Destructive Puppy

[cholbrook7]

Stella is about 6 months now and she has this routine everyday after she eats she becomes destructive and likes to get the paper out of her cage and tear and shred it .. she loves paper .. I can't help but laugh .. I came home and was taking a nap and one of the closet doors was open and Stella decided to take a lil adventure around the house and the next thing I know I hear her barking and the sound of tearing of paper .. so I get up and there is wrappig paper all over the house ... LOL .. she is a nut ball .. I was wondering if this type of behavior is common for frenchies ... she makes us laugh b/c she becomes this big ball of energy after she eats ... she also has an obsession with feet .. she loves to bark at feet .. :lol:

[sakirby]

:lol: it is good to know that i don't have the only barking puppy. oscar loves paper too. i don't know what it is. it can't taste that good can it? he finds it everywhere. his favorite is to unroll the toilet paper and run around. needless to say, the bathroom doors stay closed now. i wonder why they like paper so much? sometimes, just for kicks, i put my empty diet coke cardboard containers on the floor. oscar freaks! he starts barking at it and doing play stances towards it. then he bites it and barks some more. sounds like stella and oscar would be pals :)

[franp]

A tired pup is NOT a destructive pup..

When Dari was a young dog , she got ALLOT of excersize;every day at lunch she went to the park and played for over an hour with other dogs.When she got back to the house she was TOO tired to do anything but go back into her crate and go to sleep.

Are your dogs getting enough stimulation? Are they getting socialized?Seems to me they need more play and maybe they need to be confined.

Six month olds are babies. And left to thier own devices they WILL destroy what ever they can.At this age, they still should be crated, not only for thier own safetey,but for housebreaking..

They are barking to get your attention. They want to play.If they have no one to play with; well they will play with whatever is handy.

[GigiMcKeehan]

I just wanted to share a Gigi story.
Last Valentines' Day my husband gave me a heart shaped box of chocolates. The box was a metal tin and I had eaten all but 4 pieces then sat the box in the floor of my closet. One day I forgot and left the closet door open a bit and in a few minutes I start looking for Gigi, since I rarely take my eyes off her I knew something must be up. Well, I find her with the tin of chocolates and she has managed to take the lid off. Gigi was licking the chocolate off the tops of the candy, it was milk chocolate. I called my vet to make sure there was no danger in the small amount she ingested then I laughed and laughed because it was just too funny. She knew it was wrong and acted so guilty. I have not yet figured out how she managed to get the lid off the tin.
Watch out! They can be very clever.
Deb

[Linnysmommy]

I know that our Frenchies love paper!! Even though we are playing with them, they will play with any scrap of paper that they find. Sweetie likes it the most. She thinks that it is one of the best toys.

[sakirby]

fran. i totally agree that a tired pup is not destructive. BUT, i can't get him dead tired everyday! i am even home all day! but, sometimes he just has energy. even when we have been doing stuff all day. we go to the park, we go for walks, we visit other dogs, we play in the house. and MOST of the time, he is so tired he is very well behaved. but, there are the occassions (first thing in the morning) when he is super hyper, and i am just NOT. :lol: so, then the paper loving, leg nipping, barking begins. i try to play with him but, i also don't want him to think that that kind of stuff gets my attention. :) but, i agree with you fran that the more tired out you can get them, the better they behave but, lets be honest, even if they are tired, and they see something they think is FUN, they will go after it. and it is usually something i do not want oscar to go after (my sock, my underwear, my legs!) :lol:

[franp]

fran. i totally agree that a tired pup is not destructive. BUT, i can't get him dead tired everyday! i am even home all day! but, sometimes he just has energy. even when we have been doing stuff all day. we go to the park, we go for walks, we visit other dogs, we play in the house. and MOST of the time, he is so tired he is very well behaved. but, there are the occassions (first thing in the morning) when he is super hyper, and i am just NOT. :lol: so, then the paper loving, leg nipping, barking begins. i try to play with him but, i also don't want him to think that that kind of stuff gets my attention. :) but, i agree with you fran that the more tired out you can get them, the better they behave but, lets be honest, even if they are tired, and they see something they think is FUN, they will go after it. and it is usually something i do not want oscar to go after (my sock, my underwear, my legs!) :lol:
This is when you PUT HIM IN HIS CRATE!!There is a time that he needs to take a nap. He is still a pup.
Remember when you were a kid and got so wound up? That is what he is doing.

If he is getting hyper and you do not want to encourage him, that is a good time to crate him..Give him a toy ( a bullystick :lol: ) and let him chew..
He needs to learn to be quiet.

[sakirby]

judy, that is a good point about having oscar settle when he is in the room with us. if he is on the couch with us, he will go to sleep. but, if he is out and about in the living room area with me, he doesn't settle down unless i go put him in the crate. i guess since he is a pup, he just wants to go explore everything.

we were at the park yesterday and we sat at a bench with some friends and played a game. oscar was tied to the bench but, had a 15 foot lead on so he could do his thing while we hung out. well, we ate, played and hung out for like 3 hours. oscar just chilled! i couldn't believe it. i am so used to this jumping/playing machine, that i couldn't believe it when he lied down in the middle of the park for a nap. i was astonished, since there was so much stimulus. but, then my boyfriend pointed out that we have never just sat in one place for so long and just ignored him and let him hang out.

so, thanks for the advice. i think i will start "anchoring" him with me while i am doing stuff around the house, and see if he settles down. i appreciate your input you guys.

fran...i never thought to put him in his crate then. he barks like crazy when i do, so i have always avoided it. but, i KNOW he will stop barking in like 2 minutes. i just have to get strong enough to take the noise and not worry about what the neighbors think for those couple of minutes :)

[franp]

Sharon
When you put Oscar in his crate, try covering it with a light cloth.That may help stop him from barking.
Pups do need to rest during the day.

