Small problem with my new dog?

Question

Recently, I got a call from the veterinary telling me they had a two year old female, pure-breed Golden Retriever that they were giving away. They had rescued her from a house where she was kept in a VERY small space amongst a pile of garbage, they often hit and even burnt her and barely fed her enough to keep her alive.

After a bit of thought, I decided to take her in. Now she's been here almost a month. I was surprised at first of how intelligent she is, in this short time she has learned several verbal commands and more.

Now, the actual problem is this... She bites EVERYTHING. My guess(If I'm very wrong here, please correct me) is that just like a human child, because she had absolutely no stimulation, she never went past the "puppy" stage in her mind. She has done a mess in our garden, broken my remote controllers, etc.

Over time, she has learned to leave stuff alone with a solid "NO"

I'd like to know what I can do about the garden, since she does this when out of sight

Well, I don't think "She has no idea how to be a house dog"... We taught her how to use stairs, she doesn't go pottie inside the house and she sleeps on top of our beds.

She's got about three chewing toys, but still likes to chew on everything else... Today, I caught her chewing her hairbrush... The other day, I invited some friends roleplaying and OH GOD she almost died when she saw all the different-sided dice, she wanted to eat each and every one of them!!

Answer 1

Forget the garden, you can plant again; it is most important that you are saving an animal; give her some time; once some of the bad is replaced with good , it will happen; if she is smart and then bored, she will seek entertainment; give her some exercise ; the dog whisperer adds on a backpack during a walk to give her a job to focus on ; she will catch on of good and bad with time; until then , great job on saving her and I commend you for taking on the task to give her a home; you have planted a different garden now - one of love, patience and understanding; I am sure that your new garden will reward you many times over

Answer 2

this is a dog that has only had negative response. She does not know a garden from a tree. She needs to be trained and loved. you may need to put a fence around the garden. Are you giving her lots of excersize walks Fetching a ball and her own chew toys, start watching the Dog Whisperer. you have a great dog learn the right way to help her PLEASE. Get some books tapes whatever it takes, the dog has no idea on how to be a house dog. You were told where the dog came from and you are expecting her to know how to act. Think how it would be if soeone moved you to India with no help in adjusting to their way of living.

Answer 3

Dog training classes, or a fence around the garden. You can make the fence a pretty white picket one, if you are worried about how it will look. I have a 2 yr. old female puppy (I still consider her a puppy), and she digs holes all the time. She is also very intelligent (she is a pure bred collie). She does stop digging when I tell her to, and I know she knows it is wrong, because when I catch her digging she runs to her dog house, but she is an outside dog and I can't monitor her all the time. She is adorable and very small, which sometimes makes it hard for me to discipline her. So, even though your dog has been through some hard times, try to discipline her anyway, and remember it is for her own good.

Answer 4

First of all, make sure you take her on a walk every day. It doesn't have to be a long one or a hiking one. Just something that will wind her down and give her something to look forward to. Sounds like she stays out when noone is at home so she takes it out on the garden? Get one of those rubber cone toys that you can put a treat or peanut butter in the middle. When you put her out, give her the toy. This should keep her occupied and and she won't think about doing bad things in the garden. Keep her busy with other things- toys or walks or attention. You can also buy this pellet stuff to keep animals out of lawns or gardens. Good luck!

Answer 5

One of my three dogs, Sally was the same way when I got her. I got her at two years of age, but she was a stray and didn't know any manners.. She didn't know how to play right or anything, she tried playing with one of my other dogs and ended up biting her because she didn't know how to play. But, if you catch your dog chewing on anything she shouldn't or messing with something she shouldn't you can spray her with a water bottle, this is how I trained Sally. As for the garden, you can by some dog repelent and put it in your garden, this will keep her out of it but not out of your yard. And if there is anything like remotes that she Loves to chew on, put some hand rubbing alcohol on them, it will taste nasty if she tries chewing on it so she'll leave it alone but it won't hurt her. And thank you for taking in a rescued dog! All three of mine are rescues, it is nice to help out like that! And yes, I am 13 but I work with vets and have owned 10 dogs in my life time, Also since I was born I have read, researched and taught people about animals.

Answer 6

We have a golden/collie mix and she's very destructive too. I've heard they grow out of it around the age of two, but so far she's still in puppyhood at 2 1/2. If you planted bulbs, your scents on them, so they'll dig them up. Use gloves when you plant. You could put up those little white wire fences around the garden, they're fairly cheap. Ours has eaten a couple of remotes too, so we keep them on the kitchen counter now, she's also really into cords, christmas tree cord got it three times last year, not to mention a couple of vacuum cleaner cords. Try to keep cords, remotes, glasses (yeah, she ate my glasses too), and virtually anything she could get out of reach while you're not watching her, and give her plenty of toys, not just chew toys, but stuffies, goldens seem to really like their toys, ours carries her toys all over the place with her. You might try those toys that you put the treats inside so they have to work to get to the treat, its great stimulation. Goldens are very intelligent so they need to be stimulated or they get bored and destroy things.

It's wonderful you've given her a loving home. Remember, abused dogs are very sensitive to everything, so don't scream at her, don't ever hit her to discipline her, it could cause her to revert and lose all the new self-confidence you're given her. We went thru this with our old dog, he'd been terribly abused, it took a lot of love and patience, but having him in my life one was one of the most rewarding relationships I've ever had. He'd been kept on a chain for his whole life, had never just gotten to run, had not been housebroken, and a 120 lb. unhousebroken dog is quite a messy job. I never regretted it, he was the most loyal and loving dog, and I still miss him. Hopefully, after you deal with all the messes, you'll have a wonderful companion for life.

Answer 7

Hi You can try to let her out when you can be with her in the backyard. Also get a Kong and fill it with peanut butter or cream cheese to give her something to do other than destroy the backyard. Also get a copy of The Dog Whisperer by Paul Owens and visit his website. WWW.dogwhisperer.com he might have some more suggestions. Good Luck

Answer 8

MY thought is you are gonna have to go out with her so you can No her into learning not to chew up the garden. The other choice is fencing around the flowers - in fact at least one of those short decrative fences would make the NO territory clearer

Answer 9

Im pretty sure you are right b/c she could be trying to get the attention she didnt get before and what you could do is put a fence or somthing around it to stop her from getting in there.

Answer 10

Dog obedience class is the best thing for such a smart dog.