4 year old Frenchie still chewing my kitchen

[Lord Flashheart]

As the title says. My daughter's Frenchie eats my house and no one else's. He lived here for the first 3 years and literally chewed every kitchen cupboard door. He shared the house with my own dog and I'm wondering whether this is a territory thing. There are plenty of toys to keep both dogs happy, so I don't think it's boredom.
Last Christmas he and my daughter moved out, and it became quite clear it had been him doing the chewing, not our dog. It was time for a new kitchen! Yesterday he was here for the day and all was well. He stayed overnight and this morning the bd has eaten a new kitchen skirting board. It's not like he hasn't been told off about it before and when I walked into the kitchen, pointed at the damage and raised my voice this morning, he knew he was in trouble.
I don't want to ban him from our house, but it seems I have no choice. I know there are foul tasting sprays and things to make the kitchen taste less palatable, but I don't want to be spraying my new kitchen. He's 4 now and the chewing should be just a distant bad memory. He's been castrated too.
Any thoughts on this?

[moorx]

Could you not use a crate or puppy pen when he stays?

Your daughter would need to crate train him if necessary.

[BoRED S2upid]

moorx said:

Could you not use a crate or puppy pen when he stays?

Your daughter would need to crate train him if necessary.

Seems like the obvious thing to do. If ours is naughty he has a time out in his pen.

[Evoluzione]

Lord Flashheart said:

Any thoughts on this?

Yes, you have absolutely no idea how to train a dog.

[Lord Flashheart]

Evoluzione said:

Lord Flashheart said:

Any thoughts on this?

Yes, you have absolutely no idea how to train a dog.

Helpful, thank you.

[Lord Flashheart]

BoRED S2upid said:

moorx said:

Could you not use a crate or puppy pen when he stays?

Your daughter would need to crate train him if necessary.

Seems like the obvious thing to do. If ours is naughty he has a time out in his pen.

He's had plenty of crate time in the past, and in fact the crate remains up permanently. It's the safe place for both dogs. They take themselves there all the time. I just feel he should have stopped the chewing now, but the main question is why does this only happen in my house. He stays at my mum's and doesn't do it, he lives at my daughter's and he doesn't do it.

[PositronicRay]

Lord Flashheart said:

BoRED S2upid said:

moorx said:

Could you not use a crate or puppy pen when he stays?

Your daughter would need to crate train him if necessary.

Seems like the obvious thing to do. If ours is naughty he has a time out in his pen.

He's had plenty of crate time in the past, and in fact the crate remains up permanently. It's the safe place for both dogs. They take themselves there all the time. I just feel he should have stopped the chewing now, but the main question is why does this only happen in my house. He stays at my mum's and doesn't do it, he lives at my daughter's and he doesn't do it.

Dogs will behave differently in different situations. Which is why ( for instance) recall can be different in garden/ park / heath etc and needs to practiced over and over in all situations.

The Frenchie is used to chewing your kitchen, and it's what he'll do. He doesn't have a sense of right or wrong, good or bad.

It's now habit, prevent him practising this behaviour until its not.

Think more dog.

[HTP99]

BoRED S2upid said:

moorx said:

Could you not use a crate or puppy pen when he stays?

Your daughter would need to crate train him if necessary.

Seems like the obvious thing to do. If ours is naughty he has a time out in his pen.

I've always been lead to believe that you shouldn't punish a dog by putting him/her in their crate/pen as they then associate their space negatively.

[goldar]

Have you tried beating it?

[moorx]

HTP99 said:

BoRED S2upid said:

moorx said:

Could you not use a crate or puppy pen when he stays?

Your daughter would need to crate train him if necessary.

Seems like the obvious thing to do. If ours is naughty he has a time out in his pen.

I've always been lead to believe that you shouldn't punish a dog by putting him/her in their crate/pen as they then associate their space negatively.

Agreed - I was not for a minute suggesting it as a punishment, only a means of containing him. Crates (used properly) should be a positive and safe place.

[oddman]

Evoluzione said:

Lord Flashheart said:

Any thoughts on this?

Yes, you have absolutely no idea how to train a dog.

I'd be really interested if you could expand on this so we can benefit from your expert views on this.

My experience is it's quite easy to train positive behaviours like sit, stay, recall etc. - usually by shaping and positive reward.

It's also quite easy to eliminate negative behaviours when they happen when you are present and you are able to respond in the exact moment eg. jumping up, trying to go upstairs by removing attention and/or a sharp word.

