A question about chewing

[alligande]

Rievaulx has just turned 1 and in the last few weeks has entered another chewing phase, so far 3 pairs of my sandels have hit the trash, he has had a nibble at the matteres cover and he has tried a few other items. When he was younger we managed to keep him occupied with toys and other than a cheap carpet he never damaged anything, but now he is older and has ( or maybe we have to go back to had) more freedom he is not as interested in chew toys. Is this a phase that he will pass through? I have never raised a dog before, we have always had adult rescues so we are learning about growing up together.

 

And on second thoughts I have not posted a picture of him since he was a pup so here is a picture taken of him and his brother Brody in honor of his first birthday. ( Rievaulx has the pointy ears)

 

[muttlycrew]

Gorgeous boy!!

 

All of my dogs are crated until they can prove they are 100% trustworthy. It depends entirely on each individual dog. Even then, the dogs are limited to certain areas of the house that I know is completely dog proof. My oldest who is 11 is never crated unless I have to leave the house and it is going to storm. My next girl is 2.5 and I have been leaving her out of her crate for short times only once she turned 2. So far she hasn't gotten into anything since she has matured a bit. My youngest, and newest addition, is crated and will be crated for awhile. She makes up too many "games" that even when I leave her alone for 5 minutes, she's created a mess or knocked something over.

 

I have my brothers dachshund while he is in the USAF. He is 6 and is crated. Period.

 

I would go back to either crating Rievaulx or not giving him as much freedom. You said he doesn't show as much interest in chew toys -- what about elk/deer antlers, stuffed kongs, etc?

[ejano]

He's a beauty -- as is Brody! I must confess I had thought Robin (nearly 17 months) was over his chewing but other other day found him lying on the couch in the TV room, fluff all around him,as he worked at corner of the couch arm! I've been giving both the boys more freedom as they're "grown up" now and they've been pretty good...my Brodie especially so...we call him "the perfect one" and except for his penchant for chasing the cat, he really is.

 

The problem is, of course, is that Robin was left unsupervised and bored. They don't have many toys and what they do have are all "hard" -- no fluffy stuffies to shred and he dearly loves to play with soft things. So my response is three fold....keep a better eye on him. I had been training him to stay with me while I worked in the study, and that day he'd just wandered off. Now that he's found an interesting spot, he keeps trying to go back to the couch arm so I've pulled out the scat mat that I bought years ago for my son to train his cats off the counter and lay it on the couch. I don't even turn it on any more...and any piece of thick plastic will do. It's a clear signal. LEAVE MY COUCH ALONE. And lastly, work less and play with my dog more . And he probably does need some different toys.

 

So yes, supervision is key.

 

ETA to add stuff...still having problems with Mozilla!

 

 

 

Rievaulx has just turned 1 and in the last few weeks has entered another chewing phase, so far 3 pairs of my sandels have hit the trash, he has had a nibble at the matteres cover and he has tried a few other items. When he was younger we managed to keep him occupied with toys and other than a cheap carpet he never damaged anything, but now he is older and has ( or maybe we have to go back to had) more freedom he is not as interested in chew toys. Is this a phase that he will pass through? I have never raised a dog before, we have always had adult rescues so we are learning about growing up together.

 

And on second thoughts I have not posted a picture of him since he was a pup so here is a picture taken of him and his brother Brody in honor of his first birthday. ( Rievaulx has the pointy ears)