Constructive deconstruction?
He has a bunch of toys to chew on and he gets a lot of exercise, but I think he just gets bored or anxious and goes nuts. I'm sure he enjoys the heck out of pulling all the fluff out of his bed and spreading it around the room, and he looks very proud of his work when we come home. The floor in his room is hardwood, so I feel like he needs something soft to sleep on, but I don't want to keep buying him new beds if he's going to rip them up. Has anyone tried giving their dog something that's safe to rip up that they can go crazy with to get out these urges? I'm also worried that he's ingesting some of the bed stuffing, which is probably not great for his tummy. I don't mind picking up a mess, but I'd rather he take out these rages on something no one cares about, like a cardboard box or two, than his bed or a DVD or book. Sorry this got so long, any advice is appreciated! |
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ludo_and_family wrote: I've been reading these forums for quite awhile, but this is my first post. Ludo is an 11 month old neutered male sheepie. He's totally sweet, and loves us and every creature he's ever met (even our two cats who respond to his love by clawing him in the face). The problem is that he can be rather destructive when unsupervised. When he was smaller he was crate trained, and then as he grew out of his crate, we made a room puppy safe for him, and that's where he stays during the day while my husband and I work. Normally there is no problem, but occasionally he just gets something in his head and will totally destroy something. Today it was his (third) bed.
He has a bunch of toys to chew on and he gets a lot of exercise, but I think he just gets bored or anxious and goes nuts. I'm sure he enjoys the heck out of pulling all the fluff out of his bed and spreading it around the room, and he looks very proud of his work when we come home. The floor in his room is hardwood, so I feel like he needs something soft to sleep on, but I don't want to keep buying him new beds if he's going to rip them up. Has anyone tried giving their dog something that's safe to rip up that they can go crazy with to get out these urges? I'm also worried that he's ingesting some of the bed stuffing, which is probably not great for his tummy. I don't mind picking up a mess, but I'd rather he take out these rages on something no one cares about, like a cardboard box or two, than his bed or a DVD or book. Sorry this got so long, any advice is appreciated! It's probably just an age thing. Our Nelson destroyed so many things at that age including drywall, wallpaper, baseboard, a loveseat, dining room chairs and kitchen cabinets.  He outgrew this behavior before he hit two years old and now it's hard to believe he ever was so destructive.
We always have a couple nice fluffy beds for the dogs laying around but Nelson's favorite place is laying on the stone floor in the sunroom. Orvis has dog beds that are supposed to be chew-proof but are rather pricey for the larger sizes. I've even seen some thick foam crate pads at dog shows that supposedly won't shred. Can't remember the name of the vendor. 
Since Nelson was always happiest in the sunroom, we "puppy proofed" it so we didn't need to crate him all day. Anything you can do to protect your valuables as well as your dog such as crating, gating, fencing areas off with ex-pens, etc. should be considered. Don't set your dog up to fail! We've gotten several dogs into rescue because they've damaged something in their previous home. Patience, training and a sense of humor is necessary when going though this stage of puppyhood.  |
| eleven months may be too young for him to be uncrated. |
| With all of the beds/blankets that our dogs have destroyed over the years, they have never destroyed a chair or sofa/couch that they were allowed on. Dirtied it yes, but never even chewed on it. |
kerry wrote: eleven months may be too young for him to be uncrated.
Agree! Don't mean to be rude but let's not forget that these cute furry things are living animals and they don't think like us. Every dog can become distracted if they get bored. Giving them a lot of toys will not make them chew or play with those toys, they get bored with them fast. Instead of overwhelming them with toys give them one toy per day. Have a Monday toy that he can only have on Mondays. On Tuesday take Tuesday toy out. This way he will be so happy to see a "new" toy every day! Crate training! It is NOT cruel or inhumane! They are den animals, which means they are happy to be in the create especially when crate trained properly. It is a safe place for them to sleep, relax and get away from us. If they destroy anything while alone and not in the crate they should be put back in the crate! If you give them a chance to destroy things they will take advantage of it and as you said it is sooooooo much fun doing it! It brings their prey instinct out, which pretty much means they are killing the bed. I believe puppies should be crate trained at least they are a year and a half old and then slowly giving them more and more. One more thing. If a dog is exercised properly (they are tired) and fed (and full) in the morning the only thing they want to do is sleep all day. |
My dogs have always preferred the cool tile floor. Well, that is except for Mariah whose first choice would ALWAYS be my bed!! The older ones get a really nice "rug/mat" that is slipproof in their kennels that covers about 1/2 the kennel floor. They prefer to sleep on the tile but the rugs give them traction when they go to get up & move around. The older brains still think the older body can move as fast as the younger dogs!  As for things to occupy their time.....usually another dog works best  even if separated but they can see each other. Other than that my dogs seem totally satisfied with good ol' Nylabones! After 23 years, the only thing I feel safe giving them when unsupervised.  |
| I have one who promptly destroys any form of bed put in his crate. He's not a sheepie, but he is 2 yrs old and has always done it!
