Puppy ADD Chewing

[mtoy]

Argh! Link is a great puppy, but his chewing is driving me nuts! I have him and Millie in my office while I'm working along with piles of dog toys. he goes from toy to toy to toy, gets bored, then chews on everything else, like my desk chair, millie's rug, the carpeting, etc... I put bitter apple on stuff only to have him chew anyway. I don't want to crate him during this time, as I run errands in the afternoon so I crate him then. We just came in from running round outside but he's still doing it. Kongs don't hold him very long either. Is there anything that works?

[sutulu]

Nyla bones and bully sticks?

I hate to say it but two dogs do tire each other out.......

[corgimom]

http://www.redbarninc.com/c-13-natural-bones.aspx

Check out the white bones here or look at the filled white bones - these may be something that you could use and he would be interested it. You still have to supervise him with chewing, but they are very hard. There is also something out there called a Chilly Bone with a canvas material on it and you get it wet and then freeze it - maybe that would also be something to occupy his time.

I buy the white bones from Petco or Pet Supply Plus

I know I read somewhere where someone suggested soaking one of those chew ropes in low sodium chicken broth and that their dog liked that.

Cody was not a chewer, but spent a great deal of his first two weeks stealing our laundry and slippers.:)

[mtoy]

We have Nylabones - lots of them, all kinds. He has a favorite but that is over in about 3 minutes. The bully sticks - do they get the carpet yucky? They look smoked, which would stink up the room real quick. In desperation I bought a bag of plain rawhides today at Target. Both the dogs are munching on them now, Millie looks like she could do it forever but Link is his typical ADD puppy-boy, although he keeps returning to it. I hope the rawhides are safe.

We had one of those white bones for Millie a few years ago, but she made the most terrible noises with it. It sounded like she was cracking her teeth so I got rid of it. She did end up with a cracked tooth, don't know if it was that or a nylabone or something else.

I think I'll get one of those food dispensing toys, it sounds like it might work good.

[The Chipmunk's Mom]

I took Linda's advice and bought three of those white bones and they have lastest my guys a long time and the chewing has about stopped other then on their bones. They seem to work great for us.

[taflar]

Argh! Link is a great puppy, but his chewing is driving me nuts! I have him and Millie in my office while I'm working along with piles of dog toys. he goes from toy to toy to toy, gets bored, then chews on everything else, like my desk chair, millie's rug, the carpeting, etc... I put bitter apple on stuff only to have him chew anyway. I don't want to crate him during this time, as I run errands in the afternoon so I crate him then. We just came in from running round outside but he's still doing it. Kongs don't hold him very long either. Is there anything that works?

How old is he? Chewing is normal for puppies. It's how they relive the pain of teething and get the old teeth to come out and new teeth in.

If you can't watch him, you'll have to confine him with something he can chew.

Puppies like young children can have very short attention spans. Also normal.

Peggy

[Dillydoodle]

For Dillon when he was in his chewing phase of puppyhood... he got 1) a chillybone - which you wet and freeze and it relieves some of the discomfort in their mouths -you can find a description here:
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=1518&Ntt=chillybone&Ntk=All&Ntx=mode+matchallpartial&Np=1&pc=1&N=0&Nty=1

I tried rawhide with Dillon and it was bad news, he chews it and ends up choking on it every single time, we tried the pressed dingo bones and the knot raw hide dingo bones and the flat rawhide chips, and all them were choking hazzards for him and also he would get the runs from them, so they were out for us, now i did use the white bones, and Dillon showed little interest in them, however, i got the granola bones ( which the outside IS sticky, i start them out on the deck for half hour until they lick the outide clean, or i run hot water and rinse the outside off before i give them in the house) but these bones last a while and they LOVE them...
here is an example of these:

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Product/Prod_Display.cfm?pcatid=10587&Ntt=granola%20bone&Ntk=All&Ntx=mode+matchallpartial&Np=1&N=2001&Nty=1

I tried nylabones and Dillon would not touch them, no interest at all... He liked rope toys to chew on, he liked stuffed toys that were of different outside textures, like one was terry cloth, one was canvas, one was soft plush material, one was fleece type material, and i gave him lots of texture choices, and that seemed to satisfy his need to chew...

