QuestionQUESTION: Hello, My wife and I recently adopted a Bassett / Beagle mix. But trust me, he is 90% Bassett and 10% stubborn. Since we got him he has chewed all the carpet around his crate effectively ruining the entire rooms carpet. I went and bought a kong ball, tug rope, doggie treats, rawhides, pig ears, and all of them are completely ignored. What can i do, the only thing that interests him is real meat, bones etc.
ANSWER: Hi Billy,
When I adopted my BH, he ate a couch, the couch that replaced that couch and the loveseat that replaced that couch. Makes ya crazy doesn't it? :)
Firstly, toss the rawhides and pigs ears. They are horrible for dogs. Rawhides get lodged in throats and stomachs (think of the gooey mess) and pigs ears have more grease than bacon. BH's tend to get portly...anything you can cut out now will help out in the long run.
If he's eating the carpet while he's in the crate, get a plastic airline type crate. They're more closed at the bottom. If he's eating it while he's out...supervise.
No behavior can be fixed or corrected if you don't witness it. You have a one second window (which means immediately) to praise or correct. If he chews in front of you, clap your hands, tell him 'eh-eh' (sharply). When he stops, praise immediately. If he doesn't stop, remove him from the area.
Most dogs chew out of stress or boredom. He may need to be exercised more. BH's need exercise physically and Beagle's need it mentally. A bored Beagle is a nightmare...a lazy BH is fat. :) Obedience training or circus trick training will also stimulate his mind and tire him out.
In the meantime, you may want to hit Lowe's or Home Depot and buy a scrap piece of linoleum to sit his crate on.
---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------
QUESTION: Thank you for the quick answer! As a follow up, my wife and I work all day and we feel a little guilty in crating him during the day and then at night. Would he be better suited to be outside during the day? We have a completely fenced in back yard. He seems to have separtion issues and whines whenever we leave.
AnswerNo! :) He'll dig under...especially if he's already bored. B/B mixes are Houdini's. The other problem is that they tend to get lost because they don't pick their head up off the ground for following a scent.
What you'd be better off doing is either coming home on your lunch break, hiring a dog walker, enlisting a neighbor, etc. and leaving him in the crate during the day.
Buy a dog bed and put it in your room at night. :)
