chewing

[marcia hill]

my doodle has chewed 100 of dollars of stuff when do they end the chewing stage she is 5 months old now.also do they calm down at a year old? marcia and alley

[Adrianne Matzkin]

Samantha just turned 1 last Monday and is a chewer - but she has never chewed anything that wasn't hers - oh, thank you Doodle Gods!! - (so I am not sure I can give you the best advice on how to stop that behavior) but she can chew the supposedly chew-proof toys in a heartbeat. I found, tho they are not cheap, Plant Dog bones and balls. She loves the balls - they are light enough to throw and catch (and not break a tooth), float but the best part is that she can munch on them on not leave a scratch on them. The tennis balls are 6.50 each on amazon.com. At that price I make sure they always come home with us and I do not bring them to the park.
Your Doodle may never outgrow the chewing but you must redirect the chewing to her toys! If she is chewing something that you don't want her to chew (make sure that you keep those objects where she can't reach them), take it away from her and give her her toy and tell her repeatedly that she is a fantastic doodle! Over praise!!
Good luck!!

[Adina P]

Some doodles are happy to chew for a few years, though the voracious chewing often dies down within a year or two. Be sure you have appropriate chew toys for her...the hard nylabones and sterilized filled real bones are what my dogs go nuts for. Also with a puppy you have to be sure to keep all no-no stuff out of reach...though some dogs are pretty clever and get to naughty things anyway. When you can't supervise her she needs to be crated to prevent her from learning bad chewing habits. Also teach her to drop things out of her mouth on command so if she has something she should not have she will drop it when you say "drop it." Practice with easy items first. =)

[Joy Originator of GiantSchnoodles]

Try some cow hooves. Also, Hartz puts out a knckle bone. Be sure to get the ones that lool like balls, not the marrow bone. They are $3.75 at Walmart & $3.00 at Walgreens.In both cases watch that they don't break off pieces & swallow them. With the cow hooves, I take pliers & break off any part I think they might be able to break off. Puppy love from Joy & furry folk

[Debbie and Thomas]

Our dog doesn chew anything around the house-just us!! He is slowing down on that now thank goodness. Once in a while he will lie down and chew on the baseboards!! What a nut. BUT, my brothers yellow lab chewed shoes, wires, hats, books, magazines tv converters etc, etc for about a year. After that we calmed right down(not nuetered then either) but would chow down on the a goodl ole shoe occasionally. While he was in the chewing stage-he would spray anything he could not put away(like wires) with Bitter Apple and he told me that it really worked. If he smelled it on the wires once-he would never go back to chew them.

[Penny, Comiskey & Beemer]

Comiskey is a chewer....but from the first day she came home we gave her frozen washcloths....we bought a stack at a discount store.....wet them....rolled them up and twisted them and put them in the freezer.....she chewed happily...and I never lost a single piece of furniture.....she still chews but now it's empty 2 liter bottles (she loves to unscrew them).....This method was so successful that when we get the new pup at the end of the month....I will try it again....good luck....

[Jessica]

My 10 month old Labradoodle, Barkley, is a chewer. He gets in to everything! He has pulled up my flooring in the dining area of my kitchen, 4 pairs of shoes, 3 tv remotes, and 2 dvd remotes. That is just in the last month or two! He most recently got my pillow off my bed and tore it up all over the house. My son and I came home to what looked like snow everywhere! I don't like to crate him because I know he likes to run and romp with the cat in the house while we're gone, but he's now figured out how to open doors. The only thing keeping him away from the bedrooms is a baby gate that's blocking the hall. He hasn't torn up anything in the past week....hopefully. I may regret saying that when I get home from work this evening!

[Tori]

Over here we have the same problem............We named our boy well. His name is Chewy :)

[Dot, Maggie and KoKo]

And I thought I was alone in this chewing...

Rosie has gone through all her toys. All she has left are the outer shells - nothing has stuffing. I spent close to $100 buying her toys for Christmas and have made a pledge that I will never buy anything with stuffing again. She has nylabones which she ignores, balls that she loves (but they always end up under the furniture) and tug ropes. Still she has a need to chew on everything. She has ruined so many things. This morning she got my granddaughter's hoodie and chewed up the zipper as well as a big hole in the back. She also ruined a pair of Michaela's jeans today. Last week it was one of Michaela's dance shoes ($45 pair). As much as I tell the girls they can't leave anything around, and they are getting really good at putting things away, Rosie always finds something to chew on. She's 7 months old and a really great pup if we could just harness in this chewing. It's storming here today but I think tomorrow I will get some bitter apple spray and try that. Do they sell it by the gallon LOL.