How do I deal with dog chewing?

sarabe

Your dog is either very bored or very stressed or a combination of both.

I would consider lucy's suggestions. You need someone to come in and exercise the dog and give her some company or alternatively put her into doggy day care.

Do you exercise her before you leave her for the day?

Spraying the floor with bitter apple will not help the dog. She'll either get used to the taste or move to something else.

It is relatively easy to teach a dog to cope with being left for a few hours but it has to be done gradually and to expect a dog to be okay all day whilst you are at work is unreasonable in my opinion.

wilykit

I said in my original post that I am going to try and tackle this myself (hence me asking for advice) and then I will seek professional advice.

What annoys me on many forums is that people are quick to be blunt and make out like you are mistreating your dog.

If I didn't care for my dog I wouldn't be trying to sort this, it is not so much the floor I am bothered about it's the fact I know SHE has a problem and I want to address it. She was left outside 24/7 before I got her in a tiny yard and never taken out. Every morning I take her out and then before I go she gets a run around the garden before coming in for her breakfast.

I understand the situation isn't ideal and I was trying my best to put her in a better environment when I got her. I just really do not appreciate people insinuating that I am neglecting my dog etc as it really is the opposite.

Come on here for advice and I get a lecture that comes across as very blunt.

gottodothis_2

I would say that it is bored and stressed.

It chews cos that is probably the most exciting part of its day while you are out.

I appreciate that you have to work all day as i do, but you can't leave a dog that long and not expect it to get into mischief. you wouldn't leave a 5 year old at home all day and expect it to amuse itself.

Being in a yard all day meant that it could poo and pee where it pleased and chew to its hearts content. What you have done in effect is just swap the yard for somewhere warmer, more comfy and with better stuff to chew.

I also work full time. I have a 7 year old chewy staffie and a 7 year old fox hound cross that thinks that anything that doesn't move needs peeing up.

I leave a radio on all day but on a timer so it goes off and on in intervals. I have a dog walker that comes on twice a day and walks them for 45 minutes at a time. They have toys with treats stuck in them that they have to work out how to get the treats out.

The treats are actually their complete biscuits and they have to work at them it they want breakfast.

I also walk them before and after work.

My suggestion to you would be Walk them before you go to work but a really good walk at least 45 mins leave them lots of things to do like the toys with treats and a good walk again at night. If you can get someone to walk them during the day that would be better.

Can you do a class with your dog like agility or fly ball? that would help

you need to break the boredom, not pass it on to someone else to deal with as your partner wants. I have know of many bull breeds PTS because of chewing in my time working for a rescue. Its not their fault they chew its ours

sarabe

No one is accusing you of mistreating your dog but you have to be realistic.

Why do you think she is chewing the kitchen floor?

Sometimes the answer to the problem is not the one you want to hear. Sometimes the answer does not exist.

I can give you professional advice for free on how to help your dog be happy at being left alone but you cannot do this while you are out at work all day.

Missy_Spud

How do you something won't work if you don't try it, surely its worth trying as you never know!

I think Wilykit has tried to do the best for the dog and taking her out of a situation where she gets no attention and being stuck in a yard all the time, thats no life for a poor animal, I think with time and training (it can be a longer process with an older dog who is set in her ways) that her dog will become a great dog, she is obviously willing to train her dog even though it will take longer, unlike a lot of people for example who leave them out in a yard all the time!

Have you tried leaving her in the kitchen on her own when your there? if so how does she react? Does she chew up your lino when your in, or just when your out?

wilykit

gottodothis wrote: »

Its not their fault they chew its ours

I am aware of this and addressed it in my posts. In my first post I said she isn't just doing it to be naughty. This is why I do not tell her off as she will not necessarily understand, I am trying to fix
this problem and not punish her.

How am I not being realistic? I have said that thie situation isn't ideal and that I know she needs help.

In reply to missy_spud I have left her on her own whilst we are in the house (usually it is if we need to get one of our birds out that we need to put the dogs in another room) but she will still do it regardless.

littleun

Just a thought, has the dog always done this or only since new lino laid.If it is the latter it could be the smell of the glue, sometimes they use fish glue!

wilykit

well before that we had just a concrete floor (i think this confused her as she used to live outside).

i don't know if it is because it is something new or not, she has chewed other things before.

elsien

I'm sorry but I have to agree with the posters who advise that it is a very difficult habit to break unless you (or someone) is actually there to do it.
My EBT was a chewer when I got her age 1-2, and it took a couple of years to really get to grips with the chewing, when there was someone there with her most of the time. Admittedly I'm a useless dog trainer, but I honestly believe that if I had not had family to look after her while I was at work ( I also work full time) I would now not have a home to come back to. I can leave her now but only because she's old and knackered, there is just no way she could have been left any length of time when she was younger. She was just a very young very stressed completely untrained pooch who if I'd known had problems with being left I probably wouldn't have taken on. I love her to bits but I would have been the wrong owner for her at that time if it wasn't for my mum's help, she needed more than I could have given on my own.
I appreciate you want to solve the problem yourself, and I think some of the replies have been a bit harsh in the way they were phrased, but you can only break a habit if there is someone physically there to intervene and reward good behaviour. A full day is just too long to leave a bored or insecure dog and expect it not to get up to mischief. And according to my vet (when I was at my wits end) the chewing can turn into a habit - a bit like a kid sucking its thumb - so all the stuffed kongs and new toys aren't going to work for that length of time.
I know it's not what you want to hear, and I appreciate your intentions are good, but I do think that unless you can sort out someone going in or doggy daycare, you're really going to struggle with this one.

lucyq

wilykit wrote: »

lucyq i came on here asking for advice NOT a lecture. I do not appreciate the way you insinuate I am mistreating my dog.

You think I am the only person who has a dog who works? The majority of people I know do, and their dogs are fine.

And NO I do not know somebody who can come to my house as they work and I am new to this area and do not know the neighbours. So no it is NOT worth letting a stranger into my house when they could burgle me, take/injure/harm the dog etc.

I wasn't insinuating you mistreat your dog at all i was merely implying the situation was intolerable for the dog and the consequences of its actions were all down to you.

I know full well you won't be the only person that works full time but in this day and age there are alternatives such as a dog walker there are hundreds of advertisements out there for them, would it not kill you to check a few out? look for one that is insured for public liability and even a CRB check theres really no excuse they work on average for £8 per hr, just one hour a day to break up the day may make all the difference to her. (If you can afford to take on a 2nd dog, cover vets fees, jabs, food surely £8 is cheap!)

Theres absolutely nothing you can do to prevent her chewing she will obviously grow out of it at some point, but while there is already tensions between you and your partner is it worth hanging in there creating an uneasy atmosphere that the dog is going to sense while you wait....