Anxiety?

[Boiler]

Sydney lately has been chewing on the blanket in her crate. We decided to get rid of the blanket and put a big pillow in it, now she is chewing on it. She has chew toys, kongs, a knotted up pair of jeans in her crate with her, but nothing is helping.

I was wondering if this is just a chewing phase, or maybe anxiety or something?

thanks for your thoughts.

[Brooke&Ryan]

Julius chewed on any & everything we put in his crate. He would leave the blanket alone for awhile & then just start munching a few days later.

We finally ended up just putting him in the crate with nothing but a Nylabone & another durable toy. He layed on the crate pan & really seemed to prefer that.

She's probably not anxious. Ripping a blanket to shreds is great fun....

[Mochasmom]

The phase could end or not so just remove all the things she is not allowed to chew on from her crate and leave her with acceptable things...kong marrow bone etc.
My dog used to shred any blanket I put out for her so she got nothing. Now she has 2 beds and hasn't tried to kill either one of them!

[Patty1231]

Originally Posted by Brooke&Ryan

Julius chewed on any & everything we put in his crate. He would leave the blanket alone for awhile & then just start munching a few days later.

We finally ended up just putting him in the crate with nothing but a Nylabone & another durable toy. He layed on the crate pan & really seemed to prefer that.

She's probably not anxious. Ripping a blanket to shreds is great fun....

This was exactly Rocco. I thought I was doing such a service to him by giving him soft things to sleep on and that appeared to be the last thing he wanted. He chewed anything I put in there until I finally got the message and he was able to sleep comfortably on the bare tray.

[Brooke&Ryan]

Originally Posted by Patty1231

This was exactly Rocco. I thought I was doing such a service to him by giving him soft things to sleep on and that appeared to be the last thing he wanted. He chewed anything I put in there until I finally got the message and he was able to sleep comfortably on the bare tray.

Exactly! I felt so much better putting Julius in this comfy, cozy crate when he could have cared less. I remember when he was a puppy & Ryan & I filled a pillow cover with cedar chips & zipped it shut. Julius ripped that sucker open while we were out of the house & there were cedar chips ALL over the crate. Julius seeks out the "cool" spots in the house & having blankets in the crate is just not what he seems to want. Now to have them to tear to shreds might be a different story...

[Canadianrotti]

Dito here, so I got a 1/2" thick rubber mat that I trimmed to fit the tray. I found it at Home Depot and it was about $12. The thing is so heavy, I don't think she could have lifted a corner if she tried.

I lined the tray because her scratching on the metal was keeping me awake at night, otherwise she could care less about a fluffy pillow.

[StephanieandToby]

There's no "satisfaction" in chewing something you can't destroy.....hmmm....indestructible Kong...or easy-to-shred blanket? I'll tell you which I'd chose if I were a dog! It only makes sense that your dog would chose to destroy the blanky.
Yup...you're just going to have to remove it until Sydney learns a little more!
I like the Kong toys you can fill with treats...chewing with a reward...