Hoovering on the walk

[reana]

Hello. I am new here and I already searched answers for my questions but have not found any, so I am here about to ask you guys for some ideas or suggestions.My sweetheart bullmastiff girl Chilli is 6 months old now and she is great puppy. She is good on lead, but, do you have same experiences like me that she tries to hoover everything edible and yummy on the walk? I know she us puppy, but did your dogs do it too and will she grow up of it? I was considering muzzle or basket, but she is still in process of learning and taking treats. Also,does your puppy come/came to you every time you call him even she respect you as an Alpha? Chilli would come, but sometimes she goes roaming and hoovering some snack And the last thing, she has chewed 3 beds already since we got her. Normal? Every time she is alone, what is Max. 4 hours but only twice a week. My hubby suggested to put muzzle on the time she is alone. Good idea? All comments appreciated. Thanks

 

[Cyndnelson]

Personally, I think that is a lot of muzzling... Perhaps she has too much freedom in the house and is bored. Is she crate trained and chewing the bed in her crate? My EM Caesar chewed three pairs of shoes in a week because we gave him too much freedom. If you aren't crate training perhaps you can gate her in an area with some appropriate (safe to be alone with) toys where she can do minimal damage. Leaving a dog muzzled with no one around is asking for trouble. It can get caught on so many things.

She's still pretty young so chewing is normal and those little puppy teeth are super sharp! I have so many holes in my clothes from when our guy was little - don't miss those days at all!

As for the walks, I would suggest not letting her stop at all. YOU are the leader and if you get a good pace going she doesn't have the option to stop. I never allowed Caesar to sniff anything unless I gave him permission (by stopping my walk for him). Otherwise, a walk is a walk. If your girl is a foodie like mine, carry treats with you so that if you have a hard time getting her attention, you can give her something to pay attention to you again and start walking.

IMO a muzzle will solve nothing. Especially since she is so young and teachable. Teach her the right thing to do rather than preventing her from doing the wrong thing.

 

[DennasMom]

I wouldn't muzzle when left alone. We don't even leave a collar on when Denna's left alone...

I'd definitely invest in a crate if you don't have one.

Denna was relegated to her wire crate "condo" during her destructive phase. For a few weeks, she didn't even get a bed in the crate - she would shred those, too. She did get a blanket for some softness... but anything else was shredded. We always left her with a stuffed kong and had a dog-walker come to take her out often, but she still got bored at times.

As for hoovering on the walk... I'd be practicing "leave it" at least once a day at home - search youtube for some options on how to teach it so that it sinks in - and then out on the walk, when you see her start to hone in on some tasty bit... tell her to 'leave it' - get her to look at you and provide a treat from you hand, so she opts for YOUR treat versus the goo on the ground.

Practice, practice, practice.

Lots of positive rewards, patience, and consistency... 6 months is still "pre-teen", so be prepared for this "phase" to continue for another 6-12 months.
Denna was finally able to have freedom of the house when home alone when she was about 18 months old. All our previous (non-EM) dogs made that hurdle long before that...

 

[musicdeb]

I agree, do not muzzle when alone and crate is the better option. Redirect the chewing to ropes, nylabones, deer antlers, frozen washcloths/hand towels or treats frozen in ice cubes.

When walking and she wants to stop to check things out, keep walking. If she sits or pulls to go back, stop and bring her to a sit and have her focus on you. When she does what you want her to do, reward her, and start walking again. Consistency in training with motivational rewards and patience is key.