Oh now where is it???  

Awww thank you for the compliment Opal . I try so hard to have extra patience with him. It is a new experience having a dog that has been abused...I'm never sure how to handle him without scaring him. He's come around ALOT since i got him. When i did get him he would either try to run or bite when a guy - like my dad or family member came over to visit.

He ADORES my youngest sister.

I was tempted to take him wiht me to an obedience class but the lady who runs them is VERY big on choker chains and using them EXTREMELY firmly...i wouldnt say rough but i had a dog we took to obedience classes through 4-H (was a club event) who didnt need a choker chain and she insisted we use one on him. After 2 trips with him to them we never did take him back to the classes.

Hasn't seemed to get sick from them (they came out whole too so he didnt chew em just swallowed em like a big pill)

I might have to try the hot sauce thing on things that wont stain. I was thinking I'd try some of the "dog off" for things like my lawn chairs and deck chairs.

LOL I can imagine having to explain that to the DMV I recently called to order propane and put a cheque under the lid of the tank like normal. Got a call 2 hours later asking if i had a cheque for them...or should they come back the next day. I said i had put it under they ssaid it wasnt there...got home after work and found the chewed up cheque in peices by the dog house.

I hid the check somewhere else and called them back saying it was up higher my dog ate it, please leave the receipt in the door to the house.

I've found fewer things destroyed lately - dunno if im better at putting things outa reach or its that hes getting out of the puppy stage finally.

Mine is 2 years old. He ain't a puppy anymore!!! He's a rather large dog so I find it difficult to find places to hide things that he can't reach. I finally moved my car out of my fenced in yard to the street so he couldn't get to it. I feared that I'd walk out one day to 4 flat tires!!!

Mine "should" be two by now - the SPCA listed him as a year and a few months when i got him.

Having to worry your tires would be chewed! thats much worse than Zeus. Thankfully these days hes not near as bad as he originally was...but he still brings garbage into the yard from the highway.

He's a pain but i like him. I just wish i could get him to stop eating things that are bad for him. My boy suggested more toys last fall which ive gotten him more of - i think he may be a tad spoiled in that dept.

I'm so glad im not the only one with a Goat for a dog! (my mom calls him the goat cause he eats anything and everything) If its a blanket/quilt with stuffing in it gets destroyed. He does have a flannel sheet he drags around that he hasnt torn to bits and peices.

The only place here that "trains" dogs is a lady i'm not fond of her methods - they arent for a dog who's had bad experiences with humans.

Its frustrating - i really really hope he grows out of it...or finds something to chew thats his not mine!

Oh i couldnt just shoot him - if it comes to having to get rid of him I'd take him back to the spca not shoot him. I signed a contract saying if he didnt work out i woud.

even if i hadnt signed the papers saying i would take him back I would because i just cant shoot an animal because i dont agree with his behaviour.

I agree with you. I'm afraid I was in a bit of a flippant mood when I wrote that.

Apart from keeping the dog supplied with real bones and keeping other chewable things out of the way as far as possible, I don't know what to suggest.

I did come across this article, though, which, although it seems a bit weird, might be a technique to look at: http://www.emofree.com/a/... (I do know that some people can communicate with dogs better than others but this one did seem a little way out to me!) EFT, however, does work on humans and there are plenty of stories about it being used to calm very young children and animals (list of more articles: http://www.emofree.com/a/... )

Thank you for the links! I'll be reading them and hopefully they help.

He's grown alot out of the chewing - its not Daily like it was (that drove me insane) now seems to happen every couple weeks.

When i got him he was just over a year old and when any male came to visit (my dad..my uncle...the propane guy) Zeus would take off as far as he could get. Now hes buddy buddy with my dad. I can get in his face and play with him on the ground now without having to worry about him nipping me. He's very gentle and kinda shy when someone new is around.

I've been working with him alot lately and hes doing TONS better at not dancing away or backing off when my tone changes the slightest little bit. I've been reading alot of animal behaviour books to see what i can learn because i really like him 95% of the time - i just have a mad on everytime he wrecks things.

PS. He's an outdoor farm dog - I've noticed a BIG change in how he behaves now that its spring and i can spend more time out there with him and the others - more light out later and its warmer.

He's a pretty nice "little" (not really little but young) guy.

So far he sure takes off when I yell ZEUS in the mad tone (his name before i got him was bob, then mystic, then murphy...and a couple others i dont remember but none sounded like zeus. The vet recommended i pick something that sounded different from his other names...so he didnt associate it with "bad" things)