I agree with peggy that if you can't watch him you should really crate him with something he can chew on, otherwise he will be exploring everything in the room with his mouth!

Emilie

[glencorgi]

<LOL> and you were expecitng? :p

Debbie

[mtoy]

<LOL> and you were expecitng? :p

Debbie

Well, of course it's not fair to compare, but Millie loved to chew too, except not from one spot to another, to another.....for so long. He is intense! Maybe Millie was just a low-key puppy? Now she has grown into an intense adult chewer, but still just chews one thing until it's destroyed or dead. Link hops around so fast I can't keep up.

I don't mind crating him while I'm busy, but I can't bring myself to crate him for very long (except night time). He's in there while I shower and if I run errands, if I'm going to be home all day I'll crate him while I work for a bit. Should I feel guilty if I crate him while I take a shower, work for the rest of the morning and then while I run errands in the afternoon? Seems like too much time in the crate.

[Flying Aces]

Ace likes to chew a lot. We have been giving him bully sticks for a while now. Some are smoked and they do stink a little bit, but I don't believe they stain the carpet at all. I have seen some unsmoked/stink free bully sticks, but I can't remember where. The only problem we have with them is Ace chews on them until they are 3-4 inches long and then he swallows the rest whole! Even though bully sticks are supposed to be 100% digestable, we still don't like him doing this. So we have to watch him very closely if we do give him one.

We have also had fairly good luck with the Galeleo Nylabones. They are for extra strong chewers, although Ace can pretty much destroy one in a few days. Some argue that nylabones are not good for dogs. We just recently decided to stop giving them to Ace as we suspected they might be giving him TMJ.

[glencorgi]

I don't mind crating him while I'm busy, but I can't bring myself to crate him for very long (except night time). He's in there while I shower and if I run errands, if I'm going to be home all day I'll crate him while I work for a bit. Should I feel guilty if I crate him while I take a shower, work for the rest of the morning and then while I run errands in the afternoon? Seems like too much time in the crate.

He's 11 weeks/soon to be 12 weeks old, teething, and you haven't had him home even a week - he's adjusting to the new surroundings - exploring and checking everything out. You may have too many toys out, over stimulating him so he doesn't focus on one thing.

Should you feel guilty about crating him while you are in the shower? or needing to focus on something/work? or running errands? No. The alternative there is let him have run of the house, destroy things you don't want chewed up or the worse case scenario getting into or chewing on something that could kill him. One doesn't have human babies out with them every minute they are up and awake does one? He still needs a lot naps and rest too. IF the crate is bothering you so much, you may want to look into an ex-pen to keep him contained and safe when you can't keep a constant eye on him.

Debbie

[sutulu]

I feel your pain!!!!! My two could write the book on chewing I think.

I think bully sticks stink to high heaven! Ughhhhh. But they are a lesser of evils.

I used to give the occasional raw hide bone to Tucker but he has come to the point where he will chew it down in amazing time then try to swollow too big of a piece. So raw hide is on the "out" list at my house.

Bully sticks are a bit expensive unless bought in volume so I give them to the dogs when they have lots of time to chew and then throw them out. They are awful smelly things.

Seriously, my two would rather chew on my wood furniture than anything else so I think this transfers for their next favorite thing: tree branches.

Lulu will haul a good size tree limb from the back yard into the front yard, sit there for hours watching the world go by and chewing on the stick.

Old sticks that are dried out and seem to splinter and I worry about them eating splinters. But some of the 'limbs" (I kid you not!) are very tough and don't seem to splinter.

I feel like I've tried just about everything with them so I let them chew away on the tree limbs.

Nylabone makes the Galileo (http://www.petmountain.com/product/chew-toys/504834/nylabone-galileo-products.html) supposedly one of the toughest chew toys available. Mine looks like a family of beavers tried to have it for dinner. Beyond the plain heavy chewer Nylabone, their other favorite from them is the nubby Double Action chew toy (http://www.petmountain.com/product/chew-toys/504833/nylabone-nylabone-double-action-chew.html).

