Frankie is 16 months and is chewing furniture and the walls

[Lori, Quincy & Frankie]

Yes, our re-home gorgeous devil, Frankie, is still trying our patience.  Plaster walls, Ethan Allan chair rails, wood door panels, papers, etc.  STOP!  I am so afraid his next victim will be our custom kitchen cabinets...

He is walked 1.4 miles EVERY morning (at a minimum) and once we get tot he beach, romps and swims with Quincy ( angel baby good boy) on the beach, swims, runs, etc for another 15-30 minutes.  Dog heaven.  

Why now? why is he chewing our home apart NOW.....  

He has  chew toys ( just went out and bought another $$$ amount)  the time alone is the same ( 6-8 hours) PLUS we think he did the latest chew of the plaster in the middle of the night... 

HELP

2018 UPDATE!  Thank you all for all the terrific advice.  I feel terrible that I never posted a Thank You!  Frankie is now 3 years old and no way near as mellow as Quincy but thankfully, no more destructive chewing.  He is a dedicated  counter surfer, but if he get anything, it's our fault for leaving it. 

I don't think he ever had separation anxiety but rather boredom and pent up energy and maybe some teething.  We fenced off the living room and bedrooms and made sure he had a bully stick in the morning before we left.  I bitter sprayed the chewed spots, too.  We also started taking him to day care once or twice a week and still take them both usually once a week.  Happy to say, it passed. 

Quincy is just such a mellow soul that Frankie threw us off.  He is still the one who wakes my husband and the crack of dawn and sometimes in the middle of the night but he has come a long way. 

And he is so stinkin' handsome! 

Happy Summer to all my Doodle friends!  

 

[Lynda Kamrath]

He may have a dietary deficiency.  This is usually over before this age.  My puppies all chew, especially when getting their adult teeth, but he should be over that by now.

[Amy and Annabelle]

That's sad to hear. So this is a new behavior? Has something happened recently that might have upset him? I have expensive furniture from years of working in the business so I didn't pay retail for it, but still. I would be heartbroken if it was destroyed. I am retired now and there would be no replacing the quality. But if he were mine, he would be lose some of his freedom privileges until the behavior improved. Even at Annabelle's worst she never chewed the furniture or walls. By 16 months she was the perfect dog. I have no real advice, just wanted to sympathize.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Does he do this when you are home?  If he only does it when you are gone, it might be separation anxiety. We had a Springer with it.  He outgrew the destructiveness - walls, molding, couches, chairs, carpets, and on and on.  This is a dog who never once got into trash!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Oh, Frankie! Jackdoodle says you need to knock that off, buddy, you're giving us rescue doodles a bad name! 

Lori, does he have full run of the house at night? Or was the plaster damage in your bedroom? Can you gate him when nobody is home? 

I'd suggest bitter apple spray, but it sounds like you'd need to spray the whole house!  

I'm hesitant to suggest this, but there are soft muzzles that allow them to drink water and do just about everything other than bite or chew. Maybe you could look into something like that. 

And if this is a new behavior, you might talk to your vet about it. 

[Donna K & Quincy]

Crate. :>)  Bitter lime, but you have to catch him in the act. Don't spray your house, squirt a tiny spray directly in his mouth when you catch him chewing something he shouldn't. A stern 'no' and a tiny squirt.  It tastes really, really awful.  After a couple of times you'll just have to show him the bottle.  If you have one spot he really likes to chew you could spray that. You should be able to get this at any of the pet stores. Quincy never chewed furniture or walls but he had a great liking for socks, hats and mittens. Good luck.

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

I am sorry to hear this about Frankie. What about going back to crating him at night? Does he get crated when you leave? I hate that you are dealing with this. Tell Frankie I said to stop.

[Stella]

Has he always done this (since you had him) or is it a new behaviour? It could be that he was never taught it wasn't acceptable to do that, and so you need to work on prevention, redirection etc, and crate when he can't be watched. If it is a new behaviour I would be concerned about separation anxiety or some other medical cause. Might be worth a chat with your vet?

