kukukachoo

I think both the dogs are guilty of this horrible habit and I don't know what to do. When they are left alone, they are getting into major trouble by attempting to eat some pretty off-the-wall things.

The more I try to prevent it, the harder they seem to look and the more bizarre the things they eat become. For example, they've chewed open a pack of disposable razors that were left on the counter and various other things in plastic packaging because, I assume, they think there is food inside. They even chewed up my sons pediatric asthma inhaler adapter- again because I think they thought it was a plastic container of food.

Once I became wise to this, I started to carefully proof each time I left to make sure nothing was out that even remotely resembled food packaging. Then, instead of seeking out anything in plastic, one of them decided to get a glass bottle of sesame oil off the counter, chew the top off and eat it. So, they obviously used their sniffers to find the ONE place in the house that had something edible in their reach.

So, after that I started leaving a towel draped over my bottles of sauces and oils and stuff so that they would leave that alone. Well, they left it alone but moved to the bathroom next time and ate a bottle of child's cold medicine and tried to chew up a bottle of hair detangler.

It's getting more often and more drastic and I don't know what to do.

HELP?

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paisley pup

can they be crated when you are away?

kukukachoo

Unfortunately I do not have ANYWHERE crates would fit.

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kukukachoo

Well, except the garage. I could technically crate there, but I don't know that Dude would accept that. One of the reasons his previous owners couldn't handle him anymore was because he was an outdoor dog and he would get bored and chew THROUGH their chain link fence.

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paisley pup

that's no good. :( was he chewing through stuff before you brought daisy home? Do you have any toys you can hide treats in?

kukukachoo

Dude would definitely counter surf before she came, but it didn't seem quite as bad. Just before posting this, I was reading about an app that will let me use my iPhone as a surveillance camera. I'm going to set that up ASAP, so I can get a better feel for the culprit and what may lead up to this behavior.

I currently don't have treats or toys that they have access to when were gone. Dude has a very powerful bite, but if anyone has suggestions for some heavy duty treat- hiding toys I would be willing to give them a try. Also, I'd love to hear about what types of bones would (if any) be safe for them to chew.

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kukukachoo

Maybe I'm starving the poor things! You know, I just looked at serving suggestions for taste of the wild and maybe I do need to increase dudes-perhaps even Daisys. Oh gosh- now I feel horrible.

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kukukachoo

I'm going to up their food and see if that helps. I've had dude eating the lowest recommended for the weight range of his goal weight and now that he's lost some, I don't see him ever being an 80 pound guy. I think he is going t be just fine when he's down another ten to 90. With that in mind, I thinkhecould actually afford another whole cup a day!!!!!


Especially since he is also more active now. Ug- this makes me feel so bad!

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Indiana

You know what, I don't think it's that...some dogs are just really really curious and they get into stuff because it's fun. My Maddy is like that, and some dogs just aren't! I was just having a conversation with frankgrimes on another thread about how her dog Ralph never countersurfs or gets into anything and he isn't even crated while they're gone! There is a pet corrector with a motion sensor that I have not tried but am considering...here is a link It's a little pricy but when you add up all the stuff Maddy has chewed up of mine, it's waaaaaay cheaper than that bill! My prescription sunglasses alone were a couple hundred dollars to replace. Besides the pet corrector for counter surfing to stop that behaviour, there are heavy duty kongs to encourage healthy chewing behaviours; you could smear peanut butter in the kongs with a knife, then "cement" kibble or chicken in the peanut butter and freeze them so that he has to spend some time licking the peanut butter before he can get to the kibble (I've also done that with vanilla ice cream, another big treat for our dogs). Another thing our dogs love is yak cheese, or Himalayan cheese--it's all natural but really, really hard and takes a couple of hours for Maddy to chew up. Just a thought, if you leave Dude in the garage, could you leave him in a crate IN the garage? Anyway don't be discouraged, chewing up stuff when their people are away seems to be very natural for many dogs! My own included (only one of mine ).

kukukachoo

Thanks for all the ideas. I'm going to check out that link now. The chewing stuff always seems to be about food- never just about chewing for texture. It's always stuff in bottles or packages that either resemble or smell like food. Dude is so big, he can reach every surface in my house except the top of the fridge. It makes it really tough!

And yes, I could put a crate in the garage if worse comes to worse. I'm going to continue trying to work this out another way, so well see.......

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