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Help - puppy eating kids toys and whining in crate
We've had a 7 month old bulldog for a little over 2 weeks now. She's a rescue but not in the sense of her being left somewhere. She's an owner surrender, came from a house with kids and 3 y/o bulldog. She's really bad about eating my kids toys. Every time she hears something hit the floor, she comes running or she'll just go looking for things. She's only destroyed a watch but is constantly picking toys up and I'm having to pry them out of her mouth. When I do, I say, "not maggie's toy" and give her one of her toys but it doesn't seem to be working. Any suggestions? This started about a 10 days ago and as time gones on, her grip on the toys is stronger and stronger so it's harder and harder to get the toys out of her mouth.
Another issue we're having is around being in the crate at night. She's good for about 7hrs and then she starts whining. She doesn't always have to go to the bathroom b/c I let her out a couple times but she doesn't go. It's like she wakes up and is lonely. Her crate is in our family room. Is this just a puppy thing and she'll grow out of it? We had a bulldog for 10yrs and got him as a puppy but that was so long ago, I don't remember this part of his puppyhood.
Thanks for any advice!
Re: Help - puppy eating kids toys and whining in crate
What kind of toys do you have for Maggie? How much access does she have to them?
As for the whining 7 hrs is about her limit for holding it. So I still think this is related to needing to go to the restroom. If you want to try and stop the whining then I suggest making a point to let her out at about 6 hrs take her straight outside praise her for going potty then back to bed she goes. No extra attention other than praising her for peeing outside.
She has 7 toys. a twisted rope tug toy, a couple stuffed toys, a couple rubber balls/bones.
She gets a good bit of exercise, in the afternoons. She isn't much for going on a walk now that it's colder but we play with the ball in the back yard in the afternoon and I have two young kids that keep her moving. If we are home, she is not sleeping. On Sunday, we were home the whole day so by the time the kids went to bed, she was exhausted.
For the whining in crate, I agree that it may be right at her limit of holding it. Even though she's not going every time, I'd assume its related. I'd get her out, leash her up, take her out, potty or not, back inside in crate. You can reward for potty (exactly when she goes not after she comes in), but no other communication so she's not looking for attention.
Also when letting her out of the crate, try to wait for a "quiet" moment even if you have to stand by the crate in silence waiting for that window of quiet. That way she won't associate the whining with getting out. That can make the whining worse.
My puppy just turned a year old and is finally starting to ignore most of my kids toys. The first 8 months were awful, always prying things out of his mouth, constantly harping on my kids to pick up their toys, and listening to them yell, scream and cry when the dog ate something of theirs. That said, I still don't trust him 100% but I did note the other day that he was laying in the living room surrounded by legos (they were playing) and he didn't try to eat any!
As far as the crate, we ended up moving the crate into our bedroom. We didn't really want it in our bedroom but when it was in another room he would get up at 5am, when we moved it to our bedroom he'll sleep until 7 or 8 (depending on how late everyone sleeps!) I think he just wanted to see us, ha