We have a 9 month old miniature dachshund named Maggie who has some annoying behavioral habits that are pushing my husband and me to the point of considering getting rid of her. She is very, very energetic, but we're getting used to this aspect of her personality. We are both retired, ages 56 and 41, and are home most of every day, and we try to spend time playing with her each day to help expel some of this energy.
PROBLEM 1: Lately she has become quite destructive, chewing up nearly all of her toys (in addition to any shoes, magazines, napkins, etc. left within her reach). We tell her firmly "NO", removing the item when it is inappropriate and give her a rawhide chew or her nylar bone instead, but she insists on grabbing most anything she can find around the house and running under our love seat with it to chew it to smitheries.
PROBLEM 2: This is the biggest problem. Maggie will not come to us when we call her (whether inside or out). She only comes to us when she wants to. We live in a rural area, and much too often when we go outside with her, she runs into the woods on either side of our yard (sometimes chasing a squirrel or deer, or sometimes for seemingly no reason) and will not come back until she's ready. There are a couple of chow dogs living adjacent to our property, and I'm so afraid she'll wander over to where they stay, or run up to the road and get hit by a car. I hate to have to keep her on a leash for the rest of her life whenever she's outside, but it also bothers me that she won't ever come to me when she is called, no matter where we are (inside or out).
Is there anything we can do to change this behavior? Any help you could give would be greatly appreciated. -Anonymous

Training, training, training! She needs to be on leash at all times until you can trust her off leash. You need to reward her when she finally does come back. Try walking her on a 50 foot rope; then you can give her room and enforce & reward the "come" command. Also, at 8 - 10 months most puppies go through a destructive phase. Use a leash to help enforce the "no" and "drop it" commands. This is very useful. She may soon get better; they tend to grow out of it. Good luck. As for the chewing, applying bitter apple creme on objects she should not touch may help.

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