destroying his bed

[brihop]

Just a quick question if anyone has a suggestion. My 4 month old has taken to destroying his bed if he is left alone in his crate when we go out. It is not during rest time or night time but when we go out and never for a long period. My wife said he had a " I'll show you look " on his face before she left him in the crate for 45 mins to go shopping. He has destroyed three beds so far. I have ordered a " bite proof " bed and hope this works. He mostly does this when left in the morning. Energy to burn ???

I had a rescue BC before him and remember he would sometimes do this. We had him for 13 years and don't remember what stage in his life he destroyed his bed.

Any ideas or suggestions would be most appreciated.

See below for the culprit.

Brian

[jfaircloth]

He’s a cutie! The destruction could be boredom or separation anxiety or just his age. Consider giving him some sort of puzzle toy (and make it extra special by being something he ONLY gets in his crate) before you leave him. My 11-year-old BC has separation anxiety and has always destroyed his crate bedding when we leave him alone. Solution: no bedding! Fortunately he has never attempted to destroy his crate tray (though in my work as a rescue volunteer I’ve seen that happen too). On the other hand, one of my other dogs only did this when she was young, and we were able to put bedding in her crate when she matured. Good luck!

[GentleLake]

A lot of us have gone through this. Honestly, I've just taken the bed out of the crate for a while. It's not as comfy but he won't die. Lots of dogs never have a soft bed to lie on. (Not that I don't provide beds for my dogs' comfort, but just sayin' . . . ) If he's OK with the bed in the crate while you're home, then replace it at those times but remove it when you'll be gone.

The problem with leaving him to do this is that because you're gone there's no way to stop him from doing it and it's self rewarding behavior so it's being reinforced. It makes it much less likely that he'll just grow out of it on his own.

[D'Elle]

Agree with Gentle Lake. Just don't give him a bed in his crate until he grow up a bit. Continuing to let him chew up bed after bed only reinforces the behavior.

[ShellyF]

We took all the nice beds away and let ours have old blankets to his hearts contents. When he saw we weren’t fussed about whether he chewed them or not he stopped haha! He’s earned one of his beds back at now nearly five months old and so far is leaving it alone. 

[Lawgirl]

55 minutes ago, ShellyF said:

We took all the nice beds away and let ours have old blankets to his hearts contents. When he saw we weren’t fussed about whether he chewed them or not he stopped haha! He’s earned one of his beds back at now nearly five months old and so far is leaving it alone. 

Our first puppies had a round donut type bed.  They tore the base cushion out, leaving just the ring, and then curled up in it quite happily and slept.

But I agree with ShellyF, if tearing up a bed is a problem, try some old blankets in the crate.  They are not so fun to tear into, and if they get destroyed, well, oh well.  Even old towels will work.

[NW_MONTANA_BC]

I put a cheap towel in Tucker's crate. He would destroy the bed that goes in it. He does use the towel to prop his head on when he goes to sleep. 

[GentleLake]

Towels may be a cheap and therefore acceptable substitute to loosing a bed, but IMO it's still going to be reinforcing to the pup who may take a lot longer, if ever, to stop tearing up the bedding. I'd still opt for nothing in the crate.

[brihop]

Thanks everyone for your input. I think we will try the no bedding for a while and see how it goes. Put the bedding back at night as he does not do this during sleep time.

Major time out last night as he was found sitting in the middle of the garden happily chewing away at a plant he had broken a section off. Time out did not seem to have any effect as he returned to the same plant this morning and broke another piece off to chew. ( garden strewn with chew toys ). Patience of a saint required I am afraid or a time machine to zoom him a year or two ahead. haha.

Brian

[Rush Fan]

On 9/5/2018 at 4:32 AM, brihop said:

My wife said he had a " I'll show you look " on his face before she left him in the crate

 

Haha, I've seen that look from my Mancer! She also gave me a "You're darn right I did" look after biting me on the nose when she was @ 2-3 months old.  FWIW, she's turned out to be a very well behaved sweetheart. But she also had issues with chewing up her bed when left alone during the day. Like the others have said I simply removed her bed and she was fine. Her crate sits on top of padded carpet so that made me feel a little better about it.