Kingdom of Pets

Posted by Wendy-O
Oct 21, 2008

My dog is now one year old, and until recently never chewed anything. All of a sudden she has decided to chew various things, from my rug/wooden table to my fleece top. I can't think that she is bored. She has various kinds of chews around the house, and she is exercised regularly. The fleece top was chewed whilst I was in the house, the other items were chewed whilst I was away from the house. I really don't know how to tackle this behaviour. Can anyone assist?

Thanks
Wendy

Posted by Maggiesmom1
Oct 24, 2008

I think your dog is sending you a message. You should consider a kennel for her when you are away. I never realized how upset Maggie gets when I leave her until one day I came home and my foyer rug was chewed up! A day later, it was the edge of my bed! I had never "crate trained" her as a young puppy and I was worried about putting her in a kennel/crate. But, it was amazing. With the kennel, when she sees me put my shoes on, she knows its time to go to the kennel. She goes right in and has a safe place to stay to wait on my return. She loves it. She's much less hyper when I return home too. I only use our kennel for this purpose. We all want our dogs to sleep while we are away, not wander around the house looking for things to do. I think your dog is just overly anxious about being home alone.

Posted by Wendy-O
Oct 25, 2008

Thanks for responding. I was wondering if it was an age thing (12 months old) and she would grow out of it. However in the last day she made a hole in the plasterwork in the lounge and ate it. She also ate some of her plastic ball! Some of these things are happening whilst we are at home.

She was brought up in a crate which she does love, however as she still sleeps at night in her crate, I thought she may have had enough of this and welcome more freedom. She is only left for short periods of time on her own in the day. I normally leave her in the conservatory, with plenty of things to do, however it was here that she chewed my table ! I also sometimes leave the door open, so she can explore outside. Any other ideas???

Thanks
Wendy

Posted by Maggiesmom1
Oct 27, 2008

Since its becoming such a problem, I would go ahead and crate her when you leave, esp. since it sounds like you are home most of the time. Putting her in her sleeping crate will let her know you expect her to lay down and rest while you are away. You may only need to do this for a year more, as she gets used to it and gets more mature, you can try leaving her out again. Be sure that she's getting exercised daily--a 30 minute walk/run (even on a treadmill) is great for burning off steam.

You aren't going to enjoy her if she keeps chewing up the house--so do her and yourself a favor and put her in the crate. It will be fine.

Posted by KOPsBecks
Oct 28, 2008

I had a dog who did the same and it was diagnosed as separation anxiety.
He also had problems with following me everywhere when I was home and getting very upset when I would go to leave.
We set about desensitising him to the noises of me leaving, leaving a radio on for him while we were out and putting him on anti-anxiety medication(only briefly). He was a similar age to your dog and I would possibly recommend further action down this path if you think she shows other signs of separation anxiety?

Let me know. I can offer further suggestions.

With regard to the crate/kennel, I think these are great ideas however it was never suggested to me when I was in this situation and I managed to resolve the problem without one. Especially if she is kept in a crate all night then possibly another option to investigate? What about an outside area to be confined to while you are out?

Chewing