The other good part of crating;besides housebraking is that it helps teaching them to be in a sherpa. So if you plan on traveling, crate training is essential.

fran

[adora's mom]

Ahh...the joys of puppies! :rolleyes:

Adora isn't too bad, I can't really complain. I think I suffered enough with her older brother, Beckham as a puppy - he was a terrorist!!!

Adora does enjoy a good paper shredding session. Heaven help any newspaper left on the couch or the floor.

Last night, I left Adora downstairs by herself for about 2 minutes while I ran upstairs with the laundry - when I came back down one of her ears was turned inside out and she was sitting on my shoe (which was covered in drool) with an innocent look on her face.

The moral of the story...never trust a puppy not to get into something, even for a minute! They are full of mischief :0)

[Carolyn]

:lol: This was an amusing thread! What do you do when you have a 2 yr old who is STILL a puppy and doesn't need a nap?? Ferris is no longer fascinated with paper or chewing...thank goodness...but still looks for the monster under the bed and barks furiously. When Ferris flips out he goes into his own fantasy world. He would make a great cartoon character. I am surprised no one has thought to make a cartoon staring FBD's. Can you imagine?
Carolyn

[Carolyn]

Yes! We live in a rural area and have lots of creatures about. Abby has cornered several rats in the yard. Lately her interest is lizards. I have noticed a few lizards running around without tails! :D Carolyn

[adora's mom]

Oh no! Those poor lizards! I can imagine that all of the Frenchies I have met would make excellent ratters or lizard executioners. They have the speed and tenacity to catch them, that's for sure!

BTW - there is a cartoon Frenchie by a lady that writes a children's book series called Scary Stories. I'm not sure if the Frenchie is featured in any of the books, but the do have posters, a stuffed animal & stickers of him. He's called Vicious French Bulldog evilicon

Just do a search for "Scary Stories". I think he's super cute.

[franp]

What a great idea appicon or how about a children's book? I am an artist and often do little cartoon sketches of Lily and her funny Frenchieisms. I think the paper tearing and looking for monsters under the bed etc. are a result of their terrier genes. When Lily plays with her toys outside I know she is imagining them as rats that she has caught and tears out the grass as if it were fur. I read somewhere that they are considered good mousers. :lol: Has anyone's Frenchie ever caught a rodent?

Oh Yes, Dari has caught a mouse. At 6AM on a Sunday morning in NYC.. NOT fun..I turned my head for a second, on our walk and when I turned back there was a TAIL hanging out of her mouth..
We RAN to the ER cause that was the ONE day of the year our regular vet was closed (It was the day of the Dogswalk for Cancer and he is the Chairperson).

My concern was that there was ratpoison in the mouse; so we went to the dr; who could NOT get Ms D to vomit it up..
Thankfully a couple of days later her regular dr was able to do a blood test to determine if there was any danger.None..

When we pass the spot(3 years later) she still looks for a mouse..

FYI. there is a breeder who is also an artist in the USA that does cartoons of Frenchies. And she has done a childrens' book.

[cholbrook7]

Stella is really a good dog ... she settles down when you put her on the couch .. she knows then that it is time for her to settle down and no more play .. which can be a good thing b/c if it was up to her she would play all day long .. I know you are suppose to crate the dog to train them .. but I really don't believe in crating .. we only crate her when we are leaving to go somewhere ... she is picking up very well of what she is suppose to do... she is such a sweetheart I love her to death ... she also eats lizards .. she finds them in the pool area and tries to eat them .. we catch her before that happens :lol: We are teaching Stella how to swim .. we stuck her in the pool yesterday to see if she could swim well in case she accidently fell in and she does real well .. she's a little scared but with some practice .. I'm sure she will love it .. any of your frenchies love to swim ?

[sakirby]

it is such a funny site to see a frenchie swim! i bet stella looks SO cute. oscar doesn't LOVE to swim. if we plop him in the water, he will swim straight to shore. so, he doesn't go in on his own. but, we are trying to put him in water so he knows it isn't horrible and to gauge his ability to swim. (just in case) like, you with stella around a pool. such a great idea to teach her to swim. some frenchies just can't swim. because their heads are so big, they can easily drown. so, just be careful as stella gets older. i think, just because she can swim one day, if she grows a lot, she may not be able to swim later. anyone know if this is a possibility? or if they learn to swim when they are young, are they okay swimming as they grow? i can just see little stella's head poking out of the water. so cute. :D

[franp]

No, they are NOT ok to swim as they get older; ESPECIALLY in a pool.. I know that Roosje takes her dogs in ponds and streams where they can touch ground.This is NOT the same as a swimming pool; deep water that the dog can not get traction in. The bottom is slick.

IMO, you are courting disaster.These dogs are not natural swimmers; why make them comfortable in an envirnment that they are not meant to be in.

Dogs need to be taught how to get out of a pool; how to climb the stairs.They do not know how to do this naturally.

Bulldogs are not water dogs and are not meant to be in swimming pools.