Elizabeth - posted on 11/23/2011 ( 12 moms have responded )
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I posted this in Positive Behavior Strategies, but I decided that maybe I could get some help here.
SPECIFIC PROBLEM: He is chewing on my mom's shoes while they are on her. (We live with her) Normally he chews on the laces but sometimes the sole and if there are no laces he chews on whatever he can get too. This has been going on for 2 months now and is getting worse. It is unsanitary as well as frustrating mom more and more.
He is perputally teething. Since the end of August he has cut 7 teeth and is working on 4 more right now. He chews on EVERYTHING. The steps, door frames, chair legs, coffee table, cabinent pulls, even the strip on the floor between rooms, if he can put it in his mouth he chews or even chomps on it. He has at least a dozen teethers and they all get used. The only thing I want to correct is his chewing on shoes. (He chews on others shoes too, just he favors my mom's shoes to an extreme.)
WHAT I HAVE TRIED: He knows "don't bite" and he knows that he is not allowed to chew on certain things, but he is not easily disuaded.
Distracting him with play and other things to chew on including things with shoelace type strings.
Offering him something brand new to explore.
Giving him a teething type bisquit.
Our most recent attempt is to remove him from the room everytime his mouth touches her shoe. It is a swift silent removal. He is set down and then I walk away, and sit in his path to her and try to get him distracted on his way back.
Nothing does any good, as soon as he is able, he makes a beeline straight to mom's shoes (unless he decides that someones shoes will work.)
WHAT I WONT TRY. Putting him in his walker so he can't reach her shoes. The walker is for emergency when he really wants to walk and our backs are too tired and sore from the multiple times we have helped him. We don't want him to have negative associations with it.
Same with not wanting negetive associations with his playpen. It is used in the late spring and summer almost every weekend for sleeping in because we go away.
Mom needs to keep her shoes on so removing temptation is not an option. She is the only one that always has her shoes on which may be the reason he goes to her. Even if she is up walking, there are many times that as soon as she stands still for a moment, he is right there on the shoes.
Spanking or my physically restraining him is not an option either.
I'M CONSIDERING: I'm taking into consideration putting something on the shoes which is yucky tasting, but I'm not quite sold on the idea. Besides as of right now, I can't think of anything that would be yucky tasting yet has no harmful affects to him. I'm concerned that lemon juice or vinager would be to acidic for him. (I sometimes get mouth blisters from acidic foods.)
HELP. A large chunk of my day is spent taking him away from mom's shoes. I need to find a way to train my little puppy, I mean son.
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