Dog versus electrical cord

harper0813

Ugh. So I come home for lunch to find that our dog decided, for the first time ever, that chewing on an electrical cord was a marvelous idea. It was our Internet/cable cord, so we no longer have Internet. Or cable. I'm glad that it didn't kill her.

What can I do to keep her from doing this? We live in a loft, so we don't have any rooms to shut her into besides our small bathroom and I don't want to confine her in such a small space. I know sprays exist that keep dogs from chewing on things - would that work well? Does it last long? And would it be okay on cables? I had previously rubbed Sriracha on the cables in our apartment that I couldn't conceal, like the one she chewed up today, and it either dried up or didn't deter her.

For the record, I am not into the idea of crating her all day, since I am gone 7 hours every say (but I come home for a lunch break and a walk) and 7 hours seems way too long to keep her in her kennel.

Suggestions GREATLY appreciated!

itzMS

zobird said:

Ugh. So I come home for lunch to find that our dog decided, for the first time ever, that chewing on an electrical cord was a marvelous idea. It was our Internet/cable cord, so we no longer have Internet. Or cable. I'm glad that it didn't kill her. What can I do to keep her from doing this? We live in a loft, so we don't have any rooms to shut her into besides our small bathroom and I don't want to confine her in such a small space. I know sprays exist that keep dogs from chewing on things - would that work well? Does it last long? And would it be okay on cables? I had previously rubbed Sriracha on the cables in our apartment that I couldn't conceal, like the one she chewed up today, and it either dried up or didn't deter her. For the record, I am not into the idea of crating her all day, since I am gone 7 hours every say (but I come home for a lunch break and a walk) and 7 hours seems way too long to keep her in her kennel. Suggestions GREATLY appreciated!

Do you have a safer area (like the kitchen) that you could use baby gates to confine her a bit? Dogs with "free reign" of the house tend to get into trouble! :-)

Or, shut all of the doors you can, and tack any remaining low-lying cords to the wall.

Any dog I've had always outsmarts the "anti-chew" spray or just doesn't care that it tastes bad.

Iryshcreem

Maybe something like either of these?

http://www.cableorganizer.com/cord-clips/

http://www.cableorganizer.com/surface-raceways/

AddieCake

Eeek!  I have no advice, only sympathy. I came home once to find my cat had chewed through my phone cord and the cord to my computer mouse and completely shorted out the mouse port of my computer. 

harper0813

These cables were tacked to the wall. She played tug o' war with the wall and won, and managed to pull it out about 4 inches, enough to do considerable damage.

The living room is the only room in our apartment with windows, and that's the room that the cable was in that she chewed on. I don't want to blockade her from natural light, and she has a tendency to get kind of destructive if she's feeling cooped up - we tried blocking her into the bedroom once and she tore up the ends of our quilt, chewed on our bed's feet and pulled books off the bottom two rows of our bookshelf to tear them up. All in the course of two hours. It was also on a Monday, when she tends to get pissy after having spent the whole weekend with us. Today being Monday may be a cause of her cable-fest today.

QueerFemme

if you get her a large enough crate, and you are coming home mid-day, there is nothing wrong with crate training her.

ETA:   You have to make sure you exercise her before you put her in the crate. A wound up dog confined to a crate is a bad thing.

smalfrie19

I know you don't love the idea of crating her, but a crate isn't a bad thing. Dogs are den animals and a crate to them is a den. My little girl is crated during the day and she is happy and healthy. You may just want to look into it. Just make sure that its big enough for her to stand up and turn around in.

 

harper0813

Good points. Right know we only have a travel kennel, large enough for her to turn around but small enough for me to feel like a horrible dog owner. For a mini schnauzer, 15 lbs, what size would you recommend? Is there a downside to getting her a fairly large crate?

QueerFemme

zobird said:

Good points. Right know we only have a travel kennel, large enough for her to turn around but small enough for me to feel like a horrible dog owner. For a mini schnauzer, 15 lbs, what size would you recommend? Is there a downside to getting her a fairly large crate?

 The only real downside to getting a larger crate, is when they are not potty trained.  Dogs typically won't pee in their bedding.  So, you don't want a crate that is too big, so they can pee on one side, and still go lay down on the other side. 

but, if your dog is already potty trained, and you are using it only for containment, you can get as big of a crate as you want.  I have seen tiny little dogs in crates big enough for great danes. 

wittykitty14

I know it's hard to think about crating her, but in your case I think it may be the best option.

