HunterDoggy Posted February 6, 2019 Share Posted February 6, 2019 I need advice about what to do with my dog who won’t stop chewing. He is our second dog, we got him almost a month ago. He is a year and four months old so he isn’t a puppy / teething anymore so I don’t know why he keeps chewing! I get that some dogs are chewers and maybe that’s just him but I need advice on what to do about it. He chews almost anything - pillows, blankets, clothes, phone chargers, glasses! He has ripped up bits on my new rug, he has ruined the pillows on the couch, he even steals clothes out of the laundry basket and drags them into the lounge room. Today I have caught him starting to chew on a corner of a cupboard! I can deal with the small things but I really don’t want him ruined my furniture! When we leave the house we shut all doors and puts pillows, etc up so he can’t get them but I’m not sure what else to do. Any advice is appreciated! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
persephone Posted February 7, 2019 Share Posted February 7, 2019 1 hour ago, HunterDoggy said: I need advice about what to do with my dog who won’t stop chewing. He is our second dog, we got him almost a month ago Oh Dear ... Can you give us some background to work with ? What breed of dog ? Where did you get him ? What were his living conditions at his previous home ? Why did his previous ownder need to rehome him ? What is his daily timetable at your hour house like ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HunterDoggy Posted February 7, 2019 Author Share Posted February 7, 2019 1 hour ago, persephone said: Oh Dear ... Can you give us some background to work with ? What breed of dog ? Where did you get him ? What were his living conditions at his previous home ? Why did his previous ownder need to rehome him ? What is his daily timetable at your hour house like ? He is a cavalier king charles. I got him from the breeder he grew up with, he was rehomed because the breeder had managed to keep too many dogs and decided it was time to rehome some. The breeder was very upset to let him go, he is a very sweet dog (minus the chewing!). At the breeders home they have free range of outside and had a doggy door to inside the house. The breeder did have dog/baby gates around the house so the dogs were only allowed in the kitchen and lounge area. At our house a day is typically my husband and myself leaving for work early morning, I return home two hours later, take the dogs for a walk and then am with them until 3pm. They are then alone from 3pm until about 4:45pm. They are inside dogs, we had a good backyard where they are free to go out whenever needed. When they are left alone, like I said in the above post, we close all bedroom/bathroom/laundry doors when we leave the house leaving the dogs free to roam the kitchen and lounge room but obviously I can’t manage to get everything out of his chewing reach! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tassie Posted February 7, 2019 Share Posted February 7, 2019 The chewing could be caused by anything .. we can't ask the dog (unfortunately),, so we can only guess. A question .. does he only steal and chew things while you're out, or while you're home and watching him? I guess in any case, I'd be looking at management so that you can try to nip this in the bud before it becomes more of a habit. If he were my dog, I would be buying a metal x-pen that you can confine him in when you can't actively supervise. I'd be feeding him via a frozen feeder of some kind after he's been outside for early morning toilet. Then when you leave, he goes into his x pen with his frozen food, and maybe a safe chew toy or a meaty bone. When you come back from your walk, if you can't actively supervise, I would be having him either in his x pen, or outside. If you have the time, I would be doing some training with him .. teaching him tricks for instance. Then when you go out again, back in his xpen with a frozen treat. Without seeing your dog, it's hard to know, but I'd be applying one of the basic rule of dog training … try to avoid having the dog rehearse behaviours you really don't want to see again . You haven't said where he sleeps at night .. I would be inclined to have him sleeping in a crate .. again because you can't actively supervise. At his age, he will get through the night just fine, as long as you don't give him access to water too late in the evening, and you take him out for bedtime toilet. Treat for when he goes to bed is fine. