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Dog chewing targets

The_Fit_Ness_Monster

The_Fit_Ness_Monster

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jan 31, 2022
Messages
1,015
Location
N. Louisiana
So I have about 14 3d targets for my home range, all of them rhinehart except 3 which are my Delta McKenzie bucks. Been having my Great Pyranease for a year now and all of a sudden the past week he started chewing targets, chewed the horns and head off 2 of my DM bucks, so I lathered all my targets with a crapload of cayenne pepper and Vaseline and also came over top with apple cider vinegar, 2 days go by and bam the 3rd DM buck horns and head and some of the tail eaten off, to say I was mad is a giant understatement he was nearly put down this morning but I had to go to work. Of all the home remedies I’ve read about pepper and apple cider vinegar was the best it seemed and didn’t deter him at all, we live in the middle of nowhere in the woods and he literally has infinite things to chew and he’s never been a chewer before but ol boy is digging his grave. If it would’ve been my rhineharts he would no longer be with us anymore. Idk what else to do, anybody have any suggestions?
 
And to add, I could take the grueling trek of toting the targets in at night and back out the next afternoon or morning to shoot, wouldn’t be bad if it was seasonal but between me and the wife and 2 boys of the 5 that are shooting bows thus far we shoot every day of the year, I got the rhineharts for a reason bc they will be left outside year round and my “range” is a walking range from 5 out to 110yds furthest target. I seem to be in a conundrum.
 
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I used this stuff (and a firm hand) for my lab. Great dog, obstinant bugger though. I sprayed another round on things every few days but I think it’s supposed to last longer, I just wanted to deter behavior more than I cared to test product longevity.
 
Blacksmith said:
Buy a training, shock collar. If you light him up a couple times he may learn to stay away from them.
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In most instances. I have a chocolate lab that just laughs at shock collars. :tearsofjoy:

I've seen him sit over the buried wire for his electric fence and just idlily scratch while I watched his neck muscles convulse from the shocks. He just doesn't care. Every other dog I've had yelps like they've been shot in that situation but it has no effect on him.
 
Here's what I'd do before I did anything with my dog. Put a few of the targets in the garage or give them to friends and rotate out as needed. Bring a few targets out to practice on before I was ready to shoot then bring the targets back in when I'm done shooting. Some black pipe or conduit pounded in the ground marked with some locating flags makes them slip in and out super easy and easy to find again.
I know it's not optimal but can you hang them in trees high enough to deter him?
 
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Maybe he's just trying to help you justify getting all rhinehart targets by exterminating your DMs? :tearsofjoy:

Do you handle these targets often and leave your scent on them? How hard have you been hunting lately? You've had him for about a year, is this the first time he's had to adjust to you not being around?

I'm curious if maybe he's going through some sort of separation anxiety? My pup (okay, she's an old lady now) was REALLY bad about chewing up my stuff when I was not around for extended periods of time. She's a black lab/german shepherd mix, so she had it bad! The only thing that worked for me was to catch her in the act and immediately discipline her. Otherwise she would have never associated the act with the punishment. I feel you on them digging their own graves thing. One time she chewed the leather off one side of a brand new guitar case... :rage::rage:
 
I had an out of date can or pepper spray from work when I was a deputy. I sprayed it in the holes my boxer kept digging. It kept him from digging out the same holes but would dig new ones. Eventually I ran out of pepper spray.
 
Blacksmith said:
Buy a training, shock collar. If you light him up a couple times he may learn to stay away from them.
Click to expand...
He has a pretty powerful wireless fence collar, it flips the corgi on 3 and his is set on 6 and it just keeps him honest most of the time, he has no worries about crossing the line and dealing with the shock lol just weighed him a week ago 118# and he just hit a year this month.
 
Blacksmith said:
Buy a training, shock collar. If you light him up a couple times he may learn to stay away from them.
Click to expand...
This is how I trained mine and he just wears his all the time now, I rarely have to ever hit it anymore but it seems to remind him it could happen, so I mostly agree with you.

Just doing an add on from personal experience; people should test it on themselves first, hand works just fine, to get an idea of what each setting does. Then start on the lowest on your dog and work your way up. Had one that if he even got the lowest setting would be so sad he’d barely hunt the rest of the day, only ever used the tone or vibrate setting on him. Lab I have now isn’t quite to @boyne bowhunter dog levels but it’s close. If I kept it on a low level he’d laugh at me as he headed to the next county.
 
heretic said:
Maybe he's just trying to help you justify getting all rhinehart targets by exterminating your DMs? :tearsofjoy:

Do you handle these targets often and leave your scent on them? How hard have you been hunting lately? You've had him for about a year, is this the first time he's had to adjust to you not being around?
Click to expand...
Probably lol they get touched almost daily as like putting a hand on to pull an arrow out, haven’t hunted at all this year haven’t even gotten tags yet. And he’s watched me leave from between 2-4am and come home late afternoons sometimes next day pretty regularly plus he has 2 cat best friends, the corgi is chill to him and also he has about 70 chickens and 2 geese to look after I doubt he’s getting separation anxiety and wife and kids are home 24/7.
 
HuskerInIowa said:
Tell him you’re making sure you know how big to dig the hole if he doesn’t stop chewing up your stuff. It’s physiological warfare if all else fails.
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Lol right. Realistically I have a friend that would take him. And other than this he’s a great dog, has a coyote kill under his belt already and he listens well…. But at night, everyone’s asleep and the chickens are up so he gets western lol but today I finally caught him in the act so the chastising was much better received by him so it seems for now.
 
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