Does this describe the behaviour of anyone else's V? Or is it a common canine trait?
I swear that our V Graeme is orally fixated. He's drawn to the common mouthing behaviour but it goes beyond that. He will try to chew on the strangest of things for minutes at a time. He runs his mouth sideways along the carpet and wooden outdoor decking. He gnaws on wooden steps and outdoor furniture. Bones and sticks are a given but it seems like he's only happy when he's chewing on (and often destroying) something.
At one stage he had four varieties of treat ball/kongs but I came home one day to find they'd all disappeared - not buried but just gone. Someone suggested he threw them over the (six foot high!) fence while playing with them. Now we give him plastic bottles with treats in because they're a bit cheaper and harder to work out.
Anyway, just wondering if this is typical Vizsla behaviour? Is it typical of young dogs (Graeme is 13 months old)? Has anyone tried to remedy the fixation? I did try to put tabasco on the furniture legs (which he loved) and have now upgraded to Deep Heat - which seems to keep him away from them at least. It's a bit harder to Deep Heat your entire carpet though, not to mention smelly. Deep Heat is liniment for sports injuries by the way...
I swear that our V Graeme is orally fixated. He's drawn to the common mouthing behaviour but it goes beyond that. He will try to chew on the strangest of things for minutes at a time. He runs his mouth sideways along the carpet and wooden outdoor decking. He gnaws on wooden steps and outdoor furniture. Bones and sticks are a given but it seems like he's only happy when he's chewing on (and often destroying) something.
At one stage he had four varieties of treat ball/kongs but I came home one day to find they'd all disappeared - not buried but just gone. Someone suggested he threw them over the (six foot high!) fence while playing with them. Now we give him plastic bottles with treats in because they're a bit cheaper and harder to work out.
Anyway, just wondering if this is typical Vizsla behaviour? Is it typical of young dogs (Graeme is 13 months old)? Has anyone tried to remedy the fixation? I did try to put tabasco on the furniture legs (which he loved) and have now upgraded to Deep Heat - which seems to keep him away from them at least. It's a bit harder to Deep Heat your entire carpet though, not to mention smelly. Deep Heat is liniment for sports injuries by the way...