He gets the plain bare plastic crate. It seems mean (even to me), but he obviously doesn't want to lay on it. And you are right - the risk of chewing and swallowing parts are too dangerous. I periodically "retest" him with a safe object - like a cotton towel -, but so far he still shreds it. My OES never have wanted to lay on any kind of bed, and very rarely even have climbed on furniture. They much prefer a cold surface - so usually tile or cement. |
got sheep wrote: I have one who promptly destroys any form of bed put in his crate. He's not a sheepie, but he is 2 yrs old and has always done it! Sophie gets the bare crate too. She doesnt like to lay on anything. We put a pillow or anything in there and she roots and digs until it is out of her way so she can lay on the cool plastic floor of the crate. I agree with 11 mos being a little young yet for coming out of the crate.
He gets the plain bare plastic crate. It seems mean (even to me), but he obviously doesn't want to lay on it. And you are right - the risk of chewing and swallowing parts are too dangerous. I periodically "retest" him with a safe object - like a cotton towel -, but so far he still shreds it. My OES never have wanted to lay on any kind of bed, and very rarely even have climbed on furniture. They much prefer a cold surface - so usually tile or cement. We have lots of things dogs have chewed on in their puppy stage. LOL the worst is my hubbies recliner. When Cheyenne was a pup she chewed the material off of the side. She also loved chewing wallpaper off of the walls. She did in the bottom part of a newly papered bathroom wall. Luckily I still had paper left over that I could patch it.
Beauford would sneak into the dining room and chew on the rungs of the dining room chairs. Thats the only thing he destroyed in his puppy age. Oh wait there was the remote to the TV. I learned since Cheyenne and would put him in his crate.
The only mishaps with Sophie have been shoes and a few teeth marks in hubby's cell phone. Sohpie loves shoes so much we have to hide them in the closets. She has even discovered she can nudge some of the closet doors open. Just this morning I found an old shoe of mine that I havent worn since last winter. It curiously had little teeth marks on it and was laying in the middle of the living room floor. Now I dont know when and how she got that one out of the closet. My bedroom is off limits to her until she gets out of the puppy stage. |
| Heart was in a bare crate also....she is 16 months old and after our 'National' experience, (she wasn't crated all week), I thought I would tentatively 'test' her and trust her to be free in the house like my other 2.
Well, she passed and although her crate is still here, she doesn't have to be crated. If begins to regress...she will go back in the crate until she is older. Good Luck!!!! |
| Thank you for all the replies! We decided not to confine Ludo to his crate anymore because he was getting very anxious by the end of the day, and while he can comfortably stand and lay down in his crate (and frequently does as it is left open at all times) he was just getting too wild in there. The room he is confined to now has his crate in it, and is not very large, and he can't get at anything in case of boredom, except his bed.
I can tell he prefers to sleep on a bed because if we put one down, he instantly lays on it and plays on it and basically just hones in to that spot, no matter where it is in the house. Normally he's glued to one of us, but if we put a bed down, he'll lay on that and then only leave it if we actually go out of sight. I just wish there was some way to give him a bed or some padding while he is unsupervised. Regarding toys, we do switch out his toys every day, or every other day. We give him one hard toy and one softer toy to chew on (for example a kong and a nylabone) every day, because he likes to switch back and forth between hard and soft. I guess for now we'll just have to keep anything he can destroy, including his bed, away from him when he's unsupervised. I do think it's interesting that while dogs seem to find this behavior absolutely enjoyable, there are no positive outlets for it. If there were some toys that were safe to consume that could be torn apart and spread all over a room, I'd be more than happy to give him one! |
| How about a Kong with peanut butter inside? I've yet to meet a dog who destroyed a Kong.......I'm sure there are some. |
| I will buy bones with marrow in them at the local grocer and once the dogs have licked out the marrow I will replace it with peanut butter. |
Quote: I just wish there was some way to give him a bed or some padding while he is unsupervised.
Consider a Kuranda bed... call the mfr. and talk with them to see if it would be appropriate. http://kuranda.com/catalog/chewproof.php We have a couple of these beds. Mine are allowed on the furniture but they also enjoy these beds. I've got one lying next to me right now (bottom picture  ). http://oesusa.com/KayteeBumble100208.jpg |
| You could give him some items to play with for when you are out.
We did this. He used to get a brown paper bag with items in such as a Kong stuffed with various nice foods, a few different toys, and some treats. We used to change the contents of the parcel each time. We used to take the items off him when we got home and leave him with his regular toys! When we went out we put the parcel on the floor and he eventually figured out how to open it and then start playing. By the time hed done that he was too tired to destroy anything. The only bad thing is now we can't leave any paper type products where he can get them. The yellow pages got left out a while ago and by the time we came home hed shredded it into confetti!!! 
I didn't know there was so much paper in one phonebook!! |
| 6Girls, thank you for the suggestion! I just ordered a Kuranda bed after checking out their site. It looks like the perfect solution for Ludo. Soon he'll have a comfy place to sleep and he can't tear it up if the mood strikes him!
Also, those pictures of your girls are adorable. :) |
| You're welcome |
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