I suggest measuring her and then finding something based on that.  Like PPs said, she needs enough room to fully stand, turn around, and lay down comfortably with room to stretch her legs a bit

Also, I second Addie.  Bitter Apple is great!

OliveOilsMom

Your dog will come to love her crate.  The only mischief a too large crate could cause is the dog may feel like there is a certain area in the crate where she can go potty, since she can just hang out on the other side from her mess.  My dog loved her crate so much that even if we weren't using it, but it was still up in the house, she would go hang out in it.  We finally put the crate completely down, so she hangs out under the desk as if its her crate.

Maggie0829

What FierceFemme said.

We crate our dog every day when we go to work (about 6-8 hours).  We have a whole routine in the morning where after I get ready I take her for a walk, feed her, give her lots of loving and then I tell her it is time to get in her crate and she happily obliges.  I give her a treat every time I put her in her crate so she knows she is being good and all that jazz.  I think she really likes it in there and feels safe and comfortable.  We also leave the kitchen tv on for her so she can watch her shows.

Both H and I hated the idea of crating her but after 2 pairs of sneakers, 3 pairs of underwear, a hat, a pair of flip flops, and her eating a sewing needle (thank god she passed that on her own and didn't need surgery) we thought a crate was the best option.

QueerFemme

By the way, our dogs routinely just go lay down in their crates. We leave the doors open, and they all know which crate is theirs, and when they want some quiet time away from the other dogs, they just go lay down.  Crates are not a bad thing.

KDM323

I'd crate her.  I know you say you don't want to crate her but it is likely the best thing to do.  It sounds as though she almost has separation anxiety when you are gone...and if she's eating electrical cords, she can really hurt herself.

I put my 100lb lab and my 8 lb chihuahua in the same crate together every day (they have their own but the chihuahua prefers to go in with the lab and they are 'best friends' so I let them).  The crate is HUGE and they have plenty of room.  It simply keeps them from eating various inanimate objects (or the 50 lb bag of dog food) when I'm not home.  They mostly sleep all day (and I know this because I've come home early and found them fast asleep)

Try it!  It can't hurt!

harper0813

Wow, this is all such helpful advice. Sounds like crating isn't as bad as I thought it was! She is fully housetrained (except when she pees to spite me on Mondays, after being with us all weekend) so a large crate would work well, it seems.

If we crate her for now, is that something we could eventually wean her off of? Or do you think she'd go right back to her destructive habits if we gave her more freedom at some point? I guess it depends on the dog... FI is really against this, but he's also terrified of her getting electrocuted.

QueerFemme

zobird said:

Wow, this is all such helpful advice. Sounds like crating isn't as bad as I thought it was! She is fully housetrained (except when she pees to spite me on Mondays, after being with us all weekend) so a large crate would work well, it seems. If we crate her for now, is that something we could eventually wean her off of? Or do you think she'd go right back to her destructive habits if we gave her more freedom at some point? I guess it depends on the dog... FI is really against this, but he's also terrified of her getting electrocuted.

It really depends on the dog. I had a boxer that was crate trained until she was about 4, and then, she just didn't need or want it anymore.  She spent the rest of her days on the couch or in my bed. 

Our rottweiler likes to chew shit up.  Plants, shoes, whatever.  So, he will probably be crate trained for the rest of his life.   But, he doens't mind the crate at ALL.  I say "get in" and he runs right to his crate and waits for a treat. 

KeptInStitches

I don't have a dog, but when my cat was chewing through cords, I used bitter apple spray. It worked to the degree anything works on a cat.

ranzzo

I have never used them nor have I ever known of anyone that has used them, but there are now cable covers you can buy to help prevent chewing.  It may be something to look into.

smalfrie19

FierceFemme said:

zobird said:

Good points. Right know we only have a travel kennel, large enough for her to turn around but small enough for me to feel like a horrible dog owner. For a mini schnauzer, 15 lbs, what size would you recommend? Is there a downside to getting her a fairly large crate?

