LadyJaneA's Profile

I have a Great Dane who believes that the world revolves around her and that everything belongs to her by right, so I can sympathize. The best things I found that work:

1) Bitter Apple Spray. You can buy this at Petco or PetSmart. It is a non-toxic spray that basically just tastes gross to dogs but won't harm your stuff. I would grab a couple objects that you don't care about to act as your guinea pigs and spray them liberally, then leave them within reach of your pups. Hopefully they will learn that things that belong to mom don't taste very good! Be sure to reapply every so often so that the dogs really learn not to put your stuff in their mouths

2) If this behavior only happens when you leave home, then I would confine them to smaller space when you leave and invest in lots of long lasting chews to given them when you go. I spend about $100/week in bully sticks and other chews that I know my dogs love and that are safe, and I give them 2-3 every single time i leave the house. That way, they know that those items are theirs to chew on. It probably isn't necessary to spend quite so much money, but I would definitely invest in at least one Kong per dog, fill it with peanut butter, etc, and freeze it overnight, then give them each a Kong when you leave. If you think they will fight over the treats when you are gone, separate them (which I did with my dogs for about 2 years).

3) invest in baby gates! These are a lifesaver for me and my house! We bought some really good looking ones from Orvis (although many retailers sell them) and we have our house sectioned off. That way when we leave, we confine them to a specific section where we can more easily control what is in our dogs reach.

I also occasionally will leave out a "red herring" like a magazine I don't care about so they can tear something up without getting into real trouble. If you combine all of these together, I guarantee you will get the stealing under control. It won't be perfect, so don't leave anything to valuable within reach until you feel really confident that your dogs have got the message. You can definitely also try crate training, but as my dog is 122 lbs, no crate is really super comfortable for her, so these alternatives have really worked well. Know that you are not alone! My dog chewed the risers on our stairs of our brand new house, our super expensive rug, and many other items! I thought my husband was going to have a coronary!

I agree about the distressing - it doesn't look intentional on this piece. I also might have gone with a stronger color from the fabric like the hot pink, that pretty blue or the orange. But I do love the fabric!

buy fake branches :) we did that with some fake pussy-willow and it looks really great. anyone know the source of that floor lamp in the first pic (the lanterny-looking one)?

I really like the look that A LITTLE PAINT posted - I think you should use putty to actually fill the old drawer pulls then sand it flush and paint, then add new drawer pulls - I think the existing pulls are really the part of the dresser that makes is look more old fashioned.