# He won't stop chewing wood!



## Bailizzle812 (Feb 9, 2008)

Hi everyone, well we got our puppy back in september and for the first few months he was an angel...now its seems a light has switched and the little devil has gotten into him...not only has he started to rip his pee pee pad when we are not home, but now he has resorted to chewing on everything that is wood! i know puppy teeth but he has plenty of toys and id figure he'd be thru that stage already..

He has chewed the paint of the door (which now has two huge patches), he has chewed the corners of the walls, and now is starting on the legs of furniture! And it is hard to catch him because he chooses to do this whenever we are not around or home..we asked the vet and he said it was normal but wouldnt give any suggestions...

he has plenty of chewing toys so he doesnt get bored, and we've even bought that bitter apple to put on the furniture, but i dont want to keep using that...also knowing that it is not healthy for him, i dont know what else to do..help


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## crazydays (Jul 24, 2007)

Hi. Your little one needs to be crated when you aren't there. Have you crate trained the dog? If not you need to start- this pup needs boundaries and limitations. Let us know and if you need more advice there is lots of help in this area. The other thing is exercise- does you dog get out on the leash and for how long. This can be instrumental with respect to dogs and behaviour.
I have a 10 month pup- she is actively getting into chewing wood like crazy. At the dog park she chews sticks and swallows bark. She has now gotten into ripping lattice of the outdoor deck. Chewing behaviour is hard to deal with. I guess the only advice is, you have to watch the pup all the time to correct the behaviour. I can't leave my pup out in the backyard without supervision. The other huge issue is obedience training. Has your pup had this? Absolutely essential that he know commands such as come, leave it etc.
Good Luck


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## MegaMuttMom (Sep 15, 2007)

What is wrong with using bitter apple. Our dog hates enough that when he was younger we would just lightly spray it on all the furniture, while he was watching, so he got the message, no chewing any of these places. He didn't have to chew, he could smell it and it would deter him.

I also agree with crating or otherwise confining. Chewing is a very self-reinforcing behavior and by the way my dog eats sticks, I think no chew toy will get attention like wood.


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## Bailizzle812 (Feb 9, 2008)

he hasn't really been crate trained...but i think that its something we should start doing...he does get enough exercise though..we walk him all the time and let him run around in the back yard at times...i just don't understand because he has all his toys out for him but he always just chooses to go for the wall...im afraid he is going to make himself sick...its kind of hard to catch him because he does is most of the time..so i guess crating him will be the best...

we use the bitter apple on the walls and corners...but there is one spot that we sprayed but he still goes to it..so idk..but thanks guys for your suggestions i will definitely try them


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## poodleholic (Mar 15, 2007)

> What is wrong with using bitter apple.


For some dogs, it's a condiment.


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## Omega_Brindle_Pit_Bull (Feb 6, 2008)

I have read a lot about people saying to make sure you change up your toys for your dog so they don't get bored with them. If there are always new toys in the rotation, they will not get bored with them and resort to chewing on the wood. 
I am sure a lot of people will tell me this is mean, but you can always put hot sauce on the wood they are chewing on. It will be uncomfortable, but it won't hurt them. I don't know of one dog that enjoys the taste of hot sauce.


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## LittleMoonRabbit (Jan 7, 2008)

my dog likes hot sauce


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## Aisha's Mom (Dec 23, 2007)

I have a hot sauce fan too! My pup loves to chew wood...she must think she's a beaver! I've had to cover the entire back and base of the couch with towels, and then covered the wood coffee table...well today I let her out, went back in the bedroom to grab stuff and turn on computer and lo and behold heard the sound of wood being chewed!!! She had pulled the towels OFF the table and was working on an edge...she got put in a 5 min timeout and I sprayed the table with FOOEY. I keep hoping she'll grow out of this (so I keep hearing lol) and in the mean time I guess I just keep those important wood things covered and out of reach... I partly blame myself for this time, she finished up her latest nighttime "don't be bored" rawhide and didn't have anything else to chew on around...sigh


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## doggone6 (Sep 7, 2007)

If our dogs find a piece of wood to chew, it's WWIII until I get it away from them and dispose of it. BAD DOGS!