 The only real downside to getting a larger crate, is when they are not potty trained.  Dogs typically won't pee in their bedding.  So, you don't want a crate that is too big, so they can pee on one side, and still go lay down on the other side. 

but, if your dog is already potty trained, and you are using it only for containment, you can get as big of a crate as you want.  I have seen tiny little dogs in crates big enough for great danes. 

this would have been my response as well. I think if you get one for her thats meant for like a medium or larger dog, she will be fine.

QueerFemme

RetreadBride said:

Put habanera sauce on it.  One lick, and she will never return.  I promise.

I am not sure how you can promise this...  one of my dogs once knocked a bottle of habanera sauce off the counter and lapped up the whole thing .. and would do it again if she had the chance.   You'd think the first lick would have make her think twice about the second lick... but, nope. She sucked down the whole bottle.

QueerFemme

RetreadBride said:

You're kidding!  My Bassett's eyes bugged out, and she raced for the water bowl.  It was the funniest thing I ever saw.  She made a wide circle around that tv for weeks, as if it were going to bite her.

Nope.  Not kidding. I was afraid we were going to have to have her stomach pumped.  Her lips and muzzle were BRIGHT red like they were on fire, but she did not care one bit.

This is also the same dog that got into the outside garbage and ate an entire garbage bag of peanut oil.  We had deep fried a turkey for the first and only time.  I dumped the oil in a big black trash bag, then rebagged it FOUR times.  She knocked it over and drank the oil like water. I came home, all of the oil was gone, and she was laying on top of the bag.  Her entire body was covered.  it was gross and she stunk !

KDM323

Yeah...my lab will eat anything he can get his paws on.  He once ate an ornament right off the Christmas tree!

Spicy stuff would not even phase him.  And the "sprays" are no deterrent whatsoever.

harper0813

@FierceFemme, that peanut oil story is hilarious. Gross, but hilarious. That dog sounds like a riot.

I picked up deterrent and duct tape yesterday - I patched up the cable so she wouldn't chew on it any more until the cable guy comes next week (hooray for mobile hotspots and Netflix in the meantime!) and I sprayed ANYTHING that she might find chew-worthy. I let her sniff the bottle and she seemed pretty turned off, so I'm hoping it will work (she's a picky eater). So I'm giving her one last chance before crating. And Stage, I will have the cable guy run the cable higher this time and redress it - good call.

I also picked up two new bully sticks, a Himalayan cheese stick and some more Nylabones in hopes of keeping her busy during the day. She only tore up one envelope today! Success.

ETA: Thanks again, everyone, for the advice and suggestions. 

Ajuliana

Maggie0829 said:

What FierceFemme said.

We crate our dog every day when we go to work (about 6-8 hours).  We have a whole routine in the morning where after I get ready I take her for a walk, feed her, give her lots of loving and then I tell her it is time to get in her crate and she happily obliges.  I give her a treat every time I put her in her crate so she knows she is being good and all that jazz.  I think she really likes it in there and feels safe and comfortable.  We also leave the kitchen tv on for her so she can watch her shows.

Both H and I hated the idea of crating her but after 2 pairs of sneakers, 3 pairs of underwear, a hat, a pair of flip flops, and her eating a sewing needle (thank god she passed that on her own and didn't need surgery) we thought a crate was the best option.

I laughed really hard at the "so she can watch her shows" part. What are favorite ones I must know!

Amsdragonfly

Both of our dogs are crate trained, and the one that would chew things is always int he crate while we are away. That being said, if there are ever things that our little Fonzie would chew we put them in places he cant get to. If your dog is chewing cords, use twist ties to tie up excess and hide the rest behind furniture. If that is not an option, tac the cords high enough that your dog can't reach. If this looks really bad to you, cover with a picture, shelf, etc. It's better than electrocuted doggie.

harper0813

Hello again, dog geniuses. I pulled the trigger and picked up a nice roomy crate for Margot today because, both today and yesterday, she continued to not only chew on table legs and pull books of shelves (which I thought were out of reach...) but also spite-defecate on the floor. It seems to be separation anxiety. Hopefully her crate will make her feel safe! Here she is, looking cozy and enjoying a chicken jerky treat.

Thanks again for your advice!

(ETA: Sorry the photo's so stinkin' big! The original version isn't even this big - TK is blowing it up for some reason...)

KDM323

Cutie!  I hope the crate helps!