Help me NOT kill my dog!

[ShadyStump]

The damage from the last 18 hours.



My daughter's sick yew I was trying to save, a Norway spruce, piñon pine, 2 potted peppers, a pomegranate, and a couple herb pots.
That's not even half the damage he's done since, just the most in so short a time, and some of these have already been repotted this season because of him.

I thought I had him trained for a little while, using decoy pots with sticks or dead trees to teach him to leave anything in a container alone. The past couple days, though, he's been on a rampage. He got the peppers yesterday afternoon when I wasn't looking, and I blamed it on having just fertilized with fish emulsion, but the others hadn't gotten more than osmocote or granules in teabags in weeks, and he's left the teabags alone. It's usually the trees that are on the ground, which are allot of them right now. I had a bench collapse in a thunderstorm a week ago, and haven't been able to build a replacement yet. But on the ground isn't the only risk. He's pulled stuff with low hanging branches off the benches before. I let him chew on anything not in a pot or behind a fence, and he can sniff around all he wants to get his curiosity sated.

I've lost more trees in the past two and half months since him coming home than I have since starting bonsai in 2019, and I've killed ALLOT of trees, damnit.
I can't watch him every second of every day, so I'm kinda out of practicable ideas right now. Any suggestions would be helpful. I like the guy, and he's not going away.

The culprit, hiding in shame. Didn't even have the heart to get angry at him this morning. He put himself in time out as soon as he knew I knew.

1 year old, husky/German shepherd mutt. I'm considering taking up running for the 1st time since 8th grade track just to keep his activity needs satisfied.

 

[namnhi]

Am sorry.... on behalf of the dog. Hope that will do

 

[Paradox]

Put trees / plants up on benches (fix the bench issue) or some other way (separate area) to keep them put of his reach.

Stop using fish emulsion or other smelly fertilizer if it's attractive to him.

Put him in his crate if you're not home or can't watch him.

Give him other toys to play with

Exercise him more. A tired dog is less likely to get into trouble

 

[mook1178]

Husky/Shepard,

He needs a lot of activity to wear him down, especially with puppy energy at 1 year old. Going for runs will help. He is a working dog. Give him something to do as much as possible. I agree with all that Paradox said.

 

[BrightsideB]

That sucks. Must be frustrating. He looks like a giant fluff ball! Husky and German Shepard mutt. Beautiful dogs but they are the craziest when young!

 

[Paradox]

I've got a crazy, high energy pup. Half lab, half Australian kelpie which is a very high energy breed.

He wanted to prune some of my trees for me on low benches. My solution is to raise the benches so they are more out of his reach. Also move some of the smaller pots to the back of the bench with things in front of them so he can't reach.

 

[BonsaiMatt]

Set a few mousetraps out on your pots. He'll learn quick. After he learns, you can set mousetraps out and not even arm them.

Worked great to get my rottweiler to stop eating my trees.

 

[FreshAirSunshine]

Tbh - a path to expend his energy would be great I think. Is something like circling your trees with an electric fence a reasonable option? I’d hate that for the dog, but maybe it’d train them and then can be removed.

 

[August]

My parents have a young dog with too much energy, they take him out for long walks at least once a day, and take him to a daycare to play with other dogs a couple times a week. It seems to work, or at least it's very noticeable when he did not get his excersize, as he will bounce off the walls otherwise.

 

[ShadyStump]

Set a few mousetraps out on your pots. He'll learn quick. After he learns, you can set mousetraps out and not even arm them.

Worked great to get my rottweiler to stop eating my trees.

Might be effective, but I still feel bad about the times I've lost my temper and ran him down with flying stumps.

Tbh - a path to expend his energy would be great I think. Is something like circling your trees with an electric fence a reasonable option? I’d hate that for the dog, but maybe it’d train them and then can be removed.

Not in the budget unfortunately.
The past couple weeks have been crazy: kids home for summer, dog sitting for my sister while she was on vacation; I'm certain that's a big part of the trigger right now.

@Paradox No kennel, I don't believe in them because I've never needed one before. A well trained and properly socialized dog is the answer to everything. I'd just prefer it happen with a minimum of neuroses.
New benches are on the list this week while the kids are at their mother's, and I have some orange construction netting left from doing the garden fence. I'd have to find a whole new arrangement for my trees and benches, but it still doesn't train him to leave them alone, which is the goal.

The problem I'm having is there's nothing suitable to redirect him to. He prefers chewing green wood to anything else. Hell, I cut a 10 foot branch off the elm in the yard last week, and he dragged it out and gnawed on it for days until the sap stopped running.
It's got me a bit flummoxed.

