Holly is eating the wall!

H

Hollysdad

Forums Novice
She's been eating the plaster off the wall...at first i thought she was just scratching at the wall, but then i caught her. laying on her back against the wall, grinding her teeth against it! She's managed to dig quite large teeth marks into the wall...she knows its naughty because I take her over to it when I discover the evidence (powdered plaster all over the floor) and the ears go back and the eyes look away.

Anybody else having this problem? And what causes it? Have noticed its more prevalent after her weekly lamb shank bone...
 
How old is Holly? My pup Lexi did this when she was teething. I never caught her doing it (she was sneaky) but as soon as I realized what she was doing I made sure that she couldn't get to that location on the wall and kept a really close eye on her. If she even went over towards the wall I gave her an "unh-unh" and she never chewed it again.
 
Barkley ripped the wallboard off our bathroom wall when he was a puppy. With him, I think it was a teething/puppy thing. He did give it up when he got older, thankfully.

Interesting correlation to the lamb shank bone though. I might discontinue the bone and see what happens.
 
I have had a couple of puppies do that before I learned to put a piece of plywood between the crate and the wall. :razz:
 
Tucker did it...although come to find out it was because he wanted to go down to the bedrooms and would chew the wall next to the gate if you went down there and left him on the other side. Now I just take him with me...so I guess I kinda gave into his form of whining...but in the long run I got tired of spackling the wall every month! So I guess you have to pick your battles...:wink2:
 
When Chloe was a puppy she chewed the wood molding by the back door. I am not sure if it was out of boredom, or she wanted in our out. She eventually stopped.
 
It could be a stress release mechanism, like licking she may find it soothing. Chewing is quite a relaxing thing for a dog to do and some are more mouthy than others.

try and work out when she does it, is she bored, is it a particular time of the day or before or after a particular activity? You could try redirecting her chewing on to something else, a rawhide chew or Kong perhaps or something like a nylabone. Every time you see her chewing redirect her mouth on to something else, eventually she should get the idea that when she feels like chewing something she heads for that item. If she does it at particular times give her a kong or rawhide at these times.

If you give her kibble you could try using a food dispenser or make a treat bottle from a plastic drink bottle (cut kibble size holes in it so she can push it around to get the kibble out). That way she can challenge herself and chew her food at the same time.
 
thanks everyone. she's 5, but i've only had her for a year (rescue dog). she has a bunch of chewie toys but will keep an eye out. usually when i'm not home to catch her...and not that often. she's moved to a new wall tho now...*sigh*
 
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