Lead training can be miserably difficult unless you have the patience of a saint.

I think it's really difficult to influence behaviour that occurs whilst you're not there. Manage the environment, keep them busy and active, give them things to play with but this situation sounds quite difficult and would be interested to know what people advise.

[A14RGS]

Engage a professional dog behaviourist (or ask your daughter, as the responsible owner, to do so) - a good behaviourist will know how to manage and correct the issues.

[ooo000ooo]

our pup decided to start chewing a bit of carpet in one of the rooms, i sprinkled some chilli powder over it, stopped it right away. Can you do something similar with any bits it is likely to attack?

[Boosted LS1]

goldar said:

Have you tried beating it?

Or feeding it.

[FlopperV60]

A14RGS said:

Engage a professional dog behaviourist (or ask your daughter, as the responsible owner, to do so) - a good behaviourist will know how to manage and correct the issues.

This would seem to be the sensible approach, I too have a French bulldog and they are stubborn and difficult to train. Having always owned boxer dogs which are in themselves interesting to train I find the Frenchie a proper nuiscence.

I also find that mine has to be 'top dog' so perhaps in the presence of your own dog he is naturally inclined to push boundaries?

Mine has to always show dominance, this picture was only taken last night and sums up the hierarchy

[HTP99]

FlopperV60 said:

A14RGS said:

Engage a professional dog behaviourist (or ask your daughter, as the responsible owner, to do so) - a good behaviourist will know how to manage and correct the issues.

This would seem to be the sensible approach, I too have a French bulldog and they are stubborn and difficult to train. Having always owned boxer dogs which are in themselves interesting to train I find the Frenchie a proper nuiscence.

I also find that mine has to be 'top dog' so perhaps in the presence of your own dog he is naturally inclined to push boundaries?

Mine has to always show dominance, this picture was only taken last night and sums up the hierarchy

Yep, I too have a Frenchie and also 2 Terriers, the Frenchie is the eldest at 10, she is the boss (as much as the eldest Terrier likes to think differently) of the dogs, if she wants to sit somewhere where the eldest Terrier is, she will just sit and bark at him until he moves, the youngest Terrier is a bit more steely and won't move so the Frenchie will just sit on her, if another dog comes in to the house she is straight there showing dominance, goes to another house with a dog, she again tries to exert her dominance, Interestingly my daughter has just rehomed a 7yo Frenchie who is exactly the same which is interesting when the 2 of them are together!

[oddman]

FlopperV60 said:

Mine has to always show dominance, this picture was only taken last night and sums up the hierarchy

Were you lying on the grey mat before you got up to take the photo?

[Lord Flashheart]

HTP99 said:

FlopperV60 said:

A14RGS said:

Engage a professional dog behaviourist (or ask your daughter, as the responsible owner, to do so) - a good behaviourist will know how to manage and correct the issues.

This would seem to be the sensible approach, I too have a French bulldog and they are stubborn and difficult to train. Having always owned boxer dogs which are in themselves interesting to train I find the Frenchie a proper nuiscence.

I also find that mine has to be 'top dog' so perhaps in the presence of your own dog he is naturally inclined to push boundaries?

Mine has to always show dominance, this picture was only taken last night and sums up the hierarchy

Yep, I too have a Frenchie and also 2 Terriers, the Frenchie is the eldest at 10, she is the boss (as much as the eldest Terrier likes to think differently) of the dogs, if she wants to sit somewhere where the eldest Terrier is, she will just sit and bark at him until he moves, the youngest Terrier is a bit more steely and won't move so the Frenchie will just sit on her, if another dog comes in to the house she is straight there showing dominance, goes to another house with a dog, she again tries to exert her dominance, Interestingly my daughter has just rehomed a 7yo Frenchie who is exactly the same which is interesting when the 2 of them are together!

Exactly the same here. We have a 7 year English Bull Terrier who has been a saint in comparison. He's over 5 stone, but it doesn't stop the Frenchie having a pop. I've had to calm things down in the past before the Frenchie pushed his luck a bit too far. Play can get rough, but there's a huge power difference that's left him a bit battered. He's the only one that gets angry and turns play into aggression. It's this attempt to dominate that got me wondering whether the chewing was part of the territory thing.
Contacting a professional is likely to be the best route, but whether or not it can be trained out of him, I'll find out.

[FlopperV60]

oddman said:

Were you lying on the grey mat before you got up to take the photo?

I was, before the evil Frenchie put me in my place!