Suggestions

[cheern4u08]

My puppy Annie is really good. however, she wants to chew on all of our cords. Any suggestions on how to get her to stop chewing on the cords other than telling her "no". Every time we tell her "no" she stops and then goes straight back to it when she knows we are not paying attention. She knows that she's not supposed to do it b/c every time we start to walk near her when she's doing it, she runs away and hides.

[Puddlesmama]

HI! What I do is when the girls go to chew on something other than their chews or a toy I say "Leave it" and hand them a toy or chew...it didnt take Puddles to realize that chewing on cords, shoes or me was unacceptable. Handing the toy to her will break her trying to run off..It turns it into a positive thing for her.Consistancy is the best thing. Good Luck!

[pkcrossley]

oh gosh, this is a hard one. i had this problem with several cats, though fortunately never with my cairn (he chewed through everything EXCEPT the electric cords, for which i thanked all the lucky stars).

i tried to keep my cats away from all the cords possible, and to scold them severely if they went near them. the vet told me that a few animals, cat or dog, are attracted to the electrical fields around the cords and want to chew on them (the cat of mine most enthusiastic about this was also attracted to telephone cords, the ones that go to the jack in the wall). you can scold them all you want, and they might learn to leave the cords alone while you are home. but they will get after them when you are not home. you can unplug everything when you leave, and it is likely they will leave them alone if they don't have current going through them. but eventually you will probably forget, and leave your dog home with a live wire.

my cat destroyed a phone cord and we didn't know what had gone wrong with the phone. the telephone repairman first checked the cord and found the bite marks; he said it was a major cause of calls for home visits for mysteriously non-functioning phones. finally, one night, our cat bit into a live lamp cord. we happened to get up and find her limp, with her mouth clamped on the live wire, helpless. we unplugged the wire and caught her quickly, taking her straight to an emergency room. the vet who examined her said that apart from some edema she had no ill effects, but the situation was this: after such encounters they either came in traumatized but alive, or dead. it all depended on the voltage (which varies in every live wire) and the period of exposure.

needless to say, that experience cured our cat of her curiousity. our question for the vet, for all our animals since, has been: is there any other way to cure them? i'm not aware of one. if your dog is relentless in his chewing of cords, she will eventually hit the moment of truth where she will either learn her lesson the hard way or die trying. if you know for a fact that your dog has this problem, i would be severe with her in teaching her that she cannot chew on the cords. since she will probably only observe this when you are home, then when you go out confine hwe in a safe place; it is easier than trying to be sure you have unplugged every cord that could be a danger to her. if you can keep up this regimen you can keep her safe, and she may eventually lose interest or internalize the habit of leaving the cords alone.

as a final consideration, have an electrician check your home to make sure your voltage regulation through the house is safe and keeping within prescribed limits. it is just possible that your dog is attracted to the cords because you actually have too much current going through your sockets and the electrical fields are too enticing to her. your dog could be clueing you in to something important about the safety of your whole electrical system. if everything checks out all right, then keep her confined when you are not home. and, if you are home and she bites into a live wire, remember that her jaws will lock on the wire and she will not be able to let go. your instinct might be to grab her and pull her away from the cord. DO NOT DO THIS. do not touch her, but go immediately to the socket and pull out the plug. if you are fast enough, she will have an experience that will put her off electrical cords for the rest of her life. but you have to be fast and effective. don't waste time doing anything other than pulling out the plug from the socket.

sorry to sound alarmist! this is a very tough problem. you might be able to resolve it by correcting your current, but if not your first priority has to be to keep your dog safe until she grows out of this, if she going to.

[Nikki]

have you tried bitter apple spray? that helped with my funiture anyways

[cheern4u08]

Where could I get bitter apple spray? I want to try it and see if it works.

[Di ann]

You can buy it at Pet smart or Walmart carries another brand and it is called Bitter Barrier.

[jimnconnie]

If the Bitter Apple doesn't work, you might try using dish detergent, or hot pepper juice on those cords. Others have recommended those before when dogs were chewing furniture. Good Luck!

[Tracy A.]

I've had great success with dish soap like Dawn or Sunlite. Just lube the item up... Bitter apple is easier to apply since its in a spray bottle, but wears off quickly.

Also, an unsupervised puppy is a tasmanian devil on the loose. Keep your little one safely crated or in an expen if you can't keep your eyes the puppy while out....