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Just got my first bc pup, need advice


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I got my very first border collie pup a few days ago and she has settled in fine, she's already well on her way to being fully house trained and I've taught her to come to her name and sit. She's very smart and likes to figure out ways to get around any problems she faces and she also knows what i mean when i say no.. the problem is though that she chews everything she can get her teeth into, and when i say no sternly she gives me puppy eyes, lays down and sighs about it but the second i turn my back she's at it again. Is there anyway i can get her to completely stop? i try to change her attention to one of her toys but she gets bored of them very quickly. I also noticed her about to eat her poo his morning and immediately told her off but she went straight back for it (to which i quickly removed it to the bin)

I know she is only a pup but i just feel like i should be teaching her better.

Any advice is appreciated :)

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Welcome! Got any pictures of your pup?

 

She's a puppy, puppies chew. And chew and chew and chew.

 

It's really about management at this point. Give her appropriate things to chew, keep her away from thongs she shouldn't chew (and her away from them through crating , tethering, baby gates, etc.

 

At this age, she's probably only guessing what "no" means in certain contexts. "No" means "don't do that when the person is giving you a disapproving look". Not "don't chew on that ever again". She's also a puppy and has the attention span of a gnat. Give her something that she can chew on in exchange. And do it again, and again. And if you're busy, put her in a crate or x pen so she can't get anything she shouldn't have. Make what you deem appropriate to chew on, easy to chew on so she chooses those more and more.

 

Get her interested in something else when she goes to do something you don't want her to do. Pull a toy out and make it the coolest. toy. ever!

 

Also teach her and highly reward "leave it" so she learns that leaving something she wants and coming to you is fun and rewarding

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I got my very first border collie pup a few days ago and she has settled in fine, she's already well on her way to being fully house trained and I've taught her to come to her name and sit. She's very smart and likes to figure out ways to get around any problems she faces and she also knows what i mean when i say no.. the problem is though that she chews everything she can get her teeth into, and when i say no sternly she gives me puppy eyes, lays down and sighs about it but the second i turn my back she's at it again. Is there anyway i can get her to completely stop? i try to change her attention to one of her toys but she gets bored of them very quickly. I also noticed her about to eat her poo his morning and immediately told her off but she went straight back for it (to which i quickly removed it to the bin)

I know she is only a pup but i just feel like i should be teaching her better.

Any advice is appreciated :)

 

 

Congrats on the new baby! How old is she?

 

Bottom line is - she's going to chew and it's pointles to try and stop her. There's no such thing as a non-chewing puppy. ;) As Maralynn said, at this stage, it's all about management, so the best you can do is redirect the chewing.

 

If she's not interested in the toys she has, maybe she needs different toys. My 4 month old is totally nuts for hoof chewies, will knaw them endlessly. (I'm not nuts about hoof chewies but it beats gnawing the dining chairs or rocking chair ...) I also got her a plastic WOOD-flavored chewie - she loves it. And she has a great time with those non-stuffed "boneless" critter toys that she can flip and throw and toss, and also the super-sized big rope toys.

 

You may have to experiment to see what kind of toys she likes best. Kongs, flavored edibles, textured things - shop around. But bottom line is, more is better and variety is good. When I have a puppy, my house looks like it's inhabited by a demented 2-year-old: toys strewn all over the floor. :P

 

Good luck!

 

~ Gloria

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Good advice above ^^^^. I also like to re-direct unwanted behavior in puppies and not to overuse the 'No' command. If you use it too much, it just becomes background noise, IMHO.

 

Welcome to the Boards. (I see this is your first post.) There have been numerous posts about puppy chewing, puppy misbehavior, etc. in the past. I know you will find it extremely helpful to read through the archives. use the 'search' function in the upper right of the page.

 

We would love to see puppy pics!

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Welcome and congratulations on your new puppy. :-)

You have already gotten good advice.

The X-pen is your best friend right now. I assume your puppy is very young....just a baby.....and you would no more expect her not to chew on things than you would expect an eighteen month old human child to be responsible if left on her own in the house.

 

When you are not able to watch her every moment (and I mean that literally), she should go into the X-pen or a crate, with chew toys. When I have a puppy, I am in one of two modes at all times. 1: concentrating 100% on watching, training, and playing with the puppy, or, 2: Puppy is in a safe enclosed place such as pen or crate. Even if I go to the bathroom for 3 minutes, puppy either goes with me or into the pen for those 3 minutes. I don't read a book or get on the computer with the puppy loose. It only takes a few seconds for a puppy to get into something you don't want her to get into and the results can be very bad. Even if you puppy proof your entire house, it seems as though there is always something.

 

She will learn not to chew inappropriate things, but it will take time and most of all maturity for her to learn that. Meantime, it's up to you to manage things so that she cannot get into trouble.

We all want to see photos!

Best of luck with her, and stick around on this forum, because there are a lot of very helpful and knowledgeable people here.

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