So my family’s dog has a habit of chewing things, mainly TV remotes. She’s destroyed three Roku remotes (two original and one of the replacement remotes), and virtually lobotomized the living room TV remote (circuitry exposed and everything). It’s costing me a lot to keep replacing these, and I was wondering if there were any techniques I could use to dog-proof my remotes so she won’t chew them (aside from putting them out of reach; we do this but sometimes forget to). I was thinking something along the lines of a really sour/bitter/disgusting tasting coating that I could spray onto the remotes (like how Nintendo Switch cartridges are covered in a similar substance to prevent ingestion).
Do you have children? Do others use the remote? Do you want to handle a poisoned remote and then scratch your eye inadvertently?
All ideas about coatings are bad ones. Don’t.
You must hide them from view of the dog at all times. Keep it in a large tin or opaque container. Get a big box with a lid and a hasp. Keep it in a cooking mitt.
Unless you have a well-trained dog and you are a good dog trainer, it is not easy to extinguish n unwanted behavior in a home pet. Don’t ever harm the animal by using offensive materials.
You have to learn new behaviors, as the dog has your current ones down solid, and it’s easier, much easier, to change your behavior. Make the effort to keep them out of sight. Best of luck!
Use an old remote for the pepper coating, or whatever you use, one that you’ll never use yourself so you don’t accidentally hurt your nose, eyes, or balls. For a week or two leave that one out when you’re not in the room and hide the real remotes on a shelf or something. You can’t forget and leave the real remotes out.
The dog will learn that remotes taste bad and eventually you can leave an untainted remote out without it getting destroyed.
I like to put all of my potential things that can be messed with on high places or places that pets can’t get to them. For your problem, though, cats and dogs aren’t a huge fan of oranges (they are primarily used to help to keep feral cats away from your home), so giving it some sort of orange smell will probably be a helpful deterrent.
