Concerns about Stella eating fabric and stuffing
Hello Everyone,
I want to share and ask questions about Stella's behavior to see if other corgis are similar and also, if I should be concerned. Basically I'm worried about Stella eating parts of the toys that she chews. I know it's normal for her to chew and to gut stuffed toys, but she EATS the stuffing and the fabric of ones that she hasn't gutted or that don't have stuffing. And it's all kinds of fabric on all kinds of stuffed toys. For example, she not only eats the inside stuffing (the cottony stuff), she eats the outside fabric as well. She has a couple of squirrel-like toys with furry tails and she pulls out the fur and eats it. I also gave her a Kong Wubba (the kong wrapped in fabric with the knot and tail at the end to swing around), and she made a hole in the fabric and pulls out strings of it to eat. Every time I try to get something that I think is durable and she won't eat, she finds a way!
Ok, so my questions: Do others' corgis do this? Is this a corgi thing? Other dogs that I've had chewed things and pulled them apart, but never ATE as much of the toys as Stella does. I mean, it's like she's a goat!
Another question: Should I be concerned? I try to limit her intake and throw the toys away, but she still manages to ingest some (I see the evidence later...) Does her behavior mean anything?
Thanks for any comments!
Nicole
I want to share and ask questions about Stella's behavior to see if other corgis are similar and also, if I should be concerned. Basically I'm worried about Stella eating parts of the toys that she chews. I know it's normal for her to chew and to gut stuffed toys, but she EATS the stuffing and the fabric of ones that she hasn't gutted or that don't have stuffing. And it's all kinds of fabric on all kinds of stuffed toys. For example, she not only eats the inside stuffing (the cottony stuff), she eats the outside fabric as well. She has a couple of squirrel-like toys with furry tails and she pulls out the fur and eats it. I also gave her a Kong Wubba (the kong wrapped in fabric with the knot and tail at the end to swing around), and she made a hole in the fabric and pulls out strings of it to eat. Every time I try to get something that I think is durable and she won't eat, she finds a way!
Ok, so my questions: Do others' corgis do this? Is this a corgi thing? Other dogs that I've had chewed things and pulled them apart, but never ATE as much of the toys as Stella does. I mean, it's like she's a goat!
Another question: Should I be concerned? I try to limit her intake and throw the toys away, but she still manages to ingest some (I see the evidence later...) Does her behavior mean anything?
Thanks for any comments!
Nicole
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Nicole, Stanley and STELLA! on
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Hi Everyone,
Thanks for all of the advice and comments! I never had a dog actually EAT so much non-food items, but now I know she's not the only one. As for the stage of it (what Beth asked), it started out low--just swallowing a little bit, and was seemingly accidental--but has advanced toward the next stage. She's not actively eating TONS of stuff, but she's actively eating some. For example, with the toy stuffing, she eats tiny pieces of it at a time, not swallowing it all whole. The same with strings, she'll take a few. Or with the ones that have realistic fur, she'll pull a little chunk out at a time, leave it, and pull some more out the next day. Hopefully, it looks like I'm catching it in time. I must have thrown about 6-7 toys out in the past few days. I'm a little frustrated about WHAT to get her to play with and chew at this point, though. I was trying to get her to play with the toys so she did not chew so many bones. When she got sick from the painkiller after her spay, I tried to really cut back because I thought it could've been partially the fault of bones I was giving her. It's just hard to find things that are lasting and not potentially harmful!! I'll check out the toy site and I might try those antlers that everyone talks about.
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Permalink Reply by Alice on
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I feel your frustration. Finn had toys from when we first got him up until; he was about 6 months old then all of a sudden he realized he could destroy them. He loves toys and plays by himself all the time so know it's important to find ones that will hold up.
We have a Kong he really likes. We've been stuffing it with canned pumpkin and freezing it and he loves it. We also have a Nylabone (we buy the large durable ones) and we get the Skinneeez dog toys which are stuffingless. Some of the Skinneeez are furrier than others so we try to get the less fuzzy ones. We bought a beaver one which he pulled the squeaker out of (of course) but still loves playing with the skin. He's now separated the tail from the body and has chewed all kinds of wholes in it but he's had it for several months. I know he eats a tiny piece every so often but something so small and sporadic I don't feel will hurt him. They also make stuffingless toys that are that lambs wool material but Finn will pluck at it and eat more than I'm comfortable with. You can do rubber toys but make sure they are hard like the Kong otherwise she may end up swallowing pieces of rubber as I've seen Finn do.
It can be tough finding appropriate toys but you'll catch on to what works for her. Good luck!
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Permalink Reply by Natalie, Lance &Tucker on
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Another toy that Lance has found to be very sturdy: Of course it involves food, lol.
He has the purple waggle, I have seen a lime green one but not sure what the difference is if any.
http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=busy+buddy+waggle&...
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Permalink Reply by Beth on
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Jack can't have stuffed or rope toys either, although we do get a stuffed one every now and then so I can watch him destroy it.
We get the stuffingless fleece pigs at PetSmart and once they are desqueaked, they get mouthed but not torn up.
http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3207200&lmd...
They can be washed, and when they get too ratty I just toss them; they usually last about a month.
We also get the sterilized (non-stuffed) cow bones from the big pet stores. They wear them down and clean out the marrow but don't seem to be able to splinter them at all.
Otherwise, almost all our toys are some variation of a ball.
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Oddly enough, as much as Finn loves to destroy all of his stuffed toys, he has 2 tiny stuffed toys (a shark and a present 3 or 4 inches in diameter) that he's had since he was little and has not unstuffed or desqueaked. He plays with them all the time but for some reason won't destroy them. Maybe the size has somehting to do with it. I think I'm going to buy him another small stuffed animal and test it.
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I would just like to note that When I finished typing the above comment yesterday, I walked out into the living room and Finnigan had unstuffed his toy present. I swear he has had it since he was 8 weeks old and played with it all the time and just now decided to kill it. I think he knew I was talking about it. The stuffed shark better watch it's back!
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Permalink Reply by Joy on
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I will have to "chime in" here. Our Corgi Maggie is a "chew-a-holic" also. We can't give her any rope or fabric toys because she shreads & swallows them. She especially LOVES fabric tags.
We noticed that even after we took these toys from her that brightly colored fabric and rope was still appearing in her stool!
As it turns out, she is getting into them at day care. We've mentioned it three tims now to the daycare folks. If it continues we will have to move her. We are very concerned that at some point she won't be able to pass the fabric/rope because it seems SO dry when it comes out. ew.
We have tried MANY different rubber & plastic toys with her, most dont' hold up. She sems to like hard plastic bones now with some texture. After reading this discussion, I'm starting to believe it's a "Corgy Thang". :-)
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Permalink Reply by Mr. Bingley on
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Hey Nicole, you are not alone. My 7-month old, Mr. Bingley, eats EVERYTHING. He has certain toys designated as "supervised toys" that he is only allowed to play with while I'm around, like the stuffed animals. And yes, he has eaten stuffing before as well as the rubbery parts of other toys. The Kong is the best toy so far... very durable and tough. He hasn't made a dent in his yet and he's had it since age 8 weeks. You're doing well by throwing the toys away when it seems like she's destroying them. She's going to ingest some... it's hard to stop that. Try the Kong line of toys and keep watching for when she starts ripping open her toys. If you can't keep an eye on her, don't give the toy to her. Mr. Bingley does well with knotted up socks and super tough rubber toys.
I hope this helps!
Keep asking questions
Amy, Florida.
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