Chewing, Peeing, &...Biting

[hottpixie5]

..........

[Michael Romanos]

Wow. there is multi problems here. I have not the time at this moment to respond more fully, but Odie maybe shredding paper because it is paper that is hitting him. Anyway after seven weeks, he should be off paper as a means of toileting. I have never had my pups crated and even the non-housetrained pup I looked after for two weeks and had a crate for him, he had no toilet 'facilities' in his crate. There are good toilet trays for dogs available.
Sometimes pups can go back two steps before advancing one. Maybe you have slackened off a little and that's all it takes. Odie wants to bite things and use his newly forming teeth. He must be given quality toys (extra tough ropey toys are good) for playing and biting into and items you don't need anymore such as an old slippper or raggity clothing. Corgis don't like their own poop or urine. Pups will hare off to anywhere and to anybody - and anybody is a plaything. They want to grab ankles,shoes,shoe laces sometimes trousers/slacks, especially hands. Some Corgis are not gentle as pups and are less gentle if treated ungently - such as being hit, grabbed roughly, shouted and screamed at. Six week old pups and pups at age six months need constant care and attention. It is not always possible but what is possible are Corgi minders - from neighbours, friends, relatives- to call at least twice during the day for feeding and for play and for recreation and for toileting. I suspect Odie has no proper routine - and that is a major problem. Toilet walks at least six times a day, feeding regime four times a day.

To be continued.

[Cardiguy]

I am far from an expert but it seems like you need a reputable dog trainer to help guide you in addressing these problems. I would not wait too long as these traits will become ingrained after a while. You may pick up some good advice here and by all means follow it if it makes sense, but I really think you need hands on work with your dog and fast. I would ask your vet who he/she would recommend regarding training or should I say socialization. Your pooch may have lost out on some valuable socialization skills from mom/siblings by being given to you at only 6 wks of age. Time is of the essence!!

[Fluffypants]

Welcome to the site. I think it's important to remember that Odie is only 13 weeks old. He's still a baby, so it's not all THAT bad that he's not fully house trained, is chewing on stuff, and doesn't come when called. All of that stuff takes time to learn. We have had lots of discussions on here about the biting, the chewing and the house training issues. You can click on SEARCH (above) and type any of those words in, and get a whole bunch of threads on these topics to browse. Maybe some of that stuff will help you.

As far as coming when called, I don't think you can really expect a 13 week old pup to be reliable at that, so be sure to keep him on a leash when outside. You can work on teaching this by getting a long line (or just tying a long piece of rope to his collar). Call him to you. If he comes, give him treats and praise. If not, you can help him by gently pulling him in your direction while giving praise and encouragement to reenforce that he is going on the right direction. Then, when he gets there, treats and praise. It takes time to get a reliable recall. Don't rush it, and try to be patient. Start out with him just a few feet away and gradually add distance as he learns what you want. But always keep him on the leash or the long line while he is learning.

Hope some of that helps!

[milles2]

I can't add much to the pee discussion but I feel your pain about the chewing! I thought Tucker was a chewer until Lulu came along. She puts Tuck back in the minor leagues.

No soft fluffy toys come into my house anymore. Between the two they don't last 5 minutes. They have Nyla bones, kong toys, rope toys, ect but no plush toys. That being said I do believe Lulu has taken a vow to destroy my love seat.

I have to put an x-pen around it when I leave her so she can't get to it. Between the two dogs they have chewed my dining room table leg to the point where it looks like beavers got into my house. I am hopeful when they outgrow it I can stain the legs and it will look "antique" (how's that for optomism?).

With Tucker it was shoes! He loved to chew shoes. I got into the habit if shoes aren't on my feet, they are in the closet. That was a major lifestyle change for me! Besides no longer losing shoes to Tucker's teeth, I have the added bonus of knowing where my shoes are!!!!

Are they bored? Maybe. I take them for a good mile+ walk in the morning, feed them, let them run around outside for 30 minutes all before leave for work. They do play together because when I come home they have picked toys out of the toy box and they are strewn all around the dinng room. And.... they nap when I get home so they must not be sleeping all day.

