Help! Dog eating bark off trees

[wheels]

My dog has started eating the bark off my trees. He's ringed a couple and I consider those lost, but would like to save the rest. I've wrapped a lot of the main trunks with chicken wire but there is just too much to get all of it. He has never touched them in the past. Maybe they just taste better this year. Don't know. Any thoughts on how to stop this?

My dogs like to eat bark, but not off of the trees.... There are many taste deterrents sold, but I have not found one that deters my dogs. ROPEL is the strongest that I know of. It can be obtained at gardening stores. Use gloves when applying. A session with a shock collar might work the best as long as the dog is not savvy (collar on vs. off). Is the dog bored? I used a strong reprimand and distraction to cure one of my dogs from digging. That is usually very hard to break.... everytime he started to dig, I distracted him with something else. Worth a try...

Is he teething?

What kind of dog is it?

can you kennel him when you're not around to properly train him not to do it?

can you make a makeshift run for him and fence him in with the trees you've already deemed sacrificed?

maybe switch to high fiber dog food?

[wheels]

Is he teething? - He's 3 so not teething. This is something he just started within this summer.

What kind of dog is it? - German Drahthaar

can you kennel him when you're not around to properly train him not to do it? - He is in a run during the day when we're not around. He's either doing it in the morning when we let him out, or at night after we get home. Never caught him doing it. Hate to leave him in that run everytime we're not in the yard. May have to though.

can you make a makeshift run for him and fence him in with the trees you've already deemed sacrificed? - With the exception of the tree rows, which is where his run is (down the middle of a row) there are quite a few trees which are placed sporadically making this pretty tough.

maybe switch to high fiber dog food? - He's eating Eukanuba high performance - not sure if this is high fiber or not.

We used to NEVER use the dog run. Just let him free roam the big yard until he started eating the trees. Now he's in the run during the day.

[eyecatcher01]

im a believer in the shock collar...electricity can make a dog amazingly smart/obedient. it takes some time, for ya cant just slap a collar on and go to town. i would think in cpl days tho you could have him weaned off the 'bark diet'. just start with low setting and move up till ya find a level he respects.

[wiredog]

Sounds like he`s bored. Might need a bunch more exersize. Wirehairs don`t make very good kennel dogs, they need a lot of people contact. They make GREAT house dogs however!! Wiredog

[Morton]

When I was a youth we alway gave our dog a piece of pitch stump ( Fat Wood ) to chew on.
If you can find a solid stump ( Preferrably Pine ) that has not rotted yet you can split it and get some solid "toys" that they can play with or chew on.
Ther pitch makes it different than anything else in their environment.
It may be enough to relocate the behavior.
It also keeps their breath a little fresher.

Morton

[stinkycat]

Originally Posted by Morton

When I was a youth we alway gave our dog a piece of pitch stump ( Fat Wood ) to chew on.
If you can find a solid stump ( Preferrably Pine ) that has not rotted yet you can split it and get some solid "toys" that they can play with or chew on.
Ther pitch makes it different than anything else in their environment.
It may be enough to relocate the behavior.
It also keeps their breath a little fresher.

Morton

Good point Morton. My 11 1/2yr old lab still loves to chew on wood. He has not attacked any trees that I know of but he will destroy a 1' chuck of 2x4 and love doing it. I always thought it must feel good on the teeth and jaw but who knows in the mind of a 11+ year old lab puppy

[fireboat]

Originally Posted by wheels

Is he teething? - He's 3 so not teething. This is something he just started within this summer.

What kind of dog is it? - German Drahthaar

can you kennel him when you're not around to properly train him not to do it? - He is in a run during the day when we're not around. He's either doing it in the morning when we let him out, or at night after we get home. Never caught him doing it. Hate to leave him in that run everytime we're not in the yard. May have to though.

can you make a makeshift run for him and fence him in with the trees you've already deemed sacrificed? - With the exception of the tree rows, which is where his run is (down the middle of a row) there are quite a few trees which are placed sporadically making this pretty tough.

maybe switch to high fiber dog food? - He's eating Eukanuba high performance - not sure if this is high fiber or not.

We used to NEVER use the dog run. Just let him free roam the big yard until he started eating the trees. Now he's in the run during the day.

I had one of these dogs. The first 2 yrs he was the best hunting dog I ever had. Then he began to chew up everything he could get his teeth on. Chewed the all the wires of the AC-heat pump,(too bad the ground wasn't wet) every toy, shoe he could find. Chewed the apple and cheery trees, ate everything that grew in the garden. Finally put up a chain link dog run with a conc floor. Came from from work one day and there was a lot of blood coming from his mouth, that stupid dog tried to chew the chain link fence and broke off most of his teeth. The vet recommended a muzzle. Next day his feet were bleeding (all 4) he was trying to dig through the concrete floor to get out. That dog had his 3rd birthday on a farm 100mi away. I wasn't going to reply but when I saw the breed it brought back bad memories. Sure hope your dog isn't related to the one I had.

[wheels]

Fireboat - what breeder did you get your draht from? Just curious.

Originally Posted by fireboat

I had one of these dogs. The first 2 yrs he was the best hunting dog I ever had. Then he began to chew up everything he could get his teeth on. Chewed the all the wires of the AC-heat pump,(too bad the ground wasn't wet) every toy, shoe he could find. Chewed the apple and cheery trees, ate everything that grew in the garden. Finally put up a chain link dog run with a conc floor. Came from from work one day and there was a lot of blood coming from his mouth, that stupid dog tried to chew the chain link fence and broke off most of his teeth. The vet recommended a muzzle. Next day his feet were bleeding (all 4) he was trying to dig through the concrete floor to get out. That dog had his 3rd birthday on a farm 100mi away. I wasn't going to reply but when I saw the breed it brought back bad memories. Sure hope your dog isn't related to the one I had.