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HunterDoggy Posted February 7, 2019 Author Share Posted February 7, 2019 7 minutes ago, Tassie said: The chewing could be caused by anything .. we can't ask the dog (unfortunately),, so we can only guess. A question .. does he only steal and chew things while you're out, or while you're home and watching him? I guess in any case, I'd be looking at management so that you can try to nip this in the bud before it becomes more of a habit. If he were my dog, I would be buying a metal x-pen that you can confine him in when you can't actively supervise. I'd be feeding him via a frozen feeder of some kind after he's been outside for early morning toilet. Then when you leave, he goes into his x pen with his frozen food, and maybe a safe chew toy or a meaty bone. When you come back from your walk, if you can't actively supervise, I would be having him either in his x pen, or outside. If you have the time, I would be doing some training with him .. teaching him tricks for instance. Then when you go out again, back in his xpen with a frozen treat. Without seeing your dog, it's hard to know, but I'd be applying one of the basic rule of dog training … try to avoid having the dog rehearse behaviours you really don't want to see again . You haven't said where he sleeps at night .. I would be inclined to have him sleeping in a crate .. again because you can't actively supervise. At his age, he will get through the night just fine, as long as you don't give him access to water too late in the evening, and you take him out for bedtime toilet. Treat for when he goes to bed is fine. Thank you for your reply. I appreciate it. It is very hard to introduce treats / raw meats / bones to help as our other dog has serious mental health issues and isn’t good with food so for this reason we don’t do bones, treats, ect. Both dogs sleep in the bed with us. We don’t have any issues at night time, he sleeps very well and rarely moves off the bed until morning. He mostly steals things when we’re out but does do it in front of us aswell. The other morning I laid out my clothes for the day and a minute later he ran off with my bra.. then today he was biting the cupboard in front of me about 20 mins after I arrived back home. They have a lot of toys which are always in the lounge room ready to play with. This includes different chew toys of different textures. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diva Posted February 7, 2019 Share Posted February 7, 2019 He sounds a bit bored and understimulated to me. So he is making his own fun. I’d start trick training, taking walks in new locations, and generally being a bit more out and about. He is young, he needs to do stuff and exercise his mind as well as his body. Just my opinion. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jemappelle Posted February 7, 2019 Share Posted February 7, 2019 I agree with Diva, Cavs are smart dogs and need mental stimulation as well as exercise. I've taught my girl how to fetch and then keep upping the game, eg, first of all she had to drop it at my feet, then we worked on siting calmly before I would throw it and now she has to make eye contact before I will throw it. There are lots of 'brain games' and tricks online. I also find that mental stimulation is more tiring than the physical. Also, one month isn't a long time for a dog to settle. Good luck and you sound like a great dog owner. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HunterDoggy Posted February 7, 2019 Author Share Posted February 7, 2019 1 hour ago, Diva said: He sounds a bit bored and understimulated to me. So he is making his own fun. I’d start trick training, taking walks in new locations, and generally being a bit more out and about. He is young, he needs to do stuff and exercise his mind as well as his body. Just my opinion. Thanks for your comment. You may be right, I’m not sure. I don’t really know what trick training is so I’ll have a look into it. I take him out whenever I can, not just walks but visits to people’s houses, just for a drive in the car, ect but maybe he just needs some extra. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HunterDoggy Posted February 7, 2019 Author Share Posted February 7, 2019 35 minutes ago, jemappelle said: I agree with Diva, Cavs are smart dogs and need mental stimulation as well as exercise. I've taught my girl how to fetch and then keep upping the game, eg, first of all she had to drop it at my feet, then we worked on siting calmly before I would throw it and now she has to make eye contact before I will throw it. There are lots of 'brain games' and tricks online. I also find that mental stimulation is more tiring than the physical. Also, one month isn't a long time for a dog to settle. Good luck and you sound like a great dog owner. Thank you for your lovely comment. That’s nice to hear. He does play a lot with toys and we always play fetch but he doesn’t quite get it yet. He will run for the ball/toy then if he gets it he will just run away and sit on top of it. I’m not sure if that’s just to keep it from my other boy? Hahah. So we’ll keep working on that but I’ll have a google what other things I can find to keep him busy. