[jem_389]

Looking through some of the posts, it's obvious there are some very experienced people here. I'd like some advice on some issues with Scout (our beagle);

- eating her own droppings. I realize this is a common thing, but it's annoying and she makes a game out of it, especially when we chase her!!
- jumping up. She loves to jump up on counters, tables, people and we're continually correcting her. I would like to know of anything that I can do to break this habit
- chewing EVERYTHING. She's just over a year old and we've given her lots of chew toys, but she seems to enjoy chewing everything else. We've used the bitter apple with limited success.

I have a few more, but this would be a good starting point. I would appreciate any advice....

//john

 

[beagletails]

John, for what help it may or may not be...my female also ate her own droppings and thankfully has grown out of the habit. She is barely over 2 years old right now. I know there are products you can put on the droppings or even in your dog's food that may help with the issue, but the best advice would be to carry baggies and just get rid of it faster than she can grab it. You may also want to just try her on a different food that may digest a little better in her system and then she may not be as eager to re-eat it. ~~~ I can't break my own from the habit of jumping up, but we are still trying. When they jump on me I turn my back on them and refuse to pet them until they settle down and sit. I have a medical condition that makes their jumps very painful for me so I usually cry out too which sometimes is enough to make them stop. ~~~~ As for chewing...keep them busy and tired. Give them kong toys filled with yummies, pig ears, bones, etc... I feel like if they are chewing on the right things they are less likely to chew on the wrong things. I could be wrong, but at least my doggies have clean teeth. lol

 

[AJollyBengali]

I've read that adding some pineapple to a dog's food will discourage eating droppings. Something in the pineapple makes the poop smell and/or taste bad to the dog.

 

[theregalbeagle]

You will get lots of great advice on this board. I'll try to contribute on the jumping on things. We practice Nothing in Life is Free with our pup. You can find several articles in a Google search. Basically, he needs to sit for anything and he needs to be invited to sit on the couch or bed with us. Very rarely has he jumped on the couch on his own - and a stern off sent him running the other day.

If I anticipate a run and jump, I interrupt him with a sit or stop command. When he tries to jump on me, I often just lift my leg enough to block him with my knee and give the off command.

Always have something handy to put in their mouth for chewing. Regal likes to chew one of our tables and I substitute it with a legal toy and say chew this

He also likes to countersurf which I haven't found as easy to correct. I think we're going to try this over the weekend http://www.coonhound911.org/info/display?PageID=2400 - called the Can Monster. Basically string a bunch of cans together so when he tries to jump on the counter they come flying down. I think we have enough cans saved...

 

[silleb]

I have also heard that feeding your pup tomatoes will discourage them from eating their own poop. Maybe it is the acidity? Pineapples are very acidic as well.

Ben has never eaten his own poop, but rabbit dropping are a real treat apparently!

Can't help out with the jumping up. We are still working on that one as well.

 

[randyc]

Charlie is a poo eater. He rarely goes after his own any longer. But he will go after Josies. Poor Josie. Yesterday I get home from work, put them out and go in to grab baggies as I know they are going to poo. Charlie is already taking a bite of poo from Josie before she even finishes! We have been giving them both the pill to deter that in their food and it has not helped. On Christmas at my parents for the weekend they did get some pineapple that was out for snacking. They LOVED it. I mean LOVED it. It stopped him from what we could tell for a day or so. Next step is Adolph spice. Numerous people have mentioned this to us. Some of which foster a lot of dogs and have always had success with this.

Both will go after the litter box if they manage to get upstairs.

Both jump. Josie has gotten better with age. She gets excited to see you, but she calms quickly. Charlie is still a pup and is excitable at the drop of a hat. It doesn't bother me or my GF, but when people come over, they go in their pen in the front hall until they calm down. They both jump on the couch and bed to sleep and hang out as well. For a while we did not allow them up. Which meant a lot of NO and putting puppy back on floor only to do it again 10 seconds later. They eventually got the hint. We don't mind them on the couch though and actually prefer to have them up there while we watch tv. They are like little heaters. Josie scratched at your arm so you will lift up the edge of the blanket so she can go underneath it as well. Both sleep in bed with us. But we waited until both were trustworthy enough to hold it until we got out of bed or to wake us if they had to go now. They let us sleep in on weekends until about 8:00am before we get nudged with their noses.

