Belle ate the wall

[Andrea, Belle and Honey]

Belle is a dedicated chewer, so I bitter appled everything I thought was a target in the kitchen, where she spends her only loose time.  She continued to chew on the legs of my computer chair and the kitchen table, so I added vinegar to the mix.  Last night Belle was suspiciously quiet for a few minutes while I was on the telephone, and I discovered that she had eaten a piece of the wall.  More bitter apple, more vinegar,  (House smells like a delicatessen, cats are holed up in the garden window.)  This morning, after she had eaten, peed, pooped, and spent 35 minutes carousing in the yard with me, she went back to the spot where she had peeled off a piece off the wall board.  I had blocked it with a heavy file box, so she started working on a new spot, despite bitter apple and vinegar all along the bottom of the wall. I put her in the crate for about 2 minutes. As soon as I released her, she went right back to work on the wall, so I put her back on the tether, and she has to stay near me.  Right now she is busily chewing on the bitter appled and vinegared leg of the chair I am sitting in.  Help!

[Tracey & Spike]

Do you have dedicated safe to chew toys? I'd recommend the galelleo giant toe crushing toys made by Nylabone. Or even the Petstages wooden stick. Spike was and is a huge chewer but he knows the only thing he can go to town on is those. Everytime we caught Spike even looking interested in our kitchen chairs we gave a firm no and gave him the nylabone. Then pitched a party when he started to interact with "his" toys. There were lots of treats involved. After many parties he lost interest in everything but those. In his doggy logic. Time outs vs treats and praise. It took a while but he recognized the better end of things.

[Andrea, Belle and Honey]

Belle has several elk antlers, a nylabone key ring, a small kong toy that I put peanut butter in, and Himalayan Dog Chews. She chews on all of these at times, and I always offer one of them to her when I stop her from inappropriate chewing.  I'm going to buy the Petstages stick today.  I'll start having "parties" today also.  Thanks for the tips.

[Jessica, Loki and Moose]

Loki my older doodle ate a wall when he was 6 months old- not fun! Anyways bitter apple spray did NOTHING for him so I bought a ton of fresh cut jalapeños and would either rub them on things (i.e. his leash or base boards) or finely chop them and put them in a spray bottle with water so it was almost like really spicy water and sprayed it on everything (the wall he half ate and the carpet he was always trying to eat). I don't remember if it messed up the paint- as I had to re drywall and re paint anyways (lol). Over all though I just had to limit his freedom and never ever leave him out of my sight and if I had something to do, into his crate he went, from there when i tried to increase his freedom he went to eating pillows and down comforters (not fun either when you come home and your house looks like you murdered a couple chickens). Anyways all that to say I think some of it was stress related and some was just being bored. Either way I had to keep restricting and limiting freedoms and I would say around 13-14months he stops these destructive behaviors. Good luck!

[Jessica, Loki and Moose]

I should add that I am a single adult and do not have to worry about kids coming over so I felt comfortable covering the wall and carpet in spicy spray because I knew I would not be crawling around on it. I'm not sure if your around kids or not. But I can tell you he licked the jalapeño covered things once and never again went back to them.

[Lori, Winnie, Bob and Indie]

Oh my goodness- this post brought back memories of a Samoyed I used to have years ago. I distinctly remember dreaming about a "gnawing" sound... only to wake up and find that she had gnawed a 6 inch hole in my wall. Ugh! I did all of the things you have mentioned-Bitter Apple, tethering, redirecting to chew toys, and time outs. Eventually she kind of outgrew it, but never completely. She was a very hyper and anxious dog, and chewing/destroying was definitely related to anxiety.My guess is that your Belle with outgrow it with time. Best wishes!

[Laura and Angus]

So we have a dedicated chewer in our house. I feel for ya. He didn't enjoy his toys until he was around 6-7 months old and his chewing really didn't improve until we got him to daycare 3x weekly. I only say this because I think a ton of exercise is going to be your best intervention. It doesn't sound to me like the bitter apple is working for you - it didn't work for us either really. What did work was TONS of exercise  (e.g. time at the dog park, playing fetch, daycare, playdates, and tons of walks) and supervision. Angus was not allowed in rooms where we were not. You may consider either tethering again or getting a playpen for her to hang out in with toys when you cannot be playing with her or supervising. If you need a break, the crate will be your best friend. The last thing that works for our little weirdo (maybe it'll work for your puppy?) is that sometimes he is just bored and/or wants attention - he won't always get his antler on his own, but if I sit on the floor with him and hold the antler, he will eventually sit down and chew it while I hold it. After a couple minutes he will continue to chew on his own. Perhaps something to try? He actually sits/lays down on my legs sometimes while I do this....a lovable goofball lol.

[Carrie king]

Oh how this brings back memories of our Chester. He used to do this exact same thing! The bitter did absolutely nothing, in fact, I think he kind of liked it. Same with vinegar. I got desperate and one time I put a drop (tiny drop!) of hot sauce on a particular spot. He never touched that spot again. He never liked spicy stuff, even the scent would make him run for the hills :-))))

[Jessica, Loki and Moose]

Same with my boys :)

[Andrea, Belle and Honey]

Thank you to all who responded to my plea.  At least I know Belle isn't just a nut.  I suspect that extra exercise is probably the key, but she hasn't had her last set of shots yet, so dog parks and long walks in my heavily dog-populated neighborhood or the nearby canal tow path have to wait another 2 weeks.  She gets bored chasing balls and toys and practicing training in the back yard after about 30