I have a 9month old husky who although has got better with chewing and general mischief,she finds time to 'help me' with my plants and 'pruning' my bushes! Any tips from avoiding this? She gets lots of walks and has plenty of toys,although my shoes are better for chewing apparently!
I found all my puppies, irrespective of breed, went through a period of being keen gardeners. Georgie (below) at around 7 months old loved digging deep holes! When Chloe, my Tibetan Spaniel was a similar age she dug up all my tulip bulbs from the flower bed and replanted them all over the garden! The following spring I had tulips popping up in the most unlikely places. I wouldn't worry too much because all of them lost interest as they got older and the worst they did after that was to sit on the plants.
When you find her chewing things she's not allowed exchange them for a chew toy or stuff a kong with some food that will keep her busy for a while. Can you fence the plants off so she can't get to them ?
Of all the dogs/puppies I have had, Pereg is the only one who was a digger, but with no plants to worry about it did not really matter! Barbara is right though - she lost interest after the initial stage!
I would recommend taking anything off her that she shouldnt be playing with as you dont want it to become the "norm" to chew on shoes ect. Phoebe was never a digger she was a chewer and ripper and i always took it off her with a firm no and sad face otherwise she thought it was a game and would start playing tug with whatever she had. I would then show her the toys that were for her. I did see an episode of victoria stillwell where she set up a sand pit with toys burried in for the dog to dig and was to be taken there everytime it dug in the garden and it soon learnt where to dig and where not to
I have given up having a garden with 6 JRT's as they love digging, now I have hanging baskets with plants & strawberries/tomatoes in, as the hooligans have not found a away of climbing the posts they are hanging from yet.
You can get citronella sprays which can be sprayed on posts or a small fence around any areas you want to keep free (they are meant to act as a deterrent, as many pets do not like the smell) - but I doubt it would last long in our rainy weather. Maybe fencing might be a good idea?
I've been thinking about the spray, it's mainly my potted plants she has fun with.shes a little tinker lol! Hoping she will grow out of it.wouldn't mind ..but I have a large garden that she could dig in!