[Lucy & AnnaBelle's Mom]

Fortunately, we never had this problem to any great extent.  Sophie and Lucy did chew up a couple things like the invisible fence brochure (think they were trying to tell us not to do it), the edges of a braided rug, but nothing major.  However, I could always take it back to the fact they were getting enough exercise (rain or snow).  In your case I think it either has to be exercise or separation anxiety.  Since you say he chewed up the plaster at night, that part I'm leaning towards exercise.  He gets exercise in the morning, then he sleeps all day ... I'm thinking he needs some more exercise in the evening.  I also think that the 1.4 mile walk doesn't really count as exercise ... the romps on the beach yes.  He needs to just be able to let it go and run until he can't do it anymore.  Sometimes AnnaBelle will ask to go outside and she will just start running figure 8's from one side of the yard, around the shed and back to the other side ... she will go and go and then she will just stop and come to the door.  It is just like she had too much energy and she had to get rid of it.  Is daycare an option for Frankie?  You could just maybe use that to try and figure out if it is exercise or separation anxiety.  If he has full run of the house at night, I'd dial that back ... make him a safe place.  In reality, dogs love having a "safe place".  Everyone is always so hesitate to crate or gate them off, but I think they find comfort in their space.  

Was the plaster chewing on a wall corner?  I do remember when we first brought Lucy and Sophie home there is one corner in their "safe room" that they seemed a little interested in.  We bought one of those clear plastic corner covers about 4' tall and just covered that corner just to be safe.  It is now long gone and they never did show any signs of interest in it after that.

As for those custom cabinets, I'd find a way to block him from that area until you figure this out.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

This is great advice! 

[Amy and Annabelle]

If it is that he isn't getting enough exercise, I would have a dog walker come by and walk him about mid day. Then you take him out again for a walk after dinner. Unless you have a yard he can run around in for a few minutes. So he can have walks 3 times a day.  I have 3 acres that Annabelle can run around on. In winter when there is snow, we take the snow blower and clear her a race track around the yard. She can run so fast, she sounds like a galloping horse. These doodles do seem to have a ton of energy to expel. If it is separation anxiety, I would keep him contained at night and during the day when you are gone. Maybe have a towel or something with your scent close by. I am hesitant to say in the containment with him, as he may chew it up and give you a big vet bill. Yes, I agree, no access to the kitchen cabinets, until you can trust his behavior.

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

How long has Frankie been with you?  I wonder if he may have previously been in a situation where he used chewing whatever he could find to release frustration and it became a habit.  I think you're going to have to teach him "the rules".  I would watch him closely when you're around and the second you see him begin to put his mouth on anything he shouldn't verbally correct (or a squirt of bitter apple), remove him, and give him something really desirable that he CAN chew.  You'll have to do this consistently every time.  I would not leave him alone in a situation where he can chew which may mean keeping him in a crate or a gated off area when you're not home....and I would never leave him with access to your kitchen.  I think he just needs to learn what's going to be acceptable and what isn't, but you'll have to be careful that he's not allowed to "practice" this behavior.  I hope you can find some things that he will really want to chew....I think that will help.  Good luck.

[Maryann,Roo and Tigger]

Try controlling his space at night and when you are gone.  He is clearly not ready to have full roam of the house.  Dogs, especially those with anxiety issues like to be in safe spaces.  This can be a crate, a laundry room, a small bathroom. Feed him in this space with the door open and you near and gradually move to in the space with the door closed without you.  This takes about  2 days to 2 months depending on the dog.  As he gets used to the space enclose him in it when you are home for short to increasingly long times.  Always provide a few small treats for being in the space and for awhile something to chew on.  My dogs really like Antlerz which are available online at many sites.  For Tigger a good Antler chew calms him down a lot.