Your puppy needs to be crated or at least confined to an area where he can't damage anything when you are not home. I've said it a thousand times before, and will probably say it a thousand times again:

An unsupervised dog will generally either sleep or get into trouble. The younger the dog, the more trouble he'll get into!


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## Bailizzle812 (Feb 9, 2008)

doggone6 said:


> If our dogs find a piece of wood to chew, it's WWIII until I get it away from them and dispose of it. BAD DOGS!
> 
> Your puppy needs to be crated or at least confined to an area where he can't damage anything when you are not home. I've said it a thousand times before, and will probably say it a thousand times again:
> 
> An unsupervised dog will generally either sleep or get into trouble. The younger the dog, the more trouble he'll get into!



when we went out we used to put him in a small room with a gate and his toys and stuff...he was content in there for a while..until he started biting the paint of the door and the edges off the door! lol..now all the corners of the walls are torn up...so we stop putting him in there...now we leave him out when we go out and he was doing fine..he didn't bite anything..but now its just one spot that he keeps going to..when we do see him doing it we discipline him i just think he decides not to listen



LittleMoonRabbit said:


> my dog likes hot sauce


you know..i tried the hot sauce thing yesterday...my boyfriend's grandmother makes it from scratch and it can be really hot..i accidently dropped a bit on the floor and he ran to lick it up..now i waited to see if he would react to it but he just licked his lips and ran back to me for more! lol


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## Omega_Brindle_Pit_Bull (Feb 6, 2008)

That is crazy that the dogs like hot sauce. My puppy can't stand the Tapatio I put on my fence to get her to stop chewing. Maybe the hot sauce isn't hot enough, or it has a good flavor to it. Try something like tabasco or tapatio which doesn't have as much flavor to it, it is just hot. They are both basically just vinegar and chiles.


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## Millies (Apr 22, 2012)

I have a 10 month old that likes wood. Won't even chew on a kong with peanut butter in it. Just wants wood. Won't even chew on a bone , just wants wood. I have to crate train. Otherwise my house would be chewed up. But, I found the dog don't like lemon juice. I have to put the dog were wood is. Cause I have a cat that will stick the paws in the crate and take food from the dogs dish and eat it. So I feed the dog on the back porch or guard the crate. That back porch is wood. Can't win.


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## Jef (Sep 12, 2012)

I used cayenne pepper and that worked great, I just rubbed it around where my dog had already chewed! She's outgrown her door frame chewing now. She prefers to drink her shakes! This video show her in action! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XTw_0iCKbNI&feature=g-like


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## Canaqua (Sep 27, 2011)

You'll need to crate him when you aren't home, for his own safety as well as protecting your home from being disassembled piece by piece . He could be experiencing some separation anxiety too...speak to a good trainer for help with that. Our 15 month old dog was like that when she was younger, we ended up sending her to a training "day school" or leaving her with my mother when we went to work, so she was never alone. That cost plenty, though. She's fine now and we can leave her in the house for about 4 hours at a time with no destruction (a dog walker comes mid day).


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## dmbaukat (Apr 5, 2013)

Our 7 month old puppy has recently been chewing/biting on our fine furniture. Teeth scratches on the bottom wrung of our captains chair. She started a couple of weeks ago on the corner of our kitchen/dining wall, and has begun to chew on the corner wall adjacent to the chair she's ruined. I just tried the Tobasco and chili pepper combination after wetting it a bit, and used a pastry brush to smear it on everything that she has chewed. I had to put her in the crate today because I discovered the huge damage to our chair. After brushing the areas she has chewed, I tried to see if she would lick the brush that I was using. She definitely did not like it, so I'm hoping that this will work. Perhaps she was agitated because I didn't giver her much attention while at my computer. She hates the word "no". The suggestions to crate her is well taken. I sure hope the bitter taste will deter her further chewing. Thanks for all your inputs.


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