Why only my shoes??

Question

Our new dog, he's almost a year old. Only eats my shoes, or my undergarments. He doesn't touch my husbands things, only mine. I know why dogs chew on things. I just don't know why he is being selective and only chewing up things that have my smell on them.

I am with him all day long while my husband is at work. It is really getting annoying. He even tries to steal my shoes off my feet!!!!! I got a water bottle and I squirt him when I catch him in the act, but it's not working. HELP????

My husband sees our dog 2 hours out of the day. I do put my shoes away and what I thought was up out of his reach, but apparently not. When you become my parent then you can tell me to put my "Damn Things" away.

I don't see how my husband can be thought of as the alpha when he is hardly ever home.

Could the fact that I'm almost 8 months pregnant have something to do with it too?

Oh yeah, he was a stray also. We got him from the humane society. He's a beagle/blue tick mix or so the vet says.

I also have two other dogs, both female and I never had problems training them.

Answer 1

It's likely that your dog has already figured out that your husband is the dominant figure in the household and considerers him the "Alpha Dog" and is not going to mess with his things .A dog lower in status in a pack would not dream of snatching and Alpha Dog's meat or bone. You need to assert yourself to this dog. It may be hard to belive, but your dog likely see's YOU as having less status than him, so he feels like he can dominate you: i.e taking your shoes off your feet.

You can likely correct this behavior without physical redirection if you establish yourself as his leader in the social order. This means setting boundaries for him. I bet he probably lays on your lap or feet alot. While to humans this is a disply of affection, to dogs its indicating dominance. You dogs feels as though he owns you instead of the other way around. All this doesnt mean that you cant give your dog affection, but make him work for it.

Here are some physical techniques that might work.
I would suggest doing more research on proper techniques before doing this
IMMEADIATELY When Fido attempts to remove the shoes off your feet,grab his neck and force him down on the ground to his back. Hold him in that position until he is in a subnissive state.This is what an alpha leader would do in the wild to a dog that has overstepped his or her social order. NEVER hurt your dog- You must be forcefull but not violent.
Another technique that is to give him firm tap under his mouth. Dogs react differently to differnt types of redirection so you may have to try differnt ones to get a result. It is important that you correct the behavior immeadiatly when you see it, catch him in the act. If you come home and your underthings are scattered about, and you attempt to redirect him, your dog will have no idea why. Dogs have about a 2 second span where the will understand the correction.

Answer 2

Since you're with him most of the time, you've become his pack leader. He may be chewing on your stuff because it has your smell and is comforting to him. Or perhaps he's angry with you for taking him away from the other family that had him for most of his first year. I'm just guessing here, I'm not an animal behavior expert. Best thing is to keep your shoes and undies out of his reach. When he does get hold of them, substitute something else for him to chew on (a dog toy would be best). Make sure it's specifically for him and not an old shoe or rag that used to belong to you. When he goes for the new toy and not your shoe, give him a little treat and lots of praise. Keep this up and he'll eventually get trained. Good luck!

Answer 3

He doesn't chew your husband's things because the dog sees him as the alpha male and thinks that you are lower on the totem pole, dogs are pack animals and only respect the items belonging to those above them, as for not responding to the punishment, he thinks that it is a game that you are playing with him, try keeping the items out of his reach or go to a pet store and getting a pet deterrent . A good site to visit is listed below. Good luck and remember the dog will respond to postive reinforcement.

Answer 4

He's definitely challenging your place in the "pack." Like everyone else has been saying the trick is positive reenforcement but you HAVE to be consistent. If you let things slide even once then he'll think he can walk (or chew) all over you. Pay attention to other things he's doing like pulling on the leash or getting up on furniture that may be challenging your dominance and be firm with those too.

Answer 5

possible explanations for his behavior:

1) inexplicably, you routinely soak your pointy things and lacey things in chicken brine.

2) because he revels so in his sense of freedom, as an expression of his utter love for you, he wants you to feel the same sense of freedom from living life au naturel.

3) unbeknownst to you, he is gainfully employed as a sales rep for sammy choo and victoria secret. since the inception of his little "destructive phase" campaign, sales have jumped 23% and 31% year-over-year, at the respective firms

4) he's a dog. and dogs have perfectly rational reasons for doing what appears to us to be perfectly irrational things. of course, the problem isn't at all to do with what the dog is doing; it's got everything to do with why we can't understand it.

as far as training him to stop this entirely rational behavior is concerned, it would be similar to how you would've been able to successfully house-train him, assuming of course that certain corners of your house don't regularly smell of overflowing public restrooms at the beach on an especially scorching day. since you're home, and since he does this openly, this should be easy. catch him in the act, stop him, tell him, very firmly, no, communicating to him clearly that you are the boss. when he stops, praise him lavishly, perhaps optionally giving him a treat (just make sure that the treat is neither a shoe nor an undergarment). as with house-training, you will need to devote an inordinate amount of time following him around the house, keeping a constant eye on him for about the first 1-2 weeks. it's important to note that, once you've failed to catch him "in the act," it is too late to correct him, so rubbing his nose in it, beating him, etc. after-the-fact would be totally ineffective, and, in fact, will lead to more serious problems.

another thing to do - and even simpler - is to put your damn things away. you know he likes to do things to them, so why leave him out for him?! you can masterfully instruct a child to not eat candies, but would it be reasonable to lock the kid in a candy store, and not expect him to partake in prepubescent guilty pleasures? can you expect such of yourself? then, why do it to the dog?! put the stuff away.

Answer 6

Patience. Try this, ... so far is working for my puppy: When he is chewing your shoes take the shoe out of his mouth and hit the shoe in the floor to make a big unpleasant noise and take it away from him and try not to have your things in places he can reach. Good luck!

Answer 7

The dog is chewing things that have your sent because your with him all day. Get him a chew toy and hold it to get your sent on it and next time you catch him chewing on something of yours smack his nose then give him the chew toy.

Answer 8

properly i do no longer somewhat be conscious of your form so i'm no longer able to truly advise what shoes to get. A sporty or casual individual could get 2 or 3 pairs of tennis shoes (in all probability nikes or talk) a pair of sandals and turn flops (previous military), perhaps one or 2 pairs of apartments, comfortable wintry climate boots or mocs (uggs) and boat shoes. A greater dressy individual I say get apartments, wedges, some heels (for specific events), sweater boots, ankle booties, sandals and one pair of tennis shoes. or you're a mix of the two. or you're a shoe freak (like me) and get alot of distinctive shoes which you like. manufacturers/shops i choose for shoes: coach (i like their wedges and tennis shoes) Payless (i bypass their for apartments, sandals, wedges and heels- they are very inexpensive and constantly have a sale) Tj Maxx (countless style of inexpensive clothier shoes) Forever21 (i bypass their for in fact any shoe) moist Seal (lower back something) Uggs (for wintry climate boots, even in spite of the indisputable fact that attempt to stay removed from the brown as a results of fact they are out this three hundred and sixty 5 days. choose for like sweater boots) previous military (Alot of distinctive hues of turn flops) talk (for the days i think like being greater "rockier" form) Jouney's (something) The Buckle (Sandals and wedges)

Answer 9

Chicky has the perfect answer, i couldn't have said it any better myself. He also probably believes that he is ahead of you in the pack (i.e He is second in command after your husband, not you) positive re-inforcement will do wonders for you!

good luck!

Answer 10

they sell a spray at the pet store that is supposed to work. Well it worked on my friends dog anyway. I think it is a pepper spray which probably won't work for the underwear.