Krysta

Wondering if anyone has had any success finding a long lasting rawhide alternative chew? Our 6 month old wheaten terrier has his adult teeth and is very chewy recently. The only toys that hold his attention are the softer plastic/rubbery ones which end with him chewing a piece off, my hand in his mouth searching for said piece and the toy finding it's final resting place in the trash. I'm hoping to find a chew that will last a decent duration (30 minutes? Maybe wishful thinking). I've been reading reviews all day and haven't found a chew yet that seems to last more than 5-10 minutes. (As info, I'm located in the USA as I know this forum stretches across the globe)

He absolutely LOVES target practice and has progressed to pen tips and sticky notes, so we'll give the sticky note approach a try. Thank you!

Appreciate your thorough directions for addressing this issue. Over the last several weeks we've followed your instructions and have eliminated the fear of the Wobbler! He no longer approaches it with excessive barking or fearful hesitancy. He hasn't mastered how it works quite yet but has no reservations eating the food that we knock out of it. He does bark when there's no food left on the ground and he wants more but we're trying to teach him how to play with it by himself. He'll get there eventually. Thank you again for your guidance!

We purchased a Kong Wobbler for our 5 month old puppy and he is terrified of it. I will admit, we ordered based on what his full grown size will be (he's probably 10lbs shy of that right now) and we had a good laugh when we opened the box and saw it's much-larger-than-expected size. During his first exposure we showed him how it worked and knocked out a considerable amount of kibble/treats. He barked and barked, backing away in fear. We took it away. Today we simply set it on the floor while he was not in the room. When he finally noticed, it was another barking rampage until we took it away. Do you have any suggestions as how to introduce something that he's so fearful of? We were really hoping he'd enjoy this independent activity.

Appreciate you sharing this article J, this article was extremely relatable. I have an almost 5 month old soft-coated wheaten terrier (some days it's affectionately "wheaten terror") puppy. I've had my meltdowns and moments of feeling like the worst dog mom, even though I have the best intentions and know my little guy has an amazing life. During one emotional episode, triggered by multiple pictures of puppies lovingly licking/kissing their owners faces while mine only wants to bite my face off, I was sure we got the broken dog out of the liter (irrational thoughts during stressful moments are so fun!) Every article or YouTube video I'd watch contained these mellow, manageable pups that listened by the second try, while I was dealing a stubborn-hand-biting-obsessed-tasmanian devil. It seems that hardly anyone wants to talk about the tough days of puppy life and the toll it takes on the owner. Adrienne, I signed up for your site about a week ago and we have made enormous strides already. I can't thank you enough. I was overwhelming myself with videos and articles, trying to fix behavioral issues and not making much progress due to my head swirling with different methods and doubt. Your approaches are clear, simple and effective. My pup absolutely LOVES target practice - probably because he gets an abundance of his favorite treats during this training - but the amount of self control he's gained out of this routine has become a life/hand saver during his energy filled, chaotic moments. It's become clear he WANTS more mental stimulation; he politely sits on our training rug when he wants to show off his new skills. Your troubleshooting notes and forum feedback also provide heaps of help. My little guy got too smart during "leave it" training, showing zero interest in the dropped treat and immediately turning his attention to what was behind my back. After searching the forum and seeing your feedback to a similar issue we've moved on to learning "leave it" (and "drop it") w/real life situations- safe things like washcloths and shoes. Progress is slowly being made but if I've learned anything in the past several months, patience is key to everything. We'll get there as long as we stay consistent! Bringing this full circle, thank you Adrienne for making the last week meltdown free thanks to your expertise. I know there will soon be a day that breaks this streak, but I now have the tools and resources to deal with whatever chaos the little guy throws my way, thanks to your site. 🙂