new puppy questions

[luvsmydozer]

I just recently became the proud parent of a 7 week old great pyrenees puppy! He has been pretty good except for the teething. I'v tried multiple things to satisfy him but he keeps pulling up the carpet, and taking out all of my furniture. how can  i help him feel better and save my furniture at the same time?

[mama23+pyrs2]

Hi there and welcome! Congrats on your little guy! It's nice to have another Pyr owner here. I have 2 that are almost 5 months old now. We never had a huge teething issue when they were that small, and still don't- hope it stays that way. My female was the carpet puller and she did leave a nice bare patch on one end. Whenever she would start, we would very firmly correct her and give her something to chew on, usually it didn't work. She would then get a time out in her crate because she was so stubborn about it. She's been really good about that since then though, it was awhile ago. The rest of the furniture they don't bother though. When they are out of the crate, we make sure to either have one of their big bones available or their bin of various toys down so they can pick and choose. They seem to like old towels, empty water bottles, and some of the stuffed toys but not so much the plastic or squeaky things. We tried the Nylabones and they won't touch those.

The advice I got from everyone on here was to get some real bones for them and now that is their favorite all time thing. The smoked ones they have at Petsmart etc.. Granted your pup is real young but he will be a strong chewer in no time, and some are smaller than others. I've gotten these guys so far the knuckle bones (last longer) and just got them these bones called the Sarge and they are going nuts over those.

You MUST post pics, please!!!

[Johnnysgirl_668]

One thing that might help keep your pup from chewing the furniture and carpet is Bitter Apple.  It is a spray that you can get at the pet store ... you just spray it on your carpet and furniture and it makes everything taste really bad.  So after your pup has a taste, he won't want to chew anymore!

Although some pups LOVE the taste of it!!  Bear thanks me everytime I spray something with it, as if to say "Thanks Mom, it tasts so much better now!!!"


So far, I've found having tons of different toys around: ropes, squeaky toys, soft toys, hard toys, toys with bumps, and squiggles, balls and anything else you can think of. When pup starts gnawing on something he's not supposed to, pick up a toy, make a big fuss over it, like there's nothing on earth that is better than it, and soon he wants it from you.

The crate! Thank the dear Lord above for the inventor of the crate. This is a great place to put him, along with several chewable safe toys.

I also use rawhide rolls, not the bones, but the ones that look like ladyfingers. I find he's able to gnaw at these better, especially when he was younger.

It takes some time, and lots of patience, but they do finally get the hint that these are GOOD chewables, and these are BAD ones. Good luck, and welcome!

[lins_saving_grace]

oh those were the days.  Grace was a carpet muncher as a puupy.   i didn't loose shoes or furniture...bu t she loved to pick holes in the carpet one strand at a time.  i'd cave and get her out of her crate at 4am when she cried and i'd fall asleep on the couch.  that was my bad. 
i'm not sure how i stopped her...or if i just hated that carpet enough to not care.  she grew out of it quickly though.  keeping her in her crate when unattended was a big help. 

[GoldenPyrs]

Congratulation s on your new baby and I'm glad that you found us.  There's a lot of people here with puppy experience and you've already gotten some great advice.  I am a huge proponant of crate training puppies.  It will keep the puppy and your home much safer until they learn not to eat or chew everything in sight.  We crate trained each of our puppies and it worked out great.  Also, bully sticks are another option for chewing.  It took us a while to try them though, we had a tough time getting past what they're made from.    

Oops, forgot!  I'm the mom of 3 human kids, Daisy our Golden mix, and Cassie and Sammy our newly adopted adult Pyrs and never forgetting my sweet girls Cara & Halley, our Pyrs that are at the bridge now.   

I'm excited that there's another Pyr puppy on the board.  I can't wait to see pics of your new boy!