BPO Growl & Howl Forum > Groans, Gripes, Brags & Boasts

Occasionally want to strangle her.

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Vapidfire:
Hello Everyone,

First let me start off by saying that I love my puppy, I truly do. We're bonded tighter than I've ever been with any other dog.

but

Occasionally I just want to strangle her.

I cannot get her to stop digging/ripping fabric. She's gone through four dog beds in her kennel, usually taking less than a day to destroy them. Then we decided to just try thick blankets with no stuffing in the middle of them and she rips them into little pieces.

Her kennel is stocked with numerous chew toys, freshly filled kong toys and a couple of stuffed toys. She doesn't  tear up stuffed toys, just bedding.

We finally went to Ryan's pets a dog supply super store here in Arizona. We found a bed that so far after four days she has not been able to rip up or tear open.

So since we seemed to have gotten her one she cannot destroy she went into our other mastiff's kennel and has been trying to rip her bed up! I've caught her at it several times today and yell at her. She stops when I yell at her but I know she'll sneak in there when I'm not looking (she is devious!)

Does anyone have advice on how to get her to give up her destruction of all things soft and squishy? She doesn't dig in the back yard. I've gotten her past digging at the carpet. She's not allowed on the couch but she's somehow become obsessed with destroying her bedding.

I am about ready to give up but I don't want her sleeping on hard plastic either.

 Cat
Serenity: 4yr old Fila Brasileiro
Kaylee: 8mo old Fila Brasileiro
Tanstaafl: 11wk old Newfoundland
The Rest of the Zoo.

patrick:
Me I would just take the bedding away or give her something to lay on that doesn't matter if she tears it up. Some people just use a piece of carpeting.  I have had some dogs that their whole life they would destuff their toys-some of which were very expensive.  Solution was to get them inexpensive toys and let them destuff away.  But also at 11 weeks old is she getting enough exercise to burn off some of that excess energy?

vmimom2006:
Athena is a super shredder of all blankets in her bed. She will do this when she stays at the kennel too. When she sleeps with me she is fine and my blankets are safe, it's just when she is alone. So I guess she just doesn't like being alone or just thinks its alot of fun seeing how many pieces she can turn a blanket into!  ;D

London_Pyr_Lover:
It could also just be her thing.  ???  When Miss Naja was a baby she chewed a little but got over it.  Moo on the otherhand, we've nicknamed Shredder, if it's on the ground then it's fair game to him...Little bugger...He's more fond of things that are hard plastic, maybe your girl just has a thing for blankets?  

One thing you could try though, is spray the bedding down in water and vinegar or Bitter Apple before putting it in the crate, don't soak it, you just need enough  to coat the outside of it.  It makes the blankets real yucky tasting, then she might be more apt to leave them alone... ;)

Good Luck!

Vapidfire:
Thank you everyone for all the suggestions! I will try the bitter apple approach and see how it goes. Right now I am more concerned with her eating the beds of the other dogs than her own! just because she wants to destroy hers doesn't mean the others shouldn't have doggy beds.

Also, Patrick she is 8mo's now our Newfoundland is 11wks.
She also gets plenty of exercise as she is from working lines. If she does not go for a 2+ mile brisk walk every evening before bed she will not settle down at night. She also jogs in the morning before we work in scenting (She is being trained as a drug detection animal.

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