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Chewing fabric and leach pulling HELP!!!!

MomObvious

Well-known member
Well as I have mentioned several times Fletcher is a fabric chewer, not the sofas (not yet anyway) but he seems to LOVE my kids socks, kitchen dish towels , throw blankets, rugs, just about any fabric he can get near him. He was doing pretty well with leave it but the he has become less reliable with it (yes I'm still working on it) so for safety's sake we have been limiting his free roaming in the house and we are keeping these things out of reach. However, it does not change the fact that he will try to eat a dish towel whenever given the chance. Believe me I can live without the rugs, the sock being left on the floor, even the throw blankets and kitchen towels being kept up but I'm so worried we're going to miss something and he's gonna eat something and hurt himself. We have already made one ER trip to the vets after he ate "something" some blue fabric. I'm just looking for suggestions or looking for anyone who's dog does this it me its weird but..... Funny thing is Fletcher is getting really good about other things like the kids toys, or shoes (both of which should be put up but...) he won't chew on them. Oh yeah and we have plenty of chew toys he likes all over the house.


Also why all of the sudden is my pup trying to pull me down the sidewalk??? I walk him everyday at least twice a day but the last week he has been doing more and more pulling. So far I have trained him to NOT pull by sitting down everytime he pulls and not moving until he is calm and "ready". I use an EZ walker which helped a lot but he's still doing it!!! Today with a rain strom approaching I kept having to stop and stop and stop and stop it took us 3 times the normal time to walk 1/2 mile to take Mr. Monster to school. I know it takes practice practice practice but I'm not used to "losing skills" we almost had mastered. Sorry my first puppy Fletcher is 7 months old, and I'm used to dealing with children not dogs if they "lose skills" its a sign something is wrong. Is this normal? We did not go on a our mid-day walk today, its raining but I'm so looking forward to our evening walk cause we go rain or shine :)

Also, I try hard to make sure Fletcher is getting enough excerise but does anyone think maybe Fletcher is bored or needs more brain play? Something? Anything? I am with him all day everyday, I hardly have to leave him for longer than an hour a day so time I have.

Thanks and sorry for the typos Fletcher is sitting on my lap with his head on the keyboard sleeping like an angle so whatever......
 
I feel your pain! Bentley went through so many phases of naughtiness that I despaired of him ever getting better; BUT, he's an angel now. (Well, almost.) He'll be 2 yrs old in Nov. We have several pieces of wood furniture that have severe chew marks. He loves wood, rather than fabric. I think he's over that now for the most part. Our vet told me on his initial visit that he had one Cav patient that ate so much weird stuff. He ate an entire scarf and his own collar, both of which had to be removed surgically. I can't remember the 3rd thing but it was equally bizarre, and he was unable to save his life that time. Maybe Cavs are prone to this.
As for walking, I know that Bentley isn't getting enough exercise right now. If only he could be let outside on his own he'd get plenty, that's for sure, but we'd never see him again. He also has a very large enclosed area that was made just for him. He could run around that if he would, but he just sits by the gate and waits for someone come get him. We've had such a horrificly hot summer that it wasn't safe for man nor beast to be out much. Now that it's cooler we can do better with the walks.
 
Yeah we had a nice hot summer too as a matter of fact we have yet to see a fall its October 2nd and I'm listening to my air conditioner running now. No complaining from me tho I love it hot. We have cut back on our swimming tho because we have less free time but I'm thinking Fletcher needs some more brain games for inside as winter will come sometime :(
 
Welcome to dog adolescence :) when all former training is tossed and has to be re-learned.

It is sort of scary when pups try to chew on socks and everything. He will get better but you just have to watch him like a hawk. Perhaps you can enlist your older kids in keeping an eye for him?

Re: the leash walking, if you feel he knows what's expected and has done it before, go back to basics and reinforce what he knows. He's testing you. It's frustrating but it will pass.

If you think he's bored, look into dog games by Nina Ottoson. Lots of fun. Also there are lots of fun indoor games you can play such as hiding treats in different places and then sending him to go find them.

Good luck.
 
I used to have a dog who was a major fabric chewer, not my cavalier, but the dog I had before him. This behavior actually is what killed that dog. He ate so many things, and he typically passed them. One time, in puppy training, we leashed our dogs to our chairs while we sat down and ate cake (they brought me cake for birthday, they are that cool where I go). Anyway, I had him leashed to the chair with my leash. He wasn't really trying to get the food or caring about it, but he was eating his leash, so I just untied him and let him go. The trainer used her leather leash to tie him back. A few minutes later, we noticed he was walking around the room, and all that was left of the 6ft leather leash was the snap.
Anyway, keep working on your leave it, work on swapping with you if he gets the item in his mouth. Don't make a big deal over it if he gets something. If you freak out, he'll think he got something really great, if you act like it's no big deal, he won't think he has something that special.
As for pulling on leash, it's something they just try once in a while. They notice really great things, or they just want to see if maybe, this time, it might work. Mine cavalier will be 4 in February, and we're going back to square one on leave it when someone passes by him and doesn't want to pet him. It's aggravating, but he's doing better with it.
 
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