They get a walk at night. Two days each week they go to the sitters/day care. Lulu plays constantly. If ALL dogs get tired out and nap at the same time, she will get herself in chewing trouble at the sitters. My sitter has come to watch her very closely when she is not in the middle of the fray.

I've used the spray bottle on Lulu when I catch her in the act of chewing, I shouted "no", I given her a nylabone and carried her off the sofa, I do my best to assure she is never unsupervised near the sofa, but *%it does happen. She is a puppy. And a Lulu of a puppy! And unlike Tucker, she shows remorse. She appears to know when she is in trouble.

I have resigned my self that it is my responsibility to be vigilent and if she one day swollows the love seat whole, it is my fault.

So if I can toss anything out: exercise (tire him out!), good chew toys, and puppy prooof as much as you can.

PS: Each day before I leave them I remind Lulu "don't eat your brother before I get home".

[tandemgal]

Hot Pixie,

Welcome to Go Corgi. As Fluffy P says check the Puppy threads for a wealth of good info on potty training and chewing problems. One good thing to have is called Bitter Apple. It's a spray you can pick up at a pet store - it tastes nasty. Place a tiny tiny bit on Odie's lip so he will recognize it - then spray anything you don't want him chewing on. You'll need to reapply the spray but usually after a few times he will avoid those thing.... unless he has been listing to Lulu!!! (paws crossed they haven't met lol)

Right now he is too young and not ready for the whole run of the kitchen - if you don't want to put him in a crate while your gone try the bathroom. Usually smaller and less to chew there and easier to clean put a child gate in front of door so he can look out too.

Corgis are independent thinkers and not unusual for him not to come with so many distractions at his age. I have a 7 year old (Emma) who I still can't trust to always come when called. If you start the long leash training now I am sure Odie will learn quickly there is a treat waiting for him when he comes!

NEVER let him get away with biting! Pick him up, turn him over on his back and hold him still! Then when he calms down give him a good tummy rub and praise him. Being given to you so young he didn't get a chance to learn puppy manners! Between 6 and 8 weeks is when his mother and sibling would have taught him acceptable puppy behaviours. Now it is up to you to help him with this. If it is play bite as he gets older you can also give a LOUD OUCH! and turn away from him... but right now he needs a good quick timeout on his back!

Good luck and let us know how you are both doing

[glencorgi]

Already many good suggestions and advice has been given. Do read through some of the old threads and Cardiguy made a great suggestion about getting into some training - puppy kindergarten, puppy manners or some one on one classes, something as soon as you can. This will be as much for you as it will be for Odie. As you learn to be a better leader/owner, he'll become a better behaved puppy.

Debbie

[Cheetah]

When I got Shippo at 12 weeks old, he needed to potty once every 2-3 hours. I avoided pee pads and newspapers at all costs (he had this lovely paper-shredding habit anyway, like a lot of puppies do).

I think I spent the first few weeks with him just teaching him to be calm. This included a lot of things.

When I would try to pet him, he would try to mouth and bite at my hand out of sheer excitement. Basically, I picked my hand back up out of his reach and held off on the petting until he calmed down, and then once he was sitting calmly, I would start to put my hand back down towards him. If he tried to go for it again, I'd just go "nah uh," and calmly pick it back up out of his reach, and he'd sit back down and look at me, head tilted, as if to say "Wow, I didn't get pet for spazzing out?" It took plenty of repetition, but after a few days, he understood that he didn't get pet unless he WASN'T jumping all over me/mouthing my hand.

And then there were treats. Every time I took out a treat, he got SO excited that I couldn't train him to do anything! I basically did the same thing with the treats. I'd go to give it to him while he was sitting calmly, looking at me, but if he tried to jump all over my hand for it, I'd take the treat back out of his reach and just free and wait until he was calm again, and so on.

Then of course there was the biting during play. I never alpha rolled him for play biting... If he was biting too hard, I just squealed out a loud "OUCH!!!" while freezing my hand. This usually resulted in him jumping backwards like 10 feet, and returning to me, licking instead of biting. He was then praised and we continued our play. This is important for teaching bite inhibition.

