Pit bull boxer eating small plants pot and all

[SamiKihano]

Has anyone heard about this happening? We picked up some verbena the other day, I had the nursery pots inside the larger pot I was to plant them in when he plucked it out, and proceeded to rip the green part off, chew it up and spit it out before shredding the pot. This is the 5th confirmed plant he has murdered when Noone was looking. I am worried he will soon move on to my tomatoes because I put them outside every few days to cool down a bit. The dog is family and can't be gotten rid of.. What should I do?

[Deborah]

Put them up high where he can't reach them. Or fence the plants.

[imp]

Does he eat the plant or just shred it? How old is the dog? Does he do this to other plants, such as in ground ones? Can you fence him away from the plants?

There are solutions, a couple ones- tale a squirt bottle and put a vinegar water solution in it- one that can make a good stream when squirted (a squirt gun also works). Not enough vinegar to really hurt, just enough to sting and make him quit with the plants. There are some plants that can make him sick or kill him if he is eating especially. You have to catch him right as he goes for the plant- and spray right into his face. After he does it won't work.

Better a squirt of vinegar or hot sauce water than a dead dog.

That means you have to watch him.

Has he had any training?

[SamiKihano]

He's.. Very young and stubborn. Yes he has been taking plants from the large pots in the front. Basically ripped everything on the porch out except a large bush and my European bittersweet plant (thank goodness) so yeah, I am pretty worried he will poison himself. A lot of plants get chosen for out here based on looking pretty, and some are ridiculously toxic. He belongs to my mother in law, maybe if I can get him with the spray bottle it'll save his life.... (everyone calls him doofis so.. =P not the brightest bulb.) Thanks for the advice, one can only hope this also works to keep him from treeing my cats too

Oh, and to the best of my knowledge he didn't swallow any verbena,.

[imp]

Okay, a pup. That is easier to stop or break a habit before it gets set in stone. But it will take some work, even if he is not your dog, some one will have to do it as he will probably be a powerhouse after he is grown and an untrained, out of control dog is not a good thing at all.

Are there free or low cost puppy obedience classes near you? Take him. Practice at home with him at least 20 minutes a day, ending on a positive note always. Treats- small very thin slices of hot dog work well- they can be frozen in little baggies to go in your pocket to help train him and reward him. Socialize him as well- class will help with that, too, but teach him to walk on lead and on many different surfaces. In an obedience class, most will teach you to teach your dog the basics, add a stand command and the vet will love you! Also teach him NOW to let you take things out of his mouth- this is really important since it not only teaches him to have his mouth handled but also you could save his life if he is choking or starts to try to swallow a bad thing.

Use a play train method and you will have a friend and good companion and a good dog to have around- never hit a dog unless one is attacking you. Never. Positive training with rewards and praise will get you (and him) there fast, daily practice will make him reliable.

One other benefit- you both will be more calm and confident after you train him. And confidence brings calmness.

You also need to tire him out- he is like a kid who needs recess time to play and burn off that energy!

A Kong toy is great, also helps with teething- some peanut butter smeared in there will occupy him for awhile and be a good activity.

[Labradors2]

He's probably bored. Give him lots of exercise and find some chew toys that he likes. As Imp suggests, peanut butter kongs can work for some dogs.

Please fence your tomatoes and keep plant pots out of his reach.

I fence mine with plastic snow fence, but they reach under and pick them when they are ripe. Not really a problem as I have lots, but it would be annoying to have them ripped out of the ground!

Linda

[Merediana]

I wouldn't let him alone in the garden, especially if there is a risk to poison himself

I think even with training there is a huge chance that he might figure out that no one will stop him when no one is around.
My dog is sneaking food whenever she can, I even tried hiding myself and surprising her - now she just makes sure that I'm REALLY gone The consequence is that I don't leave any food when I leave the house and everything that could poison her is in places she really can't reach.

Dogs with too much energy often develop very unpleasant behaviours when left alone in the garden (like barking at everything or digging holes) and this often isn't funny for them either - they really get stressed in a negative way.

Work with him (or make his owner work with him), walk him, not just short walks, my dog is 12 years old and she still gets walked 2h almost every day, but after that I have a dog that is really pleasant to live with... Oh and we love kong toys too, great for rainy days...

Please bare in mind that this is my german point of view, I've learned that owning a dog or other pet might be different from country to country. I worked in a french shelter as a volunteer and even if it is so close people still do have different beliefs about owning and educating a dog...

[SamiKihano]

I really appriciate all the advice. When I approached the owner and she basically told me to go ahead and train him myself. He is an agressive chewer, and the last kong-like toy we gave him is rubber mulch now. The only toy he has had for more than a day before destroying it (along with assorted rubber household items, when she sees he got ahold of something he wasn't supposed to have, she just lets him have it if it's ruined.) Is a piece of deer antler he will chew till his gums bleed and hide in the couch (ew...) We had a stillborn calf, when we skinned it out we gave him the whole tail. gone in an hour.

