Eating the corners of my couch & boxspring?

[ChloeBear]

Everytime I leave my house my Rottie will eat my couch and box spring mattress. Also my sheets ??? If Im home I can catch her in the act, never hit her, but my voice will let her know she is doing wrong. Ive tried everything... sprays on the furniture etc. She is 15 months, will she grow out of this? Im about to move and am scared to buy new furniture until I fix this problem. Any advice on this one? I know the seperation anxiety theory, and also she is well exercised, so what else could be the problem?

[harleychik66]

At 15 months old you still have a pup on your hands. Why are you not crating your girl when you are gone? When you are home if you know she does this then either crate her when you can't watch her or leash her to you so you are in control of what she can get into.

[brunie's mom]

Crate her! Not only is she damaging your furniture...she may do herself some harm chewing on these things. Do you know how much a surgery costs if she gets some sort of obstruction from this chewing??

She also sounds bored. How much exercise does she get before you leave her for work? She needs a good brisk walk and some playtime. What do you leave her to chew while alone?

Crate her, and give her a Kong filled with PB and goodies or a bully stick...something to keep her occupied. Exercise and walk her when you get home, and do some training also. Is she in obedience classes.?...a tired mind also makes a tired, sleepy dog that does not have the energy to chew.

Gina

[Bosko]

I crated my boy until he was 2 yrs old. After that I still placed him in a controlled area where he couldn't get himelf into trouble. 15 months is to young to have run of the house.

[Shelby427]

Originally Posted by Bosko

I crated my boy until he was 2 yrs old. After that I still placed him in a controlled area where he couldn't get himelf into trouble. 15 months is to young to have run of the house.

Not necessarily true. Each dog is different. Shelby was about a year when she was left out of the crate unsupervised. Hudson may never be able to be left out. It's clear the OP's dog doesn't deserve free roam of the house, the dog also sounds bored and needs more mental and physical stimulation.

But to generalize that 15 months is too young is not true. It depends on the dog.

To the OP - buy a crate and learn how to use it. It's clear this dog has not earned the right to be out alone. Leaving her in a laundry room may work, but she also may get frustrated in there and chew/gnaw/scratch at the door. Crating is the best option IMO.

[ChloeBear]

OK ... Before I get blasted for my dog being bored or mentally not challenged. Some backround on me !!!!! I own my own business and have as much free time as I want. Im not defending myself here out of anger!!! All the above points are valid if I didnt pay attention to my dog. Here's my daily routine with Chloe. I wake up at 7am she pulls me on a skateboard down to the beach wich is about 1 mile, run around for about 30 mins before the cops start patrolling because its a fine down here to let dogs on the beach then she pulls me back home for breakfast (which she normally doesnt eat). I leave for a few hours and am back by 10 or 11am. In that time span she is ok.. Then I take her out, but not as an aggressive walk as morning time, more or less to do her thing. Leave for the afternoon around 1pm, this is when she does her damage!!! I get back around 4pm to find some carnage in the house. I leave her prob 3 nylabones, tennis balls, a few other toys, plenty to amuse her. Then we go to the dog park for at least 2 hours in the evening where she meets her friends!! I have never had a trainer because she listens to me when IM THERE !!!
She was crate trained when she was younger, I just cant bring myself to put her in there while Im gone... Im still not sold on those bully sticks either

[harleychik66]

Originally Posted by ChloeBear

She was crate trained when she was younger, I just cant bring myself to put her in there while Im gone...

Why? If you used it when she was younger she should have no problem with it now. Don't make a big deal of it when you put her in it. Act very nonchalant about it. You don't want her thinking she is being punished.

My 7 1/2 year old never goes in a crate anymore. He was crated till he was about 2. Our girl is about 16 months and she is crated every time we leave. She loves her crate and at times will go in there even when we are home. If left out she would chew on things too. I feel much better knowing she is safe.

