# Eating furniture!!! Help!



## rlstill (Jan 15, 2009)

I have found that I cannot leave my dog home alone without her eating my bed or couch. We have to put her in a crate every time we leave. I would like to trust her in the house so she doesnt have to go in the crate, but I cant with her eating my furniture! Any training advice that may stop this? She is very good when we are home, but when we are gone we come back to a mess. We exercise her alot by taking her to the dog park and walking her, so I am not sure what to do.


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## Keechak (Aug 10, 2008)

sounds like she's bored, maybe run her for a few miles before you leave.


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## Cheetah (May 25, 2006)

I agree. And keep restricting her access to the furniture so she can't eat it when you're not around. What kinds of toys does she have?


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## Elana55 (Jan 7, 2008)

You answered your own question. Crate her when you leave. 

How much exercise and other training does she get (miles and hours)? She looks like a Labrador Retriever and those dogs are very high energy and require a ton of both training and exercise.


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## rlstill (Jan 15, 2009)

She has ropes, kongs, tennis balls, chew toys, one of those undestrutable tires, I wish she would just chew those when we are gone. I have tried what you guys said by takinger her on a long one walk/ run at the park, then got home and left and came home to my eaten bed.


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## Elana55 (Jan 7, 2008)

Keep crating her. What is the issue with that? Seems a lot less expensive than buying sofas!


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## kailaq (Nov 12, 2009)

my puppy used to do the same thing. she even got into my cd collection (which is really odd because my cds are inside a tin can that even i have a hard time opening). anyway, my vet suggested crate training him and it really has worked wonders. if you catch him chewing your stuff, just make an annoyed sound and give him one of his toys. make sure as well that all his toys are inside the crate with him when he's in there so he realizes that when he chews those he doesn't get told off that they're ok for him to chew. it took about 2 weeks for my puppy to figure it out. now whenever we take him out of the crate, we leave the door open so he can go and get any of his toys when he feels like chewing (which is always since he's teething!).


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## jiml (Jun 19, 2008)

crating is certainly the easiest and quickest solution.

others may include bitter apple spray on fav chew areas

maybe something like a bustercube that dispeces treats or kong stuffed w frozen peanut butter to keep her occupied


HOW LONG IS SHE LEFT ALONE. this may or may not play a role


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## briteday (Feb 10, 2007)

I would crate the dog. Furniture is a relatively harmless substance. If your dog gets into household cleaners or chemicals, electrical wires, or medications left on a night stand...your problems will be much worse.


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## Labsnothers (Oct 10, 2009)

Dogs can choke on furniture stuffing. I seldom crate my Lab puppies except at night since I am able to take them many places to give them a rich active life. They have plenty of Kongs, Nylabones, and other toys. When we do have to leave them, we wouldn't think of leaving one loose in the house.


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