Can't stop chewing

[woodedareas]

I have a 10 month old English Setter. A great dog but he is in the process of demolishing a new cedar dog house and now has started to dig. He has 2 acres fenced to run and excercise which he uses with a companion dog. They get along very well. He is in the house when i am at home so I do not know what has caused this chewing unless he is in love with cedar. Perhaps he is young and needs to get ths out of his system. I also tried a product called Bitter Apple. This increase his appetitie for chewing and worked in reverse. If you have any suggestions or comments I would appreciate them. In terms of birds he is progressing very well so I can't complain.

[SubMariner]

I have a 10 month old English Setter. A great dog but he is in the process of demolishing a new cedar dog house and now has started to dig. He has 2 acres fenced to run and excercise which he uses with a companion dog. They get along very well. He is in the house when i am at home so I do not know what has caused this chewing unless he is in love with cedar. Perhaps he is young and needs to get ths out of his system. I also tried a product called Bitter Apple. This increase his appetitie for chewing and worked in reverse. If you have any suggestions or comments I would appreciate them. In terms of birds he is progressing very well so I can't complain.

What else are you offering him to chew? We found that rawhides, nylabones, and large kong-type hard rubber items were good for our GSP, who just turned 2. These "offerings" have kept him from chewing our furniture & shoes. (Only casualty early on was a pair of my hubby's Birkenstocks, which have since been replaced.)

Even though our GSP isn't a big dog, he is a VERY aggressive chewer who will demolish a wimpy toy in seconds. Hence the need for hard, oversized items.

Bonne chance!

[Sharon]

I've been told that dogs don't exercise themselves in a yard - big or not. They need to be run hard with you.

[woodedareas]

Thanks for the advice. As I think back over many years all of our dogs loved to chew. This boy is is a more agressive chewer. I think I will try and provide more chew raw hides and the harder Kong toys. I have however been concerned that too many raw hides can cause digestive issues so i have limited them. This dog does alot of running which is of some help and Friday he will have another training session with pigeons and quail and will receive a great work out. I forgot to mention his other favorite attribute is to sleep on my lap. Not that I dont love it.

[MikeB]

I would NEVER use rawhide if you can't monitor the dog. Many dogs choke to death while unattended chewing and swallowing rawhide bones. Not worth the risk in my opinion.

The Black KONG Toys are the toughest & Raw Beef Knuckle Bones work well. Also the Large Nylabones like the Galileo, Knots & others.

http://www.jbpet.com/Nylabone-Galileo-Bones,2279.html

http://www.jbpet.com/Nylabone-Knots,1122.html

http://www.jbpet.com/Nylabone-Durable-Bones,872.html

[SubMariner]

Thanks for the advice. As I think back over many years all of our dogs loved to chew. This boy is is a more agressive chewer. I think I will try and provide more chew raw hides and the harder Kong toys. I have however been concerned that too many raw hides can cause digestive issues so i have limited them. This dog does alot of running which is of some help and Friday he will have another training session with pigeons and quail and will receive a great work out. I forgot to mention his other favorite attribute is to sleep on my lap. Not that I dont love it.

As a cautionary note, any online sources I've read about problems with rawhide seem to be associated smaller dogs having problems digesting rawhide. I also make sure that there are no small pieces around that can be swallowed whole.

More about Kongs: make sure you pick ones that are BIGGER than your dog can get his jaws around. Zio has demolished any of them he can get a firm mouthful on; only the ones that are "too big" have survived more than 5 minutes.

[Jmackk]

My dad planted a tree one time when he had a Lab, the lab was about a hear old. The tree was about 1inch or so in diamiter(young tree) and he came home and the lab had chewed the tree down for 5ft high to 11inches. So he planted a nother tree, this on was about 2inches in diamiter, and he put wooden stakes and chicken wire around it to keep the lab out. He came home from work the next day and it was all gone, the only thing he found was the chicken wire rolled up on the other side of the yard. We think he ate the tree, we never found and part of it, and the stakes were gone. There was nothing left of the tree, it was chewed to the ground and we dont think he baried it because we looked and there were no signs of digging anywere. Ended up getting ride of him to to time and money issues, gave hime to a friend of my uncles and I guess to this day that lab has always been chewer. Just thought Id share that story. And I would not use raw hide at all, no matter what anyone tells you, even if you monitor him.