 

[Cajunrider]

Help you Not to kill your dog?
Can't help you there. You are asking the wrong guy. I'm Asian Bahahahahaha!

 

[Maiden69]

Small fence... it will limit the space you use, but the best thing you can do to limit his access to the trees. This is the one I bought from Lowes, but you could get something slightly bigger.

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Greenes-Actual-15-ft-x-2-ft-Cedar-Spaced-Picket-Garden-Woven-Wire-Rolled-Fencing/50074001

 

[Bonsai Nut]

Do you have dog toys? My dogs have toys that they know are specifically for them, so when they want to play they grab their toys... and not one of my trees.

 

[Cajunrider]

If I were you, I would get a roll of heavy duty netting. Those are usually pretty cheap. Then set up all you bonsai inside that netting fence. First teach him to respect the fenced area, then later to leave items inside the fenced area alone.
When all things fail, you can call this Asian. I will put an end to all your trouble. With proper seasoning of course.

 

[ShadyStump]

Do you have dog toys? My dogs have toys that they know are specifically for them, so when they want to play they grab their toys... and not one of my trees.

My sister's new puppy tore apart his squeaky ball, but otherwise yes. He still has his tug rope, the baseballs he's skinned, and must my 10 pounds of rawhide and bones scattered about the house and yard.
He prefers wood to anything else, but gets bored quickly with what he has. I'd throw him trimmings from pruning, but he gets to the pruning before I do.

My last dog was German shepherd/Great Dane, and she was easy. Just give her a rawhide whenever she chewed something up. Isn't working here.

If I were you, I would get a roll of heavy duty netting. Those are usually pretty cheap. Then set up all you bonsai inside that netting fence. First teach him to respect the fenced area, then later to leave items inside the fenced area alone.
When all things fail, you can call this Asian. I will put an end to all your trouble. With proper seasoning of course.

I hope it doesn't come to that.
But if it does I want the back straps for jerky.

I'm going to take him for a walk this morning before heading to friends' to help with their new pool, then I'll try to figure out benches and a fence.

I thought about spraying everything with cayenne pepper as a deterrent, but it's been so wet this year I'd have to reapply it several times a week sometimes.
Anyone ever try something similar?

 

[Dav4]

High benches, physical fences +/- invisible fence barriers are the way to go. I fully believe in training/positive reinforcement, behavioral modification, exercise etc., but my highly trained but willful dog still likes plantone and won't hesitate to get up on the bench to grab one or two teabags when I'm not looking. He's invisible fence trained and I've wrapped my bonsai garden in it with good results.

 

[namnhi]

If I were you, I would get a roll of heavy duty netting. Those are usually pretty cheap. Then set up all you bonsai inside that netting fence. First teach him to respect the fenced area, then later to leave items inside the fenced area alone.
When all things fail, you can call this Asian. I will put an end to all your trouble. With proper seasoning of course.

Uncle... my uncle. Am speechless.
@ShadyStump Looks like you may have to downsizing after all. Not by choice though. I don't see anything else you can do other than fence the bonsai area or the dog.

 

[Maiden69]

One thing though, as he gets older he will slow down delinquency acts... my neighbor got a golden retriever about a year and a half ago, he terrorized the entire backyard to the point that his wife decided to get rid of her vegetable garden (I thank the dog later as she gave me her above ground planter ), now she's slowly bringing new plants to the backyard and the dog may sniff them, but won't pull them out of their pots.

I was looking at some pre-fab metal fences for my yard but they are a little too expensive for my budget... but that is definitely something to consider with a shepherd. They are super smart, so one thing I would consider if you have the time is to get him trained as soon as possible.

 

[andrewiles]

The answer is very clear. You need to get a second puppy with even more energy to distract the first puppy. Repeat as necessary.

 

[Cajunrider]

Uncle... my uncle. Am speechless.
@ShadyStump Looks like you may have to downsizing after all. Not by choice though. I don't see anything else you can do other than fence the bonsai area or the dog.

All y'all jump to the final solution. My initial offering of solution was legit but NOOOO. Everyone wants to see the demise of that cute puppy.
Right now the pup is confused. He doesn't know what he can chew and what he can't. Teaching him to respect a space is easier than to respect things in pots. Face it, only bonsai people respect pots. The rest of the universe think of them as non-consequential containers. Then as he grows older he can associate things inside that space with the command "NO". Once he learns that you can open the gate and let him in by himself.