One thing that's important is freezing your hand if he's biting. NEVER jerk it away... it will only encourage him to chase it. If he's biting at peoples' feet, don't try to walk or run away... Same thing. >^^;<

[Shelly]

I can sympathize but don't have the answers. My pup is 11 months old and is still distructive, chewing the kitchen cabinets and carpeting. He also still doesn't come when I call him unless I call my older corgi and he thinks he's going to beat her out of a treat or some affection. I've finally resorted to leaving my pup in his crate if I have to leave the house during a time that either the weather is wet or evening because I can just about predict that more of my kitchen cupboards will be chewed. And I've used several bad tasting products and he doesn't care, he knaws anyway, and he has things to play with as well as my other corgi so it's not that he's got nothing to do. There's always the chance he'll either potty in the crate if he's in there too long or will rip his pad to shreads, but hey, then he won't have a nice soft pad to lay on. I know I can't trust him. I wish you luck. If you eventually find answers to what works for your dog, please share them because I too would be willing to try something else that might work.

[Cheetah]

If a dog gets into the habit of chewing, and there's nobody around to correct the behavior, then chewing becomes a positive experience for the dog (chewing for a dog is a soothing behavior, like humans sucking their thumbs, etc.), and it can become obsessive and out of control. I've crated Shippo since I got him, when I am unable to supervise him. Now he is 11 months old, and I've been trying out the exercise pen for short periods (when I leave for a couple hours), instead of just the crate. I attach it to the crate so he still has that, but he also has some room without having access to things he might destroy if he decided to chew. It's the first step in transitioning him to be a free-roaming dog. Of course, I waited until he was reliable enough to not have potty accidents before trying this... Either way, I cover the entire bottom of the exercise pen with something absorbant just in case!

I just feel that prevention is the best way to make sure the dog won't get into the habit of being destructive. Out of sight, out of mind! >^^;<

[Chip's Mom]

I have been giving Chip rawhide bones (the large ones) for about 2 hours every evening so I can supervise him. If they start to soften up, out comes the scissors and the bone gets a haircut. Anyway, that has helped a great deal on his chewing so he isn't doing much of it any more. When he was a little puppy, I gave him a rawhide bone all the time to chew on as long as someone was there to watch him. Those baby teeth are so sharp.

[milosmom]

He's still a baby and it just takes time, patience, and consistency. We want them to be potty trained and behavior trained as fast as possible, but they can't go by human time standards, they will go by there own time. I admit to taking a lot of deep cleansing breathes with Milo at times...but maintain a sense of humor, be patient, gentle and consistent.
The other thing I recommend is crate training. Everyone has differing opinions about it, but it was the best thing I ever did with Milo. Just don't ever use the crate as a means of punishment.
When Milo was bitey, and would give me a good nip I would withdraw my hand and very dramatically cry "owwww that hurt!" and say no! In play they can get so wound up and excited, it is just natural to bite...just observe puppies playing, that is what they do. If he got that way a light tap on the nose stopped it which is what mom dogs do to over rambunctious puppies. It does stop.
Housebreaking is never easy, again it takes time and patience. Try to take your pup out at regular intervals, if you have just fed and watered him, it won't be long after that he will have to potty, don't wait for signs from the puppy that he has to go...just take him out. Soon he will get the connection.
Monitor intake of food and water...measure both out. If you control what goes in, you can control what goes out! You won't have to do that forever, just until he's housebroken. Good luck!

[Michael Romanos]

Odie is still a baby indeed so everything is entirely possible. He should by this time be reasonably comfortable under leash supervision and he should be responding to sit, stay and come. These things can be taught from your living room/lounge couch. Leash training and basic obedience training will help settle your pup and give him some incentive to behave with the training done under reward and praise methods and regularly enacted and also being a concerted focus between you and Odie. He needs attention and positiveness - always finish any training on a positive note - going back to what he can do or does well that is positive (good).