Help with destructive chewing

[mollygirl1975]

I have a 9 month old pitbull that has a destructive chewing problem. We are really trying to nip this in the bud by keeping a more watchful eye on her (crating her when necessary), giving her plenty of appropriate chew toys, and making sure she gets plenty of exercise. Even though we have increased our efforts we are still finding evidence of her chewing things up, especially when she has been let out in the backyard for a little bit to potty and play with our other dog. We recently purchased about $50 worth of durable chew toys for her. She will play with them from time to time, but she seems bored with them for the most part. She would much rather chew on things that are highly inappropriate and could potentially harm her and make her sick.

The one thing we haven't tried is the chewing deterrent sprays. Has anyone ever had success with those sprays? Is there anything else we can try to curb this behavior?

 

[poodlesmom]

Bitter Apple spray will work for some dogs but some don't seem to mind it. I've had good luck with it.

Have you tried marrow bones? Sometimes that will fulfill their chewing obsession.

 

[Maxy24]

Bitter Apple spray is a wonderful thing in our household (Though I've heard the bitter apple gel is stronger), works wonders. But I have hears some dogs don't mind it at all.

But in all honesty, the best thing you can do is supervise her more, you have to be there to tell her to leave whatever she is chewing and get her to go to something more appropriate. You can't spray bitter apple on everything so it's important that she learns exactly what she should do with her urge to chew.

 

[Panzerotti]

You don't have a destructive chewing problem, you have a human supervision problem. As has been mentioned already, you cannot just leave a baby unsupervised and expect them to make rational decisions. In fact, you can never leave any dog unsupervised and expect them to make rational decisions, they are dogs.

With some dogs you luck out and can leave them out in the yard to amuse themselves, but some others (and especially puppies) require direct supervision all of the time. You should be going outside into the yard with her every time and actually training the behaviour that you want, not just hoping for it.

 

[Teal]

You don't have a destructive chewing problem, you have a human supervision problem. As has been mentioned already, you cannot just leave a baby unsupervised and expect them to make rational decisions. In fact, you can never leave any dog unsupervised and expect them to make rational decisions, they are dogs.

With some dogs you luck out and can leave them out in the yard to amuse themselves, but some others (and especially puppies) require direct supervision all of the time. You should be going outside into the yard with her every time and actually training the behaviour that you want, not just hoping for it.

Well said!

As a Pit Bull owner, I can attest to their destructive abilities! This is also not a breed that usually entertains themselves, even with toys available. You need to be interacting with the dog and shaping her behaviour.

Also please remember to NEVER leave your two dog unsupervised together!!

 

[lizzybeth727]

Some dogs do like (or at least don't mind) the taste of Bitter Apple. You can try taking your dog to Petsmart or somewhere and let her sample the taste before you buy a bottle. If she does like Bitter Apple, there are several other brands of similar sprays that taste different that might also work.

The problem with these sprays, though, is that they really only work when they're wet. So for example, if you spray it in the backyard and then leave her for an hour or whatever, it'll dry up and won't work pretty quickly.

Like the others said, supervision is your best bet. My 15-month-old collie went through a major chewing phase when he was around 8 months old, worse than when he was a teething puppy. I had to supervise him all the time, and if I couldn't supervise him I had to keep him in a dog-proof room, or a crate, and remember to provide him with lots of appropriate chew toys that he really likes.