make it stop!!!!!!!

[bubbly girly]

ok here it goes...... My labrador Retriever, Lili, has a bed with a hole in it so there for my other feisty cairn terrier rips it open and digs all the stuffing out. I dread coming home because I know he probably destryoed it again. I am so sick of cleaning up all the fuzz and the foam! I tell him bad dog VERY firmly and give him a light spanking and he seems to understand that he did something wrong, but the next morning he rips it up again! How do I stop him!!!???

[Briar_x]

buy a new bed without a hole in it?

[divegirl]

erm....sew the hole up!

[drgnrdr]

Okay first stop yourself from hitting him, he gets a "guilty" look cause he can tell by your body language that your mad but he doesn't understand why. You must reprimand when they are IN THE ACT of doing something not AFTERWARDS. He is digging it all out and having fun and relieving his boredom. He needs other things to interact with and he needs YOU to give him enough exercise to wear him out. Stop the bed thing for now, give your lab a towel or something to lay on until you can TRAIN your Cairn to leave things alone, apparently he doesn't know the rules, boundries and limitations, because you haven't taught him. Don't blame him. If you haven't checked out orangedog forum yet, other threads have the website location, go there and you'll find some answers and advice, if you really want to change this.

[RATTER15]

Well said drgnrdr!!

[bubbly girly]

Do you know how much beds cost nowadays!? And drgrndr I catch him in the act. i know not to punish him after wards. And The hole is much to big to sew. It covers half of the bed!

[bubbly girly]

ok I am very upset drgnrdr because you think that I don't pay attention to my dog. He has a bucket full of toys and another playmate. He goes almost everywhere we go. He just can't go places like out to dinner that's when we have to leave him at home. And my mom TELLS me to give him a light spanking. and it changes things dramatically when you say stop yourself from HITTING him. a spanking is different from hitting. He is a little thing, I spankhim hard. Why would you think I would do that!?

[bubbly girly]

woops! meant to say I wouldn't spank him hard!

[Noweia]

Saying 'No' loudly and removing him from the bed promptly would probably be more effective than spanking him - even tapping a dog can make them bite and snap more.

[pie+mash]

Boy has this person from across the pond got attitude or what?

[bubbly girly]

Excuse me?

[meltoadhall]

give him a plastic formed bed with an old towel or blanket and never hit your dog. remove the foam bed because if he swallows any of it, you will need a trip to the vet.
telling him he is a bad dog will make no difference because he's a dog and doesnt speak english.

[drgnrdr]

Okay I'm gonna try and clear this up for you. By the info in your previous post, which is ALL I have to go by. You said you tell him VERY firmly and give him a light spanking, now to me when I got spanked by my mum, she was hitting me. , merriam dictionary says something to the effect of "spank": to Strike, to aim to deliver a blow on the buttocks with the open hand, now strike is partially defined as come into contact forcefully..ie..to strike at or on as in "hit". So this is why I said stop hitting him, maybe I should have said stop striking him. Sometimes English there and english here is diff. Either way dogs should not be Struck. Next point: You said you dread coming home to find it destroyed "again", that seems to me like it is repaired and then destroyed "again". Right after saying you dread coming home, your next sentence you say, you tell him bad dog etc...put in this context this is where I read you leave, come home and spank him. There is nothing that suggest you previously have caught him the act and are trying to fix the situation.
Try to use an old towel and sew it to the old bed to try and seal the hole, but he is having fun ripping it apart which tells me he is bored, not enough exercise, a tired dog is a good dog, they sleep. If you only leave for an hour or 2 for dinner and store you will still need to exercise him, dogs will not play to the point of exhaustion, it's a survival instinct, they will play get slightly tired and rest, even if for short spurts. It's up to us to wear them out. Most toys are interactive they need 2 to really enjoy them. I am trying not to address the other posts, just the original.

[drgnrdr]

It is wonderful that you take him where ever you go normally. But he still needs exercise with you, before you leave him for the 1 or 2 hours, this way he will be tired, and sleep. You can give him a bustercube or a kong filled with something great and maybe frozen depending on what you put in it to keep him occupied. I would not leave the bed down until he gets over his need to chew, if he is under 18 months old he needs to chew to set his teeth coming in. There's more but I hate breaking these post up. So does that clear it up for you? and why I responded with what you gave us? I do hope so..I did not post to upset you...just to inform you or anyone else coming on and reading this...those who respond to post only go by what you give us.

[bubbly girly]

thank you drgdng. I didn't think of putting the bed up until They have to go to bed...........