# Chewing and Carrying Shoes/Slippers



## Enzos_Mom (Apr 8, 2010)

Goldens like to chew. Maybe you should just put your slippers and shoes in the closet when you're not wearing them??


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## Dallas Gold (Dec 22, 2007)

We ended up putting our shoes away. I put mine in the closet, where they should be, and hubby elevated his on top of an armoire, where they shouldn't be, and sometimes he forgets and leaves them on the floor. Anyway, hubby also leaves the closet door open from time to time and Toby grabs my shoes. Instead of chasing him around in a game of chase, we found the best thing to do is say Treat, then call him to us and exchange the shoe for the treat. It works! We keep treats in several rooms of the house just for this purpose. It's easier than training the husband to put his shoes in the closet and keep the closet door closed.


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## nolefan (Nov 6, 2009)

Sorry to be a downer, but I have to agree with previous two posters. They give great advice. #1 You own a retriever and when he is bored or wants attention he will look for something to retrieve. The shoes of his favorite people are big favorites! The whole family needs to put their things away. #2 The trade is an awesome thing to teach. 

Hang in there! Our last puppy probably destroyed 17 pairs of flip flops before my family finally learned to quit leaving their things on the kitchen floor!


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## Molly's Mum (Apr 1, 2011)

If you chase the dog to get the shoe back it makes the game even more fun. As others have said, keep the shoes put away so your dog can't get to them in the first place. If he does get your shoe don't make it into a game by chasing him, rather trade him the shoe for something else more interesting.


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## Florabora22 (Nov 30, 2008)

Do you leave toys around for him? My dog likes to greet people with something in her mouth, and when there's nothing else available, she will choose a shoe to carry around. She doesn't chew them, but she sure will slobber all over them! I always make sure to have toys about so when she picks up a shoe I can tell her to "get a toy!" and she'll drop the shoe and go scrambling for a toy instead.


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## Lil_Burke (Aug 14, 2010)

Ahh, this is totally normal. Sawyer loves to do this too and prefers to be chased when he has one in his mouth. He will only chew shoes if we leave him alone with him so we basically have to keep all footwear in the closet or out of reach. You won't see any shoes in our house -they are all hidden!


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## Willow52 (Aug 14, 2009)

My Maggie (RIP) was a shoe chewer/carrier. As she got older she didn't destroy them, just "mouthed" them. But who wants sloppery slippers?! We learned to keep all shoes put away.


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## Elisabeth Kazup (Aug 23, 2008)

Perfectly normal Golden behavior, excitement and joy to see you!

I gave Penny a pair of slippers for her own and we play the chase game when I feel like it. She was never a chewer, she would steal the prize just to start the game. If she had been a chewer, I'd have put all the slippers away except for 'her' slippers. She goes nuts when I get out my kitty slippers. They have kitty heads on the toes with a meow squeaker in the ears. OMG, better be sitting down 'cause I'll be falling down. They are the most fun!!

Happily, you will never break your Golden of her playful spirit or joy at seeing you when you come home. They are hard-wired that way. You have to find a way to morph it into something that is mutually satisfying to you both.

btw, Penny loves slippers and sock best if human feet are still in them. :doh:


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## andiwaslike (Feb 25, 2011)

Thank you for the tips! 


We're trying to keep our shoes somewhere out of his reach. It's been quite successful so far. We actually don't have a shoe rack (not that popular here) so that should be on our next shopping list.
I tried exchanging the slippers/shoes with his favorite treat but instead of dropping the slipper, he just pranced around like a girlfriend on the beach wanting to be chased. I guess I'll have to try again and see if he'll budge.
The chasing thing is actually mostly done by my mother. Funny though cause she doesn't like dogs and was really against us getting a puppy but she's come to love our Golden puppy so much. She chases him cause it seems to be fun for the dog. When I watch TV they'd run around the living room and be like kids.
Bought him a squeaky chicken that's about the same size as our slippers. It seems like he likes it and when I arrive home, he no longer looks for the slippers but the chicken instead. He still won't give it to me though but it's much better so I chase him and give him a reward for it.


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## nolefan (Nov 6, 2009)

andiwaslike said:


> The chasing thing is actually mostly done by my mother. Funny though cause she doesn't like dogs and was really against us getting a puppy but she's come to love our Golden puppy so much. She chases him cause it seems to be fun for the dog. When I watch TV they'd run around the living room and be like kids.
> [/QUOTE]
> I love hearing this about your mom.... it makes me think of one of my best friends who didn't think she was a dog person until she had one of her own. (kind of like children, a lot of times you prefer your own to other people's) Now my friend says she has no idea how she ever lived without her 'Emmie Girl.' Love to hear about another Golden convert
> 
> p.s. if your puppy doesn't want to trade it means your treat isn't high enough value for him. Find something he absolutely flips over. Maybe peanut butter or hot dog to offer for the really important stuff like trade or 'come'. My puppy loves a brand called Bil-jac. They make soft liver treats that I can cut in half and also have a frozen dog food that is soft and I form into bite sized pieces. It's nasty smelling to me, but my puppy LOVES it and will just fall over trying to please me and get the treat.


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## Selli-Belle (Jan 28, 2009)

What, your Golden is not supposed to walk around carrying your slippers? How about your socks, can they carry your socks or your hats? Uh Oh, I will have to talk to my pups about that.

Luckily Selli and Duff don't destroy stuff (unless I tell them they can), but as far as I am concerned the carrying stuff around is one of the joys of having a Triever. Duffy is an Artiste and likes arranging shoes and boots in an aesthetically pleasing manner.


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## Muddypaws (Apr 20, 2009)

My Sheltie only ate the insoles of my shoes... at least I could replace that part. Darby ate several pairs of slippers before I got him to learn to trade up. It took awhile but he got it.

Your Golden should have a few toys to play with and trade with. Start teaching him to "drop it" for a high value treat. No chasing that game is always more fun the a treat. If you have started training classes now is the time, engage his brain and it will help AND get your Mom involved with training him. She won't realize it but she will be in training too. 

After that I can't give advice re: Mom's.... after 4 Goldens I am still trying to train Mom but she just smiles at and does want she wants while spoiling the dogs.... Mine and hers!!


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## Charlie1 (Oct 23, 2010)

LOL!!! Charlie grabs any shoe of anyone who comes in the door, does that special Golden greeting, whining, growling all the while circling you and through the house. I have training him to leave it, but when he is at the height of excitement, I enforce leaving guests shoes alone, and give him one of my crocks.


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## quilter (Sep 12, 2011)

Do you mean like this? I've found that if I ignore him long enough, he puts the shoes back where he found them.


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## FlyingQuizini (Oct 24, 2006)

Sounds like you're making some progress. 

As for your mom, you might want to consider that chasing a dog does terrible things to the ability to teach them to come when called. Dogs do enjoy being chased, but that's deathly inconvenient when he's gotten loose and someone goes to try and collect him, and he thinks he can start a "chase me" game. Better to see if your mom can get the pup to chase her. It can be just as much fun for the pup and a lot safer in the long run.


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