items, I would not take that as evidence that she will
not hurt herself in the future. If undigested non-food items get caught
in her gastrointestinal tract, expensive surgery may be needed to save
her life.

There are three things you can do to help the situation:

  1. Manage the problem immediately. Much like parents of human children
    have to baby proof the house, you must Eyce-proof by preventing her
    access to things she isnt supposed to chew on.
  2. Teach a reliable leave it and drop it behavior. Here
    is a nice article from www.petexpertise.com featuring video of how to
    train both of these behaviors.
  3. Provide her with plenty of safe and legal outlets for her chewing
    needs by providing her with supervised opportunities to chew on
    something appropriate (a stuffed, frozen KONG, pressed rawhides, bully
    sticks, antlers, nylabones, etc.)

If you need additional help, do not hesitate to contact a qualified
training professional in your area.