HELP! Tinkerbell is destroying our house!

[lydiatug]

9 months is definitely like the terrible 2's in kids, so don't despair! My yorkie resorted to eating our carpet, but only got away with 2 tiny spots before we caught her doing it and nipped it in the bud...yes, you guessed it, 9 months old. This lasted about a month and she mellowed right out.

Have you tried crate training? It sounds like she needs to be monitored anytime she is out, so you can gwently modify her behavior. Good luck!

[IvysMom]

Until she outgrows this stage, in my opinion she needs to have her "territory" greatly reduced to only the room you are in at the moment and constant supervision. Just like you wouldn't leave an 18 - 24 month old human toddler loose all over the house with no supervision (eegads! Can you imagine the diasters?!), your 9 month old puppy needs constant supervision when not in a strong, safe crate. If you're cooking dinner in the kitchen, she stays only in the kitchen with you where you cook with one eye and watch her with the other. You're in the den watching TV? She's confined only to the den where one eye is always on her. Taking a shower? Shut her in the bathroom with you with a couple toys to play with and keep peeking out the shower curtain to make sure she isn't eating the bath mat. If you can't have one eye on her, into the crate she goes, though hopefully you can figure out how to live your daily life with one eye on Tinkerbelle most of the time so she only has to be crated at night and when you're not home.

My Ivy is only 5-1/2 months old so this is how we're currently living. I would never think of leaving her unsupervised for more than 60 seconds because EVERYTHING she finds goes into her mouth and there are way too many electric cords she could reach in this house. Moveable walk-thru baby gates in doorways and a little ingenuity on doing things a bit differently makes supervising their activities 100% of the time really not all that difficult. And being with you constantly will strengthen the bond between you. But I would certainly not give her the run of the house until she grows up and starts proving to you that she is over this mischievious stage. And yes, she will outgrow it!

Oh and until she becomes a lady-like adult, my favorite carpet cleaner is Oreck No Return Pet Odor and Stain Remover. It does a great job of cleaning pet stains on carpets, better than any other product I've tried and I think I've tried them all. Helps clean pet stains and odors with Oreck's No Return Pet Odor & Pet Stain Remover

Keep us posted as to how she's doing!

[maggieh]

The other posters are correct - this is like the terrible twos! Make certain your fluff does not have the run of the house - crate or X-pen will keep her safe and also keep your house intact. Bitter Apple does help with some dogs too. She will outgrow it, so don't panic!

[PDX97229]

Thank you ALL:

OH, how long does Bitter Apple last? I mean, do I have to keep spraying each day? Also, we may have to resort to crate or x-pen training! I will let you all know. She is doing things her brother never did!

[socalyte]

That sounds like our Pippa at about nine months! She still will grab socks and slippers but is so much better than she was. I have an x-pen that is metal and folds up fairly flat and I used that as a gate, or arranged it in a circle for a pen, when I was too busy or moving around the house too much to keep a close eye on her. That made a huge difference!

I'm not a behaviorist, but it sounds like she is more bonded to Snowy than you, so I think I'd start doing bonding exercises-- others here are more knowledgeable so I'll defer to their expertise, but perhaps hand feeding will make a difference?

[jmm]

You have an untrained, understimulated dog. This dog needs obedience training, potty training, and activity in its life. You have a very normal dog who is bored and has not been trained. You are very lucky your other dog fell into good habits. Time to get to work with the younger one!