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juice Posted February 7, 2019 Share Posted February 7, 2019 How often does he go for a walk ? Is he crate trained ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sheena Posted February 7, 2019 Share Posted February 7, 2019 I would be separating them at feed time & giving them both a good meaty bone to chew. something like half a frozen turkey neck. It sounds like he doesn't get enough "good" things to chew. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HunterDoggy Posted February 7, 2019 Author Share Posted February 7, 2019 1 hour ago, juice said: How often does he go for a walk ? Is he crate trained ? We don’t use crates. I also don’t think it would be fair to put him in a crate while the other dog is out and about. We go for a walk every day, unless the weather is too hot which can happy every now and again at the moment but I try and get out as early as possible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HunterDoggy Posted February 7, 2019 Author Share Posted February 7, 2019 1 hour ago, sheena said: I would be separating them at feed time & giving them both a good meaty bone to chew. something like half a frozen turkey neck. It sounds like he doesn't get enough "good" things to chew. I do already seperate them at feeding time but bones just aren’t an option at the moment due to my other dogs mental health issues. I’m not going to go into it but he is getting help, ect. So for now I can’t really do that. Even if I put this dog outside with a bone it would cause issues. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Papillon Kisses Posted February 7, 2019 Share Posted February 7, 2019 Has he had a thorough vet check? It could be a medical problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sheena Posted February 7, 2019 Share Posted February 7, 2019 35 minutes ago, HunterDoggy said: I do already seperate them at feeding time but bones just aren’t an option at the moment due to my other dogs mental health issues. I’m not going to go into it but he is getting help, ect. So for now I can’t really do that. Even if I put this dog outside with a bone it would cause issues. Can you elaborate on why you can't give your dog a bone outside on his own without the other dog?? It seems your dog is craving something to chew on & the only thing he can find is your stuff. Even giving him a frozen stuffed kong would help with his desire to chew. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
persephone Posted February 7, 2019 Share Posted February 7, 2019 4 minutes ago, sheena said: Can you elaborate on why you can't give your dog a bone outside on his own without the other dog?? It is pretty full-on explanations here : CLICK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HunterDoggy Posted February 7, 2019 Author Share Posted February 7, 2019 12 minutes ago, persephone said: It is pretty full-on explanations here : CLICK Thank you. I was hesitant to even post today but thought I may get some answers. Apart from the chewing issues, everything else has been good. I’m happy to report the boys get on amazing! They are currently on the floor having a nap together. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HunterDoggy Posted February 7, 2019 Author Share Posted February 7, 2019 22 minutes ago, sheena said: Can you elaborate on why you can't give your dog a bone outside on his own without the other dog?? It seems your dog is craving something to chew on & the only thing he can find is your stuff. Even giving him a frozen stuffed kong would help with his desire to chew. Feel free to have a read of the link above Sheena but I’m not really here to chat about my other dog as it’s a very emotional subject for me. I have got some suggestions and I will take them on board to help with the chewing. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tassie Posted February 7, 2019 Share Posted February 7, 2019 @HunterDoggy, have a look on YouTube for training ideas. I know he's not technically a puppy, but you can look for ideas under puppy training. Some suggestions .. have a look at Kikopup and Donna Hill. And you can grow the toy game you have at present, with encouraging him to chase you .. especially if you have another toy you can swap. Dogs usually like playing chasey games .. for our sake .. we should always have them chasing us, and rewarding (with play is fine) when they catch us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HunterDoggy Posted February 7, 2019 Author Share Posted February 7, 2019 8 minutes ago, Tassie said: @HunterDoggy, have a look on YouTube for training ideas. I know he's not technically a puppy, but you can look for ideas under puppy training. Some suggestions .. have a look at Kikopup and Donna Hill. And you can grow the toy game you have at present, with encouraging him to chase you .. especially if you have another toy you can swap. Dogs usually like playing chasey games .. for our sake .. we should always have them chasing us, and rewarding (with play is fine) when they catch us. Thank you Tassie. I’ll give that a go 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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