Killing the pillows

[Zeus11/99]

I have a serious problem trying to get Zues no to mess wiht the pilows. These are the ones on thecouch as well as the ones onthe bed. He takes em and jsut runs to another part of the house and tears them up.. I give him the "no", then he will stop, untill I go elsewhere then come back to the pillows and do the same thing. I have tried the bitter lime 3 times after a no once and then bitter lime next.. All he does is wai tuntill I am no tin view and starts on them again. What else can I do. I do not mind Zeus being on the bed or couch but I do not want him destrying pillows.....

[Michael C.]

Well, the best thing would be to put the pillows away? Not trying to be a smart a$$, but we have no pillows or rugs in our house. We did before we had a dog.

[Zeus11/99]

lol.....that is a solution...no tthe one I am looking for but a solution no thte less.

[JonandMichelle]

Don't let Zeus on the couch or bed Don't put him in the situation period. I don't know how old he is, but I think that is the best answer. If you can not supervise him, crate him. And IF worse came to worse you can always try bitter apple.

[Michael C.]

I know how you feel Zeus! We had the same problem. My wife came home last week with pillows for our couch and after Sasha showed her how easy those pillows are to reach, she took the pillows back. I tried telling her to keep them for when company comes over, but she did not like that idea. Those pillows on the couch are sooo tempting because they are so easy to reach!

[RJulien]

my dog had a problem with 'oh everything'... shoes, furniture, kids toys... you name it. I put a muzzle on her for about a half hour or so evertime she destroyed something and would spend time afterward going over what was hers and able to be devoured. I try to keep her in rawhide and toys but every so often she laspes. i personally think she does it when she is mad. It has been lousy weather lately and we havent gone out to do our run. Winter storms- 60mi hr winds and rain. sorry to all you die hard exercisers but i cannot take the dog and the kids out in that & the kids are to small to leave alone.
anyway, now days all i have to do it show her the muzzle and she remembers. I will also admit it stayed on longer when she ate the edge of the 1000$ new couch or the brand new loafers when i accidently fell asleep on the couch- leaving them unguarded...

but- i think rotts learn very fast that there are consequences. Sure, if she can reach the muzzle she will destroy it. I have been thru 6 or 7 of them. At 20$ each- learn from my losses... though my daughter thought they were the dogs to wear and would give them to her if she found them on a table. the dog always appreciated her thoughtfullness... lol
good luck! and hope you find your solution on here.

[This message has been edited by RJulien (edited October 07, 2000).]

[Zeus11/99]

I try biter lime but maybe not the right way.....Like I said earlier (if I didn't I meant to) i always give him a stern "no" first and after that he continues so I give him a squirt or two or three in his mouth with biter lime. I know it bother him by the way he reacts but sure enough the next day he is at it again...

Should I just continue with this treatment (fortunatley all the furniture and carpet in the house is temporary and is going to be changed) and know that he will soon stop it if I continue or should I revert to some other form of correction.

Zues is a VERY smart dog and picks up on things quickly. I think this is a rebellion sorta thing but I need to nip it in the bud anyway.....

[T.D.'s MOM]

We have bottles of Bitter Apple all over the house TD always ate the cat's food so finally I tried putting a bottle next to his dish and now TD won't go near it! So now we just keep them throughout the house. At Christmas time when we weren't home, we put three TV trays in front of the tree each with a bottle of B.A. to keep TD away from it! He would see the cat go under the tree and thought he could fit too!
Something to try with the pillow thing is try spraying a small area of the pillow with the B.A. to make sure it won't discolor the fabric. Then spray the entire pillow with it. Also maybe try to cover the pillows with something, maybe a clothes basket or something like that. We keep a barstool on one couch and an ab-roller on the other (at least it's good for something ) so that TD can't get on them.
Good Luck