Chewing

[Alfie'sMom]

I didn't know how good I had with my angel sheltie Gabby until we got Alfie.

I was lurking and reading different posts and didn't realize that in the meantime Alfie chewed on my jackets zipper - I will not be able to wear it anymore, he got it good (or bad I should say).

Two days ago he grabbed my eyeglasses, managed to take one lance out of the frame and destroyed it totally.

Those are just two examples. I have many more.

On those occasions I close my eyes and remember Gabby - all 10 years she was with us she never destroyed anything - not one thing.

Now I know that she was an exception not the rule - Alfie is normal.

And I know that all his chewing - he is not to be blamed.

I also know that even if somebody came to my house and told me that there was another dog just like Gabby and they can replace Alfie with that dog I would never agree to that.

I love that rascal dearly - I just have to learn to hide everything valuable and watch him like a hawk.

He has a lot of toys to chew and bull sticks (so darn expensive) and hoofs, but, I guess, thing that are not his are more attractive.

And,what is very interesting, he doesn't chew or try to destroy things when he is alone in the house.

I let him stay in the living room while we are gone and he's been a good boy, so far.

I don't know if I should trust him in the future, though. He is almost 7 month old and he is more confident then he used to be couple of months ago. But for now I take my chance.

 

[BarbV]

Ah, the dreadful 7 months!

Bacca was at the height of his chewing at that age. I had to remove every pillow and cushion that he could get at unsupervised because he was destroying everyone! I still have them tucked away even though he seems to have moved off being a chewing-machine!

Indy at almost 12 months - loves to chew hard things - plastic, wood, wicker baskets, ball point pens. He's getting better but I still have to do a "sweep" several times a day to ensure he can't fnd something nibbly.

Because I do not totally trust my dogs yet, I crate them when I'm gone, but no longer crate them at night.

 

[romeosangiovese]

Oh! Romeo destroyed a pair of my eyeglasses too. I went to get the cheapest pair available as a replacement, just in case!!!
Lotsa exercises and things to keep them busy (love buster cube and dog pyramid) helped keep Romeo from putting holes or chew marks on everything in the house!

 

[Tango]

Chewing was the one behavior we were unprepared for with Tex! The breakfast table, area rug in our living room, but the one that took the cake for me were the three different holes he chewed in the sheetrock of our walls! We've had puppies before and no strangers to chewing but this was a bit ridiculous . Of course all the incidents occurred when he was unsupervised so I have no one to blame except myself!

We did as Romeo says - lots of exercise, lots of chew toys. We've greatly expanded our list ot chew items for Tex besides the usual treat in a kong approach: hooves, raw-hides, all sorts of bones etc. etc. Shelties are just so smart and curious!

Tex is just about 18 months now. He seemed to get less chewy around 14 months or so. We either penned him or crate him in the evenings for bed-time but now starting to let him sleep wherever he likes at bedtime.

 

[labgirl]

Ah, chewing...Cadbury had the corner of the wall (well, it as handy, right next to his basket so he could relax and chew at the same time) the door frame, a couple of cupboards, SHOES!!!!

But the best one of all time was when he pulled off and consumed every push button knob on the cooker. Had them replaced left the kitchen for 5 mins to pay the man - all gone again.

Some dogs.

 

[myminpins]

Titan has raw bones and toys to chew on. So far, he hasn't destroyed anything but he's crate all night and any time he cannot be supervised and will be until he is quite a bit older. He also has two others to learn from (though they're not perfect, either!) which probably helps.

The best thing to do is crate them when you can't watch them until you are sure they're reliable.

 

[Alfie'sMom]

Recently chewed things by my precious Alfie : another pair of glasses (this time $5.00 worth, thank God- the first cost me 80 bucks to fix), couple of pencils, old remote control, an envelope with money I just got from my bank (I caught him early enough so he didn't have time to get the money) and what got me really scared - he grabbed a piece of fabric with a needle and I thought that he swallowed the needle (he didn't, but I almost called my vet to schedule an x-ray for him).

All this happened when I was home and left him for couple of minutes unsupervised.

I'm good at putting things away where he cannot reach, but once in a while I forget and he is right there to take it. He has a ton of chew toys, but those are boring, I guess. So now I try to teach him to leave thing alone. And it is going to be a looooong process, but what else can I do. I don't want to crate him when I'm home, but some days, I think, it is going to be an only option.

But I still love him to pieces

 

[SuzieQ1960]

That's nothing! Fangus (real name Aonghus) chews my floor at tries to pull my tiles up. How do you hide an entire floor? Lol! Also, he and my parent's boy, Henry, try to pull the grout out from between the tiles on their raised stove hearth! Crazy dogs!!!!

 

[Chris]

Bits is three years old and still, once in a while, she walks off with a slipper to munch!