going through another chewing stage with Olly, in the past 2 weeks he's gone through the curtain tie's, kitchen cupboard corners, remote control, wall paper, plasterboard, skirting board, banister, a very expensive rug and today.......... a dinner plate sized hole in the living room carpet!
I have left him on his own for a couple of hours a few times and he's been good as gold yet another time he could set to work on something after only 5mins, he may do it when im at sainsburys for 30 mins or even if im in the shower. I know the sensible thing would be to crate him while im out but i cant do it every time im out of the room, he already gets crated overnight and i dont want him to think of it as a prison. As i write this he has started chewing at the carpet behind my back, so now i've caught him in the act for the second time today, both times he has got a scolding.
Why is he doing this now?
He has plenty of chew toys of all different textures, could it be boredom? Maybe he need more exercise?, he's 9 months and gets a 30-40min walk every evening, would it be better to walk him for 20mins in the morning and again in the evening?
You don't say if you're doing any training/playtime with Olly but if he's only having 30-40 minuets of stimulation each day then he's certainly bored!
Millie is on restricted walks after being spayed - and it's like having a puppy in the house again! She's gone through the insoles of 2 pairs of shoes, my boot jack, the yellow pages, other assorted bits of paper and instructions, plant pots and other random things! I've had to get her crate back out for when I leave her - but I only have to pop into the other room and she's making up her own entertainment! I can't wait for her to be signed off to start proper walks again - I don't think my sanity will last much longer! (we're doing lots of training, food in Kongs/wobblers, rawhide chews etc, but she's just bored at the enforced rest )
I think you are daft for letting him get to the stage he is chewing stuff! If you don't crate him through the day, he is going to ruin your house and likely damage himself in the process.
I will tell you that Pasco has accrued vet bills in excess of £7 thousand pounds because he chewed a towel when we were out of the house. He was a very poorly dog and we nearly lost him.
Crate him through the day when you can not supervise him or run the risk of him hurting himself. Its that simple! He does not associate the crate negatively and will not see it as a prison if you continue to create positive associations with it. You are the only one that sees it that way.
You can open the crate in our house and any one of three dogs, or all three will run because they all want to be in their. Its safe, nothing bad happens to them, they get food and after a while we come back and let them out and they get a big fuss again.
What is currently happening...... you are leaving him, you come back you shout at him for whatever he's chewed..... he's not happy, you are not happy.
I know which I would rather have.
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I fully agree with Fee. Crate him whenever you cannot watch him, even if it is only for a few minutes when you leave the room. It will help break the chewing habit, or at the very least stop it from becoming even more engrained. You are running a huge risk at that age if you don't.
At some point or another he may well chew something dangerous, like an electric cable. Or he will get hold of and perhaps swallow something else that could poison him or block his intestines if he gets the chance.
Crate, crate, and crate again. Allow him to roam crate free only when you are willing to watch him, so that you can remove anything you would rather he didn't have if he gets hold of it.
9 months is still often a fairly chewy stage (some might even still be growing their adult teeth), though it often fades a bit as they mature more. Charlie was nearer to 18 months old before I could dare to trust him if left out of the crate, and even then he was still crated overnight for a further six months.
Dogs often feel secure in crates in much the same way as they seem to under a desk or table. They like it as their den, and it isn't a prison.
He is still only a puppy and at the age when Chewing often starts in ernest, even if they haven't chewed before. It seems to be once they get their adult teeth through, they feel the need to chew until all their teeth find their right positions, so it isn't so much about destruction as them needing to chomp on something.
The simple solution is to give him plenty of things to chew on to fulfill that desire. I find raw beef bones a good one, as they keep their jaws occupied for hours. I know not all people like to feed raw bones though. Other people will give big rawhide sticks (not the ones with the knots on the ends, as they come off and are big enough to cause an obstruction of swallowed), to satsify this urge. Failing that putting some of his food in a treat ball to keep him busy, or inside a cardboard box (inside a box, inside another box) which means they can rip, tear, chew, etc but do no damage to your house, is a good one.
I must admit if mine have been going through an Impish Stage, then I tend to take them with me wherever I go indoors, so I can keep an eye on them. So if I have a shower, the pup comes too. If I'm hanging washing out, then pup is right with me, etc, etc.... a bit like having a toddler really.
If I have to go out or if I REALLY can't keep an eye on them, then they go in their crates. Like you though, I don't like crating them much during the daytime....to be honest, I don't really like crating them overnight either and I am always eager to decrate them as young as possible. But at least I know they are safe while I'm not around, until they are old enough that I can trust them.
He has always chewed his blankets and bedding however this was as far as it went apart from a few small misshaps (to be expected with a pup). It just seems as though he has become very destructive almost over night hence why i thought he may be bored or under stimulated.
From your replies it seems its acceptable to crate him anytime im not near him, i will give this a go and positively reinforce him spending time in his crate along with an added morning walk.
Just this morning I removed all bedding from Pascos crate (again!) - age three! He once more ripped the vet bed to bits and ate it. He spent most of last night pacing and stretching and generally being miserable until finally he threw up his dinner, followed by a pile of torn up vet bed. Now he has a frozen kong, a nylabone AND a boredom buddy in there! He chooses to tear his bed up and eat it! Some dogs just do chew.
Hopefully you will manage to break that desire to chew things as he grows up. But don't be worried about having to crate him for his own safety. Its not at all cruel, it is by far the kindest thing.
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Like Fee i used to crate CJ even if I just went to the toilet because he needed no time to start chewing, he even did it one day while I was in and almost on top of him!, I didn`t hear him but got up from the puter to find plaster allover the kitchen floor and a big gap in the wall.
I can leave him now while upstairs and he`ll sleep on the sofa or woof at the gate but I still crate him if I`m going out as I`m not that sure he`d behave for a couple of hours or more, he`s 7 now
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