Has anyone had any luck with the bitter barrier sprays?

[Chloes dad]

So Chloe is referred to as the two pound terror in my house. She will seek and destroy anything that catches her eye lately. We joke that shes like a shark and that her stomach contents prob include an old license plate..but the truth is its not a laughing matter, And id love to put a stop to this behavior. Chloe loves cords as we have learned all to well, So there are none at her level anymore (which is hard as our home has low outlets.) The Christmas tree was surrounded by baby gates this year, She has chewed through 2 $90.00 laptop cords, countless cellphone cords, a Dyson vacuum cord, every rug in the house, any piece of paper that she can get a hold of is immediately destroyed and in a million pieces, And if you drop anything its gone.. Shes there before you can blink, Snatched it up and is running to hide it for later..lol. Now shes going after my coffee table. I had tried lemon juice and a bitter barrier spray that is supposed to be a no bite type thing, No joke I sprayed it, She walked over and was lapping it up like it was dessert & shot me a look as if to say "That's all you got?"! So I know obviously she has to be crated any time I leave even if its for a 1/2 hour and prob should have been since the beginning, Its just hard because if shes locked up, no matter the size of the space( I tried a crate, And even her own tiny room with a gate in the doorway) She cries all night all day non stop so I gave in. In the eve and at night shes fine all lovey dovey cute little lap dog, Then when its time for bed she goes right to her bed and is good all night. But the morn & afternoon the monster comes out!

So I guess i need to know how do i reverse this at 5 months old? she is gated off to only the kitchen dining room and living room, And doesn't have access to the back of the house (bedrooms, bathrooms, laundry room. If i take down the gate for a sec she darts to the kitty's box and god help us if there's something in there)..So anyway sorry so wordy but trying to give you the whole scope of things here.. Any tips in this area would be helpful..

Ps. she is starting obedience training in Feb, but not quite sure they cover this issue. sounds like its more sit/stay, walking on leash ect.

[jencar98]

Back when Ruby was a puppy we tried the bitter apple spray and it did work to some degree, but it seems like it "wore off" quickly. Fortunately, Ruby's chewing was a brief phase and was never too bad to begin with.

In our obedience class the chewing issue was addressed, so hopefully the trainer will in your class. If not, I would certainly ask them about it after class - our trainer was always great to answer individual questions after class.

The paper shredded picture (lol...sorry) reminds me of our papillon, Scout. He will tear up paper like that, with him, I think it's out of mostly boredom. I'll be on the computer and he is off in the bedroom destroying a piece of paper.

I'm sure she has toys to play with but maybe she needs a more challenging toy, like those puzzle/interactive toys for dogs?

[Chloes dad]

Thanks for the advise, Im actually off to petsmart here in a little bit anyway, so ill have to look at more challenging toys. I never really thought of that, She does have alot of stuff but its all basic squeakers and rope toys, She looooooves to play fetch, I wish they had an automatic toy thrower and collector..lol

[jencar98]

Originally Posted by Chloes dad

, I wish they had an automatic toy thrower and collector..lol

hahaha....there is one - it's called "the pet owner"

You might try a kong (our trainer suggested them) although I wasn't a big fan and neither was Ruby.

There are some wooden puzzle toys for dogs made in Europe, I think. They are not cheap but may be something for you to check into.

I found a link:
Nina Ottosson Dog Tornado wooden dog puzzle game

[rilysmom]

I got some bitter spray to use on Saydee's hair bows to deter Rily from taking them out immediately and chewing them up. Well, he still takes them out, but he doesn't chew on them now. I also sprayed some on a chair leg that Saydee seemed to develop a taste for...it seems to have helped. Good Luck!

[Judy in Waco]

Clear deodorant was the only thing that worked for Gizmo. You have to reapply it daily until he's sure it will always taste that nasty.

It stopped the behavior for us.

[JasmineNoelle]

We crated Jasmine when she was a pup unless we were with her. Also, we only allowed her in one room, you might have given her too much room to roam. With both Jasmine and Prissy, I made a very loud sound that they hated, when ever they would go towards a cord or try to chew on anything other then their toys. They both learned very quickly in this way not to chew on anything other than their toys. I only made this sound for this. I always would award them and praise them greatly when they walked away from the cords. I know this may sound awful to some, but I was always so worried about my little babies getting to a cord. Some use a can of pennies, but I guess my ugly sound worked for me. Have a Great day!

[J_is_my_initial]

I tried the bitter sprays when Gypsy was younger and she seemed to like the taste of it. Even with it on it, she destroyed the bottom of the patio door blinds. Took the plastic right out of them.

[yorkieusa]

She's teething and just needs something to chew on! Google "bully sticks" and get her some of those to chew on. They are safe and natural. Just be sure to take them away when they get too small. You don't want her to choke on a small end. You may just have to limit her space more if you aren't able to watch her. You can put some pennies in a metal container and shake it when you're there to discourage her from doing something you don't want her to do. But that's only good when you're around.

[Chloes dad]

You all had some great insight, I just got back from petsmart and I got her a few new toys including the kong And im gonna nip this in the bud, and just stick with the crate training no matter how much she cries. And since she'll chew on things right in front of me, I'm gonna try the pennies in a can, and the deodorant!

[pookiebear]

I use the Bitter Apple too, and it does work; you just have to spray it pretty frequently.

[DebbieD]

The only thing that worked for me was hot sauce. I would rub a little onto the furniture legs, wood seemed to be Nala's favorite chew toy. It seemed that my little darling was 1/2 yorkie - 1/2 termite. I have never had any luck stopping any of them from shredding paper.

[Judy in Waco]

Originally Posted by DebbieD

The only thing that worked for me was hot sauce. I would rub a little onto the furniture legs, wood seemed to be Nala's favorite chew toy. It seemed that my little darling was 1/2 yorkie - 1/2 termite. I have never had any luck stopping any of them from shredding paper.

That's pretty true about the paper. I pick my battles. I put the deodorant on the wooden items and cords, and keep the paper away from them.

[SRD]

your pup sure is a terrior, don't stress over it, most pups do grow out of their crazy chewing habits.

I never had luck with bitter apple, my girl used to chew her tail for fun when she was a pup, I would spray bitter apple all over her tail area, it didnt stop her from chewing a bit... thank god she grew out of it after she got bored with it...

[hillies]

Obedience training might help a little bit, in ours they taught the "leave it" command so at least if you see her going for something you can stop it while it's happening.