Unfortunately it seems like he can't be worn out. He chases us around all day when we check on the cows. I'm strongly considering imp's option if I can actually catch him at it. The current solution has been just to leave the dug up pots where they are, because he just won't stop. fencing in everything would work, but it's hardly an option. It took us three weeks to figure out he was even the one doing it. I can't really yell at him though after the fact. And it's not always him, the feral cats will dig stuff up too but they are usually repelled by the plastic forks he plucks out....

[Merediana]

For me this sounds like he might be totally stressed out and suffer from overstimulation. If I do get this right he's a lot outdoors with other animals and lots of stimuli in general. This can easily overwhelm some dogs so they get to point where they can't relax anymore.

Is he often laying around relaxing or sleeping or is he moving all the time? Some dogs need to learn how to relax. Sadly it's not always that easy... Bring him indoors, in a room where nothing is going on and creat a place to relax. No toys, no playing, just being calm. Ignore him if he doesn't want to calm down and reward calm behaviour (for example with treats or petting him slowly). My dog trainer showed us a technique where you are sitting down with your dog and pet him with very long and slow strokes across his body, as soon as he stops beeing calm you stop petting him and tap (gently) on his chest.

I really hope that this is somehow understandable

And I'm sorry that you have to take care for the bad behaviour of someone elses dog.

I think trying to spray him with some water when he is misbehaving is something you can try but it doesn't impress all dogs and many dogs get used to it after a few times... These things work best when you do them the first time when they misbehave, if they've already been successful many times with their bad behaviour it is less likely that it will be that easy...

[b54red]

My pit bull actually dug up a plum tree that was 5 years old and pulled up by the roots some azaleas that were 25 years old. She is terrified of the water hose and it worked good in breaking her of a few of her destructive behaviors but you have to stay on it.

Bill

[SamiKihano]

It does make a lot of sense actually. He's wound tighter than a three day clock most of the time, I think most people wish he would calm down. Most of the time when I have him I just wrestle around with him for hours to wear him out for everyone else.

I never thought about him getting frantic because of being too stimulated till today, I'll have to start trying to help him calm down.

Or perhaps after the vet turns him from a pit-bull to a pit-steer it will help

[Worth1]

I have had Pit Bulls and my last dog was a Boxer Bit.
The dog was my neighbors that lived up stairs and I ended up with him.

I have to tell you, you have to come down on these dogs hard and fast.
They need to learn who is boss and know what right and wrong are.
If this takes a big kick in the butt and a hard scolding and ran back inside then that is what needs to be done.
When My Boxer Pit Boo Boo was still owned by the kid upstairs he had a girl friend that had a pit bull pup.
It chased my cats and was going to be a cat killer.
I took a big bushy tree branch after it and whipped the devil out of her.
Not one time did I hurt that dog but it scared the dickens out of her.
In one days time the dog went from chasing my cats to being buddies with them.
The girl came home and saw the dog laying on the porch with the cats and they were all buddies.
What did you do to make her do that she asked.
Laid the law down I said.
My other two neighbors had dogs that did the same thing by the time I got through with them all I had to do was point and they would obey and they all loved me.
The last thing they wanted to do was tick me off.
Worth

[ChiliPeppa]

Worth you would be a good horse trainer. The knack to training horses is knowing when to go hard and when to go easy. Then it mostly goes easy.

[SamiKihano]

Wepl, I just got fresh back from yelling at him for eating the rhubarb on the porch, I chased the little rat in the front door and down the hallway, the leaf still in his mouth. I came around the corner and fell on my butt trying to catch him and he wound up hurting me a little.

Smacked him a couple times lightly so he would respect me, and drug him back outside.

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by ChiliPeppa

Worth you would be a good horse trainer. The knack to training horses is knowing when to go hard and when to go easy. Then it mostly goes easy.

My other dog Bullet was a stray.
She was full grown when she showed up.
In one days time I trained her to walk on a leash.
The next day I trained her to run along side my bicycle with the leash tied to the handle bars.
She would always make sure the leash never got tight and would look at the front tire and make sure she never got ahead of it.
If I hit the brakes hard she would come to a skidding halt.
If we came to an intersection and wanted to turn I would say going left or going right and she would go that way never staying out of step with the bike.
That dog loved me and I never beat it one time in my life.
I trained my moms big doberman to pull me on roller skates all over town.
Intersection coming up, 'Stop ahead Dober and he would.
Lets go Dober and he would take off again.

All my dogs have been trained to stop with one word, Hut.
Worth