Help with terrible twosome

[ladybug]

:( :( We recently adopted two eight month old doby sisters, they are loving and sweet, large for girls and age, were never taught anything, never on a leash, never in the house, didnt know thier names.
They do great on leash and in home at night, but they eat everything in sight, we have supplied them with lots of bone type toys to chew, nothing that looks like household items (didnt want to confuse them) and spend lots of time with them when we are home.
They sleep in our room at night, doing fine but have eaten their bed.
They have a nice dog run outside for the day time when we work, tried letting them have the run of the yard, ate water line for all landscaping, ate lawn chairs, knocked down all solor lanterns, put them in dog run and turn back, Emma (larger sister) pops right over six foot fence.
Belle (smaller sister) jumps up to catch wind chimes in tree branches about eight feet off of ground.
They have eaten everything shoulder height and down, in and out of the house... we have used bitter apple, doggie no no, hot sauce, Belle licks it off of everything seems she has a very odd sense of taste. My last resort will be crates.....any ideas???

[Evanescence]

Sorry to say, they sound like typical dobie puppies! I can't offer too much advice, since I've never had too much of an issue with chewing dogs since I've keep mine under CONSTANT surveilance for the first 2-3 years of their lives (and I'm not exaggerating one little bit, CONSTANT) but I'll try to tell you what I would do (someone with more experience chime in after me and offer insight into the holes in my advice!!)

First, I consider crates to be my first resort, not my last. My pup (whose now a year old) is in her crate at all times when I can't keep a direct eye on her. The crate is in my office right next to my computer, and I work from home, so she's never too far from me. When I am working, she knows she needs to be in the room with me, preferably under my feet. Oh, and I also never leave my dogs unattended in the backyard for more than like 15-20 mins, because longer than that and I too have found chewed up hoses, HUGE holes, dirty dogs who love to roll in mud puddles, etc.

Secondly, exercise plays a HUGE role in the training of a puppy. My trainer tells us that "the only good puppy is a tired puppy" and every puppy needs a minimum of 20 mins of hard core exercise every day. This is not being put out into the backyard for a while, or going for a leisurely walk, but, running, jumping, playing. I use jogs, bike rides, and playing fetch, agility training, and romping with other dogs as outlets for my pups. When the pup starts to get ancy, (about 2-3 times a day) we go play frisbee for about 5-10 mins, and she is totally cool with settling down again when we come in. In addition, once a day we go for a 30-60 min walk/jog/bike ride (whatever I have time and energy for). Of course, my dogs are high energy ACDs and yours may need more/less exercise depending on fitness level and personality.

Finally, dogs need mental stimulation. I always have lots of fun toys (which get rotated on a regular basis so they seem "new" to the dog) in the room for her to chew on or destroy. and destroy she does! We go to garage sales and buy cheap stuffed animals (and make sure to cut all the dangerous parts off!) or to walmart for their 88 cent bins of cheap stuffed and rubber things, and of course, kong toys! If you haven't already, you should really invest in a couple of Kongs and some yummy stuff to shove in them, mine especially like bread, easy cheese, peanut butter and leftovers (I know, bad for them, but they don't get it too often!)

The key to this method (my trainer would say) is to "set your pup up for success!" Don't give them the opportunity to be a bad dog (but of course there are no bad dogs...haha) only give them the opportunity to be good. My older dog is now 4 years old, and I trained him the same way, it was quite a bit of work for 6 months or so, but then we both got used to it, and he learned exactly what I expected of him, and now, the thought of chewing on anything but toys that I give him, never crosses his mind. Dogs want to do the right thing, they just don't know what's right until you tell them (maybe 500x, but they'll get it eventually) and soon they'll be just as happy chewing on approved items instead of your hose and winchimes, and furniture.

Hope this helps!

Any advice/corrections anyone can add to my ideas would be more than welcome!

[DiggityDogs]

uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu

[Patch O' Pits]

Great posting... If you follow the advice already given you should have a happier home with better behaved pups in no time at all.

Congrats on your new additions:)

Remember to give them training time together and apart as well as play time so they bond with you better:)

[scarlett]

Oh My! You do have your hands full. Have you ever considered adopting kittens instead of puppies? Just Kidding. I don't think you need any further advice. What has been posted already covers just about all the bases. They won't be puppies forever...although it may seem like it.

Enjoy the two and what a great family to adopt both at the same time. Have fun...BTW....squirt guns work as well on puppies as it does for kitties...it doesn't hurt but will surely get their attention. LOL

Lee

[DiggityDogs]

fffffffffffffffffff

[Rio&Nickysmommy]

I think having a crate for young dogs is a must. I still have RIo's he learned to love the darn thing so much I used to have to tilt it to get him to come out some days. He just found it a great safe and calm place for himself. Its a great place to put your pet when they are in the distructive phase when you can not keep your eyes on them every minute. I consider a pup like a baby or a toddler I never take my eyes off them and even when your wathcing they still can get into trouble. Example- was in my hotel this weekend a great suite and my brother and the kids come over- my two year old nephew was laying on the bed talking with me and my nephews and he just got up and walking aroun the bed. Then we heard the bath water going in jump in the bathtub a big jacuszzi type thing and turned the water on. he was soaked but could have really gotten hurt or kild and I am telling you we where watching him and just in a flash he did this. So even though this is off subject thats why crates are good to me since I know in their my pets are safe and everything around them is too. (P.S. We have no intention on crate training my nephew:) Good luck and congrats on the new furbabies
RIo&Nickysmommy