I have thought about rehoming them with a family of beavers where they could be contributing members of their society. I am holding out hope that this kind of chewing is only a phase and they will grow out of it. Tucker has cut back on his chewing but then, Lulu is 10 times the chewer he ever was.

[Fluffypants]

Jackie loves the granola bones that Emilie mentioned (I tried them on her recommendation). I don't have a deck, so I make her keep it on a towel until the coating is gone, and then she is free to drag it wherever. It really keeps her attention. For at least a half hour, she won't even think about anything but that bone! That's the treat I give her after we grind her nails. :)

[bayoucorgi]

I am a handweaver. I toll long hours to warp (thread) my big loom, and then weave rugs, towels, blankets, scarves and other linens. One of my first sets of rugs was Pendleton wool selvedges. We carried huge bags of wool to Texas from Oregon as excess baggage. It is tough weaving because the weft is thick and when it is wound around the shuttle it is like pushing a CAT through the threads.

My FAVORITE rug has been in front of my antique oak cabinet for years. Last night it was bunched up in a pile. I thought the cats has been playing ambush games. But when I unfurled it I found PIECES chewed OFF!!!! And I know only one PIRANHA PUPPY could have done it. I am livid. He has been SO good. Other than a few baskets the first few days he was here, and an occasional oops, he has been limited to HIS stuff.

And this dogs has multiple soft toys, many hard toys, nylas, kongs, balls, and more stuff than most children! I ignored him last night. I know he knows I'm mad and I know he knows why. AAAAGGGGGHHHHH!!!!!!

And worst of all it was my stepkids or husband that let him out to run the house while he took them to school after I had left for work. And I want to shake them too.

[mtoy]

I feel your pain!!!!! My two could write the book on chewing I think.

LOL! Yes, sounds like Link. The minute he gets outside he picks up something to chew and carry along with him while he does his business and then while playing. It can be anything from dried earthworms to chunks of cornstalk (from the compost) to wood chips...anything...stones even. But wood is his favorite, outdoors and in.

I'm getting better at aiming him at good chewing choices and crating him when necessary. What I really need to do is find a way to gate off the kitchen without making it a hazard for us humans - then I'd be set. We have 3 ways in to the room, one is gated already but it's the low traffic doorway. The other 2 are extremely high traffic, with 6" steps down into the room, and one of the openings is about 10' wide. I don't see how it can be done and still allow us access to our dining room table (up a step) while holding plates of food, and also to the pantry closet (up another step) with hands full of stuff. Oh well, one way or another, we'll figure this out. I can tell you the stress level has really decreased since Millie started feeling better.

[Fluffypants]

I think they make long gates that have a built-in "people gate" that swings out. Would that be an option?

[sutulu]

Well this weekend should be a real hoot! The weather is supposed to be nice and I have tons of yard work to do.

Along the front of my house between the walk and the porch my contractor made timber flower beds for me about a foot wide. My neighbor brought me 2 wheel barrows full of hostas last year and I planted them and they did great. Since the snow has melted my two have dug around all the plants. So I will be filling them in w/ dirt.

I like to by a manure/compost mixture to put on top rather than chemical fertilizer. Last year Tucker ate the manure!!!! I couldn't keep him away from it. Go knows what Lulu will do, probably bury herself it it.

So I think I will get that deer netting and probably have to staple it down until the hostas come up.

I know... you are all thinking: don't you watch the dogs? I swear they have a system worked out. Tucker sits on the porch as look out while Lulu digs then they switch off.

Lulu has dug up a huge section of my vinca.

They chew, they dig.... and I have 2 Corgis because......

[mtoy]

OMG, I can see it now, Link will be all over our cow manure too. We have a huge garden and Millie, being the girly princess that she is, stays out of it. But link charges in there full force. I hate it when he's in there before the dew dries - muddy wiggly puppy! Soon to be manure covered wiggly puppy after DH puts the manure down this weekend. Sigh.