puppy teething and hole digging

hello everybody,
just wanted to get some advice from anybody who has experience with staffie puppies to adulthood.....my puppy is now 5 months old and i know and do expect my puppy to get into mischief and dig holes etc but wanted to know how long they continue this for? i have fenced off my back garden but now she has gotten to the stage where she will put her paws thru the holes in the wire fence and dig a hole or two, only just started doing this after she was desexed and had the bucket on her head (which is now off), i do put her poos in all her holes b4 covering? also we installed a swing set in our backyard for our 1 yr old boy and we occassionally catch her chewing on the plastic parts?

Also we have 3 wooden beams that run vertical from concrete up to ceiling of our outdoor patio covering which supports the patio covering, and she started only biting into only 1 of the posts (metal and wood) and only leaving bite marks but also since being desexed and having bucket on she has taken chunks out of 2 sections of that 1 post so i have had to fence it so i can fix it but dont wanna take fence down till i know she wont chew it again? She has chew toys, gets walked almost daily but wanna know if anybody can help me in suggestions or time frames on how long she may do it for? she has her own things 2 chew on constantly looks elsewhere to destroy our belongings esp since we are only renting...

Plus she has chewed our trampoline to pieces and ruined parts of it (not even 12 months old).....she bites the house render and bricks so im going to have to touch up paint those areas, its mainly the wooden post im concerned about, the holes are the easy part?

Any help or advice will be much appreciated

Well, we have a couple of issues here, so I'll try my best....

pepper12 wrote:just wanted to get some advice from anybody who has experience with staffie puppies to adulthood.....my puppy is now 5 months old and i know and do expect my puppy to get into mischief and dig holes etc but wanted to know how long they continue this for?

Staffords will & do get into mischief, especially puppies. You really have to supervise all the time. At 5 months she's just flexing her muscles a bit & pushing boundaries. When you catch her digging or chewing, tell her "No!" and gently remove her from whatever she's doing, or distract her with a toy or treat. With the digging, remember that Staffs are terriers, and many terriers dig from instinct so she'll have to be supervised outside if you want to stop it.

pepper12 wrote:we installed a swing set in our backyard for our 1 yr old boy and we occassionally catch her chewing on the plastic parts?

Also we have 3 wooden beams that run vertical from concrete up to ceiling of our outdoor patio covering which supports the patio covering, and she started only biting into only 1 of the posts (metal and wood) and only leaving bite marks but also since being desexed and having bucket on she has taken chunks out of 2 sections of that 1 post so i have had to fence it so i can fix it but dont wanna take fence down till i know she wont chew it again?

Again, chewing is a natural part of a pup's life - they explore with their teeth & they will chew unless you supervise & correct them when you see them do it. You could try rubbing some Vicks Vapour Rub on the things you don't want her to chew (or maybe some oil of cloves) but you really need to catch her in the act.

pepper12 wrote:? She has chew toys, gets walked almost daily but wanna know if anybody can help me in suggestions or time frames on how long she may do it for? she has her own things 2 chew on constantly looks elsewhere to destroy our belongings esp since we are only renting..

I'm going to be blunt here - being walked almost daily just isn't enough! All dogs need at least 2 walks a day, with some free running/playing during those walks. At 5 months she should be getting about 25 minutes twice a day. She's getting bored & therefore up to mischief. She has no idea that she isn't allowed to chew on your things because you don't catch her in the act. There's no point trying to correct a behaviour after it has happened, the dog won't know what it's being corrected for!

pepper12 wrote:Plus she has chewed our trampoline to pieces and ruined parts of it (not even 12 months old).....she bites the house render and bricks so im going to have to touch up paint those areas, its mainly the wooden post im concerned about, the holes are the easy part?
Any help or advice will be much appreciated

I take it from this that she is kept outside on her own for the most part? I'm afraid that if you're not there to supervise her she will continue to get into mischief because she knows no different!

Everything a dog does is a 'behaviour', something they do naturally, neither good nor bad. It's up to us to teach the dog which 'behaviours' are acceptable to humans and which ones aren't. If you're not there to see her behaviours you cannot expect her to automatically know which ones are not acceptable.


And although I think that 5 months is way to young to be spayed, it has nothing to do with her behaviour.

actually u can spay from 8 weeks of age but thanx

pepper12 wrote:actually u can spay from 8 weeks of age but thanx

I'm not saying you can't. Just saying it's too young - but that's a different debate!