As for chewing. Patience and acceptance that they will chew it. Doesn't matter what it is. They don't care that you just paid 1500 bucks for that TV mantel with fireplace... they will chew it. We keep ours in a play pen during the day when no one is home. They have their crates in there, a bowl of water, some toys and room to walk around and play. So no worries about chewing there. When we are home it is just a matter of always watching. When caught, they get a NO. The spot gets sprayed with anti - chew stuff, and the dog gets a mist form the water bottle.. We try to keep plenty of chew toys they like around. They have taken kindly to the black kong even if nothing is in it. If they seem to be getting antsy and get that Ima chew yo stuff look, I lay down on the floor and play for a bit, then take them outside for duties.

Good luck!

 

[Brien]

Well you might have a more difficult time stopping some of that behavior since she's a little older.

We started with Bodie at 8 weeks. We understood Bodie would jump on people because he wanted their attention. So what we do, is get down to his level and then give him attention. Don't just bend over, get down on your knees. By doing this he gets his attention and is less likely to jump afterwards. When he does jump up on people we say Off and turn to ignore him. At this point he knows that jumping is a no-no and will respond pretty quickly to this approach.

By doing this when people come over or people approach him on a walk, he'll act excited but usually won't jump unless they don't get down to his level. If they just stand there, he'll be up on them until we tell him off or have to pull him off.

As for chewing, we try removing all chewable items from his reach. When he does get something he shouldn't have, we tell him to drop it, and give him one of his toys to chew on. I think it's important to replace the item with one that is ok to chew on. Again, he usually gets it and won't go back to the same item again. If he does and tries to make a game of it, we just put him in pen for a time out.

 

[RhodaTse]

Let me begin with welcoming you.
They all love eatng poop, don't they. I heard it is kind of a dorminent thing to do. I have try using canned pumpkin, seems to work. A spoonful of pumpkin to his kibbles.
All dogs chew, I always blame myself for leaving things out. My Charlie chewed 3 holes on my leather sofa, sewed it back up, put a nice throw on.

Just do not leave your belongings out if you do not want to lose them. All shoes up, they love chewing shoes, slippers. No tips on that one, sorry. I have to replace countless of things, spent money redesign my yard, Charlie digs! Oh, my lawn was destroyed, so I replaced it with flag stones....hehe, you can't dig anymore right. Wrong, he digs somewhere else.
Do not let Scout jump to high, my Charlie hurt his disk one time, limping for months before I knew what was wrong.
off command works for Charlie. Also, when Scout jumps up on you, just turn your whole body away from him, if you use you knee, you might have a chance hurting him. A tip from Charlie trainer, and really works.Always feed Scout in his own bowl, never off the dining table. Even if he looks at you with those beagly eyes begging. Consistency is very important, they are very smart, if you continue showing them what is

what is

they learn so fast. You are doing everything right, just keep doing it. Charlie is 3 and just started to behave well. But I took my part to understand him too, tried reading his mind. Funny we do understand each other, we are inseparable!

 

[jem_389]

Thanks. I'll maybe give the pumpkin a try and see what's up. Scout is very tenatious and gives us lots of joy and challenges.

 

[jem_389]

I've tried to be proactive and pick up her droppings before she has a chance to get them, but every once in awhile she gets ahold of one and makes a game of it. She runs around the yard and I usually chase her. She thinks its great fun.

We'll continue to work on her jumping up and will try some of the suggestions here.

 

[jem_389]

Chewing is probably the biggest issue right now with Scout. It just means she can't be left alone and has to be watched when in the house. I'll make sure she has lots of chew toys and maybe that will keep her need to chew semi satisfied.

 

[jem_389]

Would that be canned or fresh pineapple. I've heard a couple of different suggestions.

 

[randyc]

We had fresh pineapple at Christmas. I think I would just buy a pineapple and cut it up. Can keep it in a tupperware in the fridge. Nice when they like it as it can be a treat for good behavior.

 

[mrsjenlester]

jem_389, we have the same problem with our female, sometimes our male can't finish before she's on her way over to him, so thanks for asking this question I'm going to try the pumpkin first I think.

 

[jem_389]

We gaver her some pineapple this evening. We'll see what she thinks later when she does her business.

 

[mrsjenlester]

How did the pineapple work?