New chewing behaviour - advice please?
Hello, everyone!
Our Pembroke, Ein, is 16 months old and is a really great dog. He's been through puppy class and is responsive, attentive, and generally well-behaved (though of course, we still have some things to work on!). Recently, though, I've started to find things he's secretly chewed on... namely, clothes and fabric.
He is crated during the day, and sleeps next to our bed at night. We keep the door to the bedroom mostly closed so he doesn't roam unattended. The things I've found chewed have been the occasional book/magazine, a few socks, and my new favorite sweater (which he pulled down and chewed, probably in a rare unsupervised moment during the evening). As a puppy, he was crated at night and we didn't give him soft bedding for a long time because he just ate it. Some of the things he's chewed up (like our bed skirt) have been eaten because I've noticed they, er, came out the other side. He's always liked to pick apart fabric, which is why he hasn't had a soft toy in a long time. He has lots of kong toys, solid rubber, and natural bone and he chews all of these frequently. But he seems to have a craving for the soft stuff. He's just started doing this "forbidden chewing" about a month ago.
I think this change is just adolescence hitting us hard (he was neutered a bit late, around eight months), and I know we'll get through it, but I can't figure out what the best way is. I have only caught him red-handed once or twice, and removed what he was chewing and said "No", but otherwise it doesn't seem to make sense to try to punish him after the fact. I've considered getting him a soft toy that he can have while we monitor him, but I am really concerned about him eating fabric (of course, if he's doing it anyway...)
Any tips? Advice? Toy suggestions? I'd like to stop this as soon as possible so it doesn't follow him into adulthood.
Thanks!
- Jess
ETA: I should have mentioned, we are working on ramping up the outdoor activity and so on now that the weather is good again, in case this is a boredom issue. Since we both work, this is sometimes a challenge. But I did want to mention that it's one piece we're already working on!
Our Pembroke, Ein, is 16 months old and is a really great dog. He's been through puppy class and is responsive, attentive, and generally well-behaved (though of course, we still have some things to work on!). Recently, though, I've started to find things he's secretly chewed on... namely, clothes and fabric.
He is crated during the day, and sleeps next to our bed at night. We keep the door to the bedroom mostly closed so he doesn't roam unattended. The things I've found chewed have been the occasional book/magazine, a few socks, and my new favorite sweater (which he pulled down and chewed, probably in a rare unsupervised moment during the evening). As a puppy, he was crated at night and we didn't give him soft bedding for a long time because he just ate it. Some of the things he's chewed up (like our bed skirt) have been eaten because I've noticed they, er, came out the other side. He's always liked to pick apart fabric, which is why he hasn't had a soft toy in a long time. He has lots of kong toys, solid rubber, and natural bone and he chews all of these frequently. But he seems to have a craving for the soft stuff. He's just started doing this "forbidden chewing" about a month ago.
I think this change is just adolescence hitting us hard (he was neutered a bit late, around eight months), and I know we'll get through it, but I can't figure out what the best way is. I have only caught him red-handed once or twice, and removed what he was chewing and said "No", but otherwise it doesn't seem to make sense to try to punish him after the fact. I've considered getting him a soft toy that he can have while we monitor him, but I am really concerned about him eating fabric (of course, if he's doing it anyway...)
Any tips? Advice? Toy suggestions? I'd like to stop this as soon as possible so it doesn't follow him into adulthood.
Thanks!
- Jess
ETA: I should have mentioned, we are working on ramping up the outdoor activity and so on now that the weather is good again, in case this is a boredom issue. Since we both work, this is sometimes a challenge. But I did want to mention that it's one piece we're already working on!
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Charlie on
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Oh, naughty Ein! Sorry to hear he has relapsed into unwanted chewing behavior. Anyway, regardless of age when a dog "forgets" his manners and reverts back to a bad behavior, you just have to step back and train just as if he were a young pup again. For chewing, this will mean that you are going to have to watch him every second and try to catch him before he chews on your things. Say "Uh-uh" or whatever "no" sound he responds to as a distraction and put one of his toys in his mouth. You are absolutely correct that there is no reason to correct him if you haven't caught him red handed. He won't have any idea why he's being corrected after the fact. Free run of the house priviledges are now withdrawn. If you can't watch him, he goes in the kennel. Puppy/dog proof as much as possible by putting books and magazines too high to reach, and keeping socks and clothes off the floor in shut closets. Stationary objects like furniture can be sprayed with Bitter Apple taste-deterrent. You can also clip his leash to your belt-loop so you can watch him closely until he relearns which items he can and cannot chew on. Sorry, wish there were an easier solution. He's going to have to re-earn his freedom.
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Permalink Reply by Jess A. on
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This is all good advice, thank you! I think this was where we were headed this week, anyhow.
As to the soft-toy thing... am I right to avoid giving him these sorts of toys if I'm afraid he's "eating" the fabric? Or is there some tough toy I can give him to help satisfy his urge to chew on different texture that's less like to cause a problem?
- Jess
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Every dog is different, but I don't buy stuffed, soft toys for Charlie. It only takes him 5 minutes to destroy one and start eating the stuffing. Anything he destroys and swallows pieces are off-limits for him.
Sam T. has a very good point about exercise. It's been really hard with the heat wave, but I adjusted Charlie's schedule so that we still get a few hours of outdoor exercise a day. Now it's all early-morning and right before sunset due to the heat. He mainly sleeps when he's in the house as long as I can tire him out. He is hyper and antsy on the rare occassion we don't get out to walk. Dogs often chew out of boredom or from too much pent-up energy.
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Permalink Reply by Sam Tsang on
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Charile is correct, you will need to watch him so that he doesn't get into trouble. A tired corgi is a well behave corgi, most of the behavioral problem can be solved by exercise alone, so more motivation for ya :) Corgis are herding dog, you will need to give him a job, or else he'll find one himself.
You can choose the kind of things that he can chew, for example, you can soak a small wash cloth, wring it, then put it in the freezer, that makes a good chew toy if he doesn't swallow.
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Permalink Reply by Agro Ein on
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Aside from simply exercising your dog more, correcting bad behavior is just a matter of being able to catch him in the act and issue a stern, loud warning. All dogs live in the moment, so trying to discipline him for something he did 5 minutes ago will not be effective. Your dog simply does not understand what he did wrong. It's the same thing when training your dog to do anything. Reward good behavior with treats or positive praise so that he learns to associate acceptable actions with positive outcomes. Yelling a strong "No!", or simply saying your dogs name in a very loud authoritative manner will teach your dog to associate unacceptable behavior with a loud bad noise, which he will ultimately abandon for fear of not wanting to be startled. Also, claping your hands loudly works great.
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Permalink Reply by Nancy, Curtis and Triley on
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We've started to have the same problem with Triley - he is now almost 14 months old and he's started chewing on furniture when we leave. I walk him in the mornings, over lunch and in the evening (he can only get short walks because he has a hurt leg), and we also spray the furniture with bitter-apple spray - but whatever I spray, he just finds something else to chew. It is really annoying. I never catch him in the act because he only chews when we are gone. We've tried confining him to smaller areas, but he just chews up whatever is around (he even ripped up the plastic flooring in his crate when we would lock him in there). All of your advice sounds good and I'll try to exercise him more and just confine him as much as possible. This situation is SO frustrating!
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