Re: [PyrNet-L] Destructive chewing

[Jane Gill <janegill@fast.net>]

LynmaloneB@aol.com wrote:

> Hello all-
>
> Here's the problem. It's probably been coming on gradually, but in the last
> two weeks it has really come to a head. Recently he has destroyed two shirts,
> a sweater (a favorite, of course), a towel, at least one pencil, and a glove.
> One time I even caught him with a plastic bottle of prescription pain killers
> which he was in the process of splintering. I've saved many more articles than
> that just because I've had to start watching him like a hawk. He takes these
> items from tabletops, from the hamper, from a drawer left ajar, from a desk,
> you name it. Sometimes he walks into a room and searches for something he can
> take....like he's cruising. At other times he races into a room and grabs the
> first thing available. There are times, though, when he's the picture of
> decorum and doesn't take anything at all. When he was younger he did all the
> normal puppy chewing, but between his crate, baby gates, and supervision, he
> never did anything really terrible. Between six and nine months he pretty much
> stopped chewing - he'd do the cute steal-the-socks-from-the-hamper routine
> that you all describe so well, but I interpreted that as attention-getting
> behavior rather than chewing.

Well, the terrible Weezie pup went through a phase like this, and chewed a rather
extensive list of things that I would rather have not been chewed.  The middle
sofa cushion on my couch (just a nibble), the pockets out of several pairs of
jeans(Mom keeps treats in there, you know), and a lengthy list of library books
(she prefers new mysteries with plastic covers, 200 pages or less, although she
went through a brief non-fiction phase.)  Eye glasses.  A bedspread.  Etc.  In
some ways it seemed to me like she was briefly revisiting a phase of puppyhood.
Ex:  when she was a baby, we went through what I called "Soap Week", where she was
wild to explore any soap or soap-related products.  Up to and including Brillo
pads.  That had gone away, but then at 10 1/2 months ouila! one day she was back
on her soap binge, and then it was gone again.  There were other days when she
would revisit, just for a few hours, a flash of a baby puppy behavior that I had
thought was long gone.  (Question to the experienced puppy raisers out there:
does this make any sense?  Weezie is the first pup I've ever raised.)

For the most part, in my case, I blamed myself.  Because she was in general so
good and well-behaved, I had relaxed vigilence on where she was and what she was
up to when she wasn't under my feet.  So her success rate when she got a puppy
moment was much higher than when she had been younger.  The library book thing
continued to be quite pernicious (and expensive!) and I did end up booby-trapping
some of her favorite spots with some shake cans (in a few cases artfully taped to
a slender string which was then taped to a sacrificial book.)

She has come out the other side of all of this silliness, and is a good douce girl
who likes to keep her Nylabones and Gummy bones stashed under the corner of the
rug, and digs them out for a nice contemplative chew when appropriate.  Then she
files them back under the rug when done.  She is still wacky and busy, and a fun
girl, but it just seemed like one magic day she decided to be a Big.  So have
courage, mom, with all of the good hard work you've put in, and continue to put
in, there will be an end point.

> Next month my husband and I will be out of town
> for five or six days. I had arranged for a house sitter, but now I've got
> serious doubts about that. I don't think it's fair to her (the sitter) to
> leave her with Bridger while is in this mode. He could do something really
> destructive and she'd feel responsible. I don't want to do it, but I'm
> thinking I'll have to board him while we're away.

Well, we boarded Weezie for the first time when she was just a year old, and I
thought I was going to hyperventilate and collapse in a big heap from anxiety.
All the time we were gone I kept worrying and worrying about how she was doing.
She was just fine.  She was happy to see me, but had been perfectly cheerful at
the kennel.  Which paradoxically almost hurt my feelings.  (Talk about
irrational!)  But I was happy I had boarded her (albeit with a kennel that I have
used often in the past, and where I knew she would receive good care and
attention.)  just as an experience to add to her repertoire.  Sometimes we end up
having to board our dogs unexpectedly.  We just have no choice.  And sometimes
they need to stay overnight or whatever at the vets.  Letting them have that
experience at a young age can be a good thing to add to their doggie repertoire.
(In fact, my sister had been urging me to board Weezie for a weekend even if we
weren't going anywhere for just that reason.  My rational mind said, yes, that's
not a bad idea.  And then my irrational side would start to hyperventilate.)  (g)

Whichever way you go on the house sitter vs boarding, I'm sure it will be a good
decision.

Best wishes,
Jane Gill
janegill@fast.net