Please don't feel bad if your girl has to be in a crate for a few hours when you are gone, most likely she will just fall asleep, or put a kong filled with peanut butter or some other tasty treat inside the kong to keep her occupied.

Think about how much safer she will be. If you feel bad for putting her in a crate, how much worse would you feel if she chewed up something and got an obstruction.


Keeping your girl safe is your responsibility. She doesn't know what can and can't hurt her. You do, and she has shown that she is not ready for full house priviledges yet.

[brunie's mom]

Crate her! She is just not ready yet to be out of the crate. It may take another 6 months or so, and then she will be ready.

I would also suggest that even though she listens well, that you get signed up for obedience classes. Honestly, you will have fun with her. You will be amazed at how much this breed wants to learn....and how little you really know.

It will also help to bond, and who knows you may even catch the obedience bug and get a CGC on her, or a Rally-O title. The more obedience training the dog has, the more fun it is to have that dog around.

Gina

[Shelby427]

[quote=harleychik66;807252]Why? If you used it when she was younger she should have no problem with it now. Don't make a big deal of it when you put her in it. Act very nonchalant about it. You don't want her thinking she is being punished.

My 7 1/2 year old never goes in a crate anymore. He was crated till he was about 2. Our girl is about 16 months and she is crated every time we leave. She loves her crate and at times will go in there even when we are home. If left out she would chew on things too. I feel much better knowing she is safe.

Please don't feel bad if your girl has to be in a crate for a few hours when you are gone, most likely she will just fall asleep, or put a kong filled with peanut butter or some other tasty treat inside the kong to keep her occupied.

Think about how much safer she will be. If you feel bad for putting her in a crate, how much worse would you feel if she chewed up something and got an obstruction.


Keeping your girl safe is your responsibility. She doesn't know what can and can't hurt her. You do, and she has shown that she is not ready for full house priviledges yet.[/QUOTE]

Exactly! OP - please listen to the advice. It's great that you're able to be home with her a lot of the day, but for that short time that she's showing you she's not ready, put her in a crate! You say you can't bring yourself to put her in there when you're gone, how will you feel when she needs surgery to get an obstruction out? How will you feel then? That YOU could have prevented this? I wouldn't risk it and I would crate her when you're not there.

[Da05128]

Originally Posted by ChloeBear

I leave her prob 3 nylabones, tennis balls, a few other toys, plenty to amuse her.

I wouldn't leave tennis balls - they are very easily destroyed and pieces can be swallowed and cause a lot trouble. Anytime you leave your dog anything unsupervised make sure it can't be broken up into pieces that can be easily swallowed.

Originally Posted by ChloeBear

Im still not sold on those bully sticks either

Bully sticks are a way safer choice than tennis balls because they are meant to be consumed

[Ayoka]

I agree that crating or limiting your dog's acess to rooms where she can't wreak havoc, while you are gone is the only way to be SURE she doesn't chew your furniture.

Crates are not bad! Especially when they are used when necessary to protect a dog from and especially when from what you say, you come home to let her out mid day and exercise her! I also hvae to agree that there is an added benefit to training in that you get a mentally tired dog. We train daily or every other day in agility (classes and our own time) and days when we can't we do some obedience stuff we work on obedience things inside or tricks or games. There is nothing more peaceful than my house after a class. With a dog that tired, being in a crate makes no difference - he's sleeping!

[Mantobellio]

I have never crated my dogs. The first time I left the house, just for a few minutes, I wanted to see what my dog would do. The dog was five months at the time. I left for about two to three minutes, then came right back. I noticed that my dog had got a hold of a wash cloth that was left on the couch. So for training, I put the wash cloth near her on the floor and every time she went for it, I would make a sound so she would leave it alone.

When I was convinced that she knew what I meant, I put the cloth back on the couch. This time I walked to the door with her and took her head in my hands and gave her a good scratch behind the ears and told her I would be back, then stepped out of the house. I could see her through the window, yet she could not see me. I saw her sit by the door and when I thought she might begin to act up, I came back in and gave her a big scratch behind the ears.

The next time I was leaving, I did the same thing, walked her to the door and scratched her ears and said I would be back. Then watched her through the window again. She sat by the door and waited. I stood outside for 10 or 15 minutes, then came back inside and gave her a scratch behind the ears. Since I noticed she always sat near the door, I put her favorite blanket close to the door.

The next time, I left for a longer period of time and I noticed my Rottweiler would sit near the door, then after about 15 minutes she walked to her blanket and laid down. She went to sleep after a while. After 30-40 minutes of watching her, I came back in. Once she heard the keys in the door, she was right there when I opened it. I gave her a good scratch.

Every day I would leave for short periods of time and just watch her through the window. After five days, I knew she understood what I was trying to teach her. So the final test day, I did the same routine of walking her to the door and scratching her head. This time I actually went to the store for a little over an hour. When I came back, she was right there to meet me at the door and no catastrophes were waiting for me in the house.

Every dog after that I was able to use basically the same method. If I had another dog all ready trained to do this and I brought a new dog in to become part of the family, the new one would follow what the other dog did……..so training became a lot easier.

With all my dogs, I have never puppy proofed my house, I just teach them what is mine and what is theirs. So far, with all the dogs that have come and gone and with the dogs I have now, none have ever eaten anything that was not theirs in the house.

So communicating and watching your dog through their body language to see what they are picking up and if they are understanding what you are trying to teach them goes a hell of a long ways.

[ebullee]

Some lines mature slower than others and then again every dog is different. Crating is not a bad thing. Since the time of my Rotts, I have had American Bulldogs. My female was such a puppy that she wasnt allowed to stay out of her crate over night or during the day until she was about 30 months old. That seems crazy as far as AB breeders are concerned, but I knew that my girl came from a line that is slow to mature. I still have her crate in my bedroom and she still goes in it when we go to bed. I dont put her in the crate, she goes in it by herself. She has her blanket and her toys in there. ABs and Rotts are similar as far as being big and robust. She has to stay stimulated or yes she will become destructive. She is a beautiful girl, but is a mama's girl.

[moondog]

I'm of the thought that "a good dog prevention makes", especially during formative years. The more "mistakes" they are able to make, the more conditioned they become to the behavior and the harder it is to help them come to a "new" understanding regarding things in general. I'm more comfortable guiding them on that road until they "get" it.

I'm also of the thought that I don't want to leave my dog crated all day long while I'm at work, so I attached an xpen to a crate and kept Chili in there while I was gone until she was almost 2, with shorter periods of house privileges while I ran to the store, etc. - trial runs, if you will. She never touches a thing that isn't hers. Right now, she's earned two rooms - the kitchen and the dining room - while I'm gone. She's got a nice little setup and is quite happy with it. I now have the xpen opened up across the windows to the yard in the dining room, so just in case she should decide "that squirrel needs some chasing" she won't put her paw or nose through the glass to try and accomplish the task! She could have whole house privileges right now as far as "stuff" goes, but I think she and Bamboo kitty are having too much fun with each other when I'm gone, so they BOTH need to grow up a bit more before I'm comfortable with the wrestling while I'm not there to observe (the kitty is the biggest instigator )

[jlaack]

I also by far feel that crating her is the best thing to do. Also you mentioned a pattern:

Then I take her out, but not as an aggressive walk as morning time, more or less to do her thing. Leave for the afternoon around 1pm, this is when she does her damage!!! I get back around 4pm to find some carnage in the house.

Perhaps she is getting sufficient exercise in the morning that for your first departure in the morning she is content, but then is restless from a potty walk but no exercise later in the day before your second absence. Can you try increasing the afternoon walk to be more of a workout? Oh and please obey the dog laws. I know some are quite ridiculous, but I do believe it has a negative impact on the breed if a law is being violated by a Rottweiler vs. a Golden Retriever or a Bichon.