cables!

[Nicky Vangalis]

Hi all,
Once again Ollie is up to his usual tricks and this one is a worrying worrying one.  About a month ago we bought a radio for the kitchen. Next morning came downstairs and little ratbag had chewed the cable to bits - it was on our worktop so how he got up there I can only guess!  Then last week we went to move our tumble dryer which was unplugged with the cable tucked behind it, and he had chewed that too!  This morning was the worst one, came downstairs to find the fridge freezer switched off and the cable chewed with the plug still in. Thank god the earth worked and it didn't electrocute him. Again the cable was tucked behind the fridge but obviously he's got a good reach.
As you can see this is a major concern for me, I have no idea how to train this out of him. He has all the toys and hide strips in the world at night when he goes to sleep, we don't want to kick him out in the garden all night as that will not resolve the problem come the winter, and we don't let him have the roam of the house because he wakes us up! We live in a two up two down house so the kitchen is the only area we can shut him away for the evening as the living room is open plan to upstairs.
If anyone's got any advice I'd be most grateful - he gets all the walks/runs and interaction during the day but the moment he's on his own he seems to be developing this rather dangerous habit which I want to curb right now before he hurts himself :-(

[Louise Perry]

Can u fit a crate in the kitchen? Not everyone likes them I know but I can't think of much else apart from blocking the cables in some how - some sort of covering of sorts. How worrying for you.

[Nicky Vangalis]

we tried a crate in the kitchen when he was younger and he hated it. Maybe he'd be better now he's older but we are going to try to block it off - problem is we are in rented accommodation so it's not realistic for us to start drilling holes everywhere to hide the cables :-(

[Louise Perry]

Hi again Nicky, we rent too and the little bugger has eaten a hole out of the corner of the hallway wall!!!! I don't think it is ever too late to start crate training. Good luck

[Ossian]

Crate..... fry! Crate.... fry!!! You choose!

[Sue and Cash]

and true as well. We know someone who while at work gated a lab pup in the kitchen. It got behind the fridge and chew the cord and was electrocuted. It was so sad.

[Nicky Vangalis]

See luckily in the UK we have an earth pin so it stops people being electrocuted if the cable is broken. Even so it's not a gamble I'm prepared to take. We have taken a temporary measure of blocking the cable with a heavy good but this weekend we are going to move the fridge and the freezer around to block against the wall - unfortunately the idiot who designed this house designed it so the light switch is directly above the plug point so we are going to have fun turning on the kitchen lights! Still rather that than a frazzled puppy any day of the week. In the meantime we are going to try crate training him again. It's just literally at night time but when we leave him out he barks at noises and unfortunately the neighbour across the road has bitched and complained when he was a young pup and I"m not prepared to start getting into a fight with the council. And also as I said previously keeping him out is fine in summer but not so in winter!

[Ossian]

Nicky hang in there! Its like the humping - it stops!

If your relations are good enough you might say to your neighbour that you will be crate training and it might cause a bit of noise for a couple of nights.

you might try putting the crate in your room. I have had one dog that worked with where when he was unsettled I put my fingers to the cage and he settled again.

Careful management and making the crate a reward rather than a place like the naughty step. Let him go in and out of it at will and as Margaret said put treats in and then give him a distraction. A bone or a stuffed Kong will get him settled in the crate.

If he goes in tired and has a distraction toy at night he will fall asleep.

So again late evening you have to work a bit harder and play some mind games with him to tire him.
Good luck. He is a Setter so you will need to stick with it!!

[Nicky Vangalis]

Iv'e never heard of training discs - and yes Sue, you are right, it's only when he is alone. When he is with either of us he is good as gold.
He doesn't seem to be eating any of the cable as it's all there when we find it - he's just chewing it to pieces. We are going to try hiding the cable in trunking and back the fridge as close to the wall as we can but short of that we may well try the crate, I don't know if it's possible to crate train him at 9 months old as my cats ended up spending more time in it than he did when he was a baby.

[Margaret Sierakowski]

Crate

[Nicky Vangalis]

ok - I'm hearing an overwhelming majority for crate. But can you now all give me advice on how to crate train a 9 month old? My fiance and I both agree it's the way forward but we don't want to make the crate a punishment or somewhere he is frightened to go. We just left it open when he was a pup and he never went in there, so we don't know how to get him in there without freaking him out.
PS no cables chewed this morning, phew!
And Christine - he never chews at stuff when we are here or around in the house and he can get to us. But moment we shut him into an area or indeed shut him out he finds something to chew on. Know it must be a comforting thing so I'm buying him some bigger bones today.

[Margaret Sierakowski]

Throw a treat into the crate each time you want him to go in it. He will start to associate going into the crate with getting a treat and pretty soon he will be going in anticipation of the treat
A big bone will keep him occupied in the crate
I find its better to have the crates in a separate dog room, where I can shut the door and its quiet in there. They just lie down and go to sleep if they cant see me.
All my puppies under 15 months sleep in a crate at night, But large crates, either 48" or 54"

[Susan Stone]

I agree with the other suggestions that crate training would at least ensure he does not kill himself whilst you are away. But i know crate training can be difficult and takes time.

My proven training method to avoid chewing issues is the use of smell/taste aversion training by using hot spicy Tabasco. I do not know if this can be bought where you are.
The method I have used with success is to start with (unseen y dog) preparation of a few tissue papers with a good dollop of Tabasco in the middle, all rolled up into a teasing little screwed up ball. Whe your dog is not looking, just scatter these balls around the room. Now most youngsters think tissues a great game and will grab and tear one of these to pieces. Let you dog do this but try not to show him you are watching. When he feels the spicy sting of the Tabasco he may sneeze, drink water, rub his nose, etc. It is important to take no notice of him at this stage. He must feel YOU have nothing to do with this unpleasantness. Leave the tissues out and if he tries again, let him. OK, now you pup recognizes the smell of Tabasco and will probably start to salivate just at the smell.

Next step: take a tissue paper and put a spot of Tabasco on the tissue. Now wipe all cables with this. The smell will be a strong deterrent.

It is very importat to carry out the first step so that the association can be formed: smell of Tabasco = stinging unpleasant sensation, best to leave well alone.

I dab the inside of shoes with Tabsco and these are all left untouched even during the most vicious chewing phases;-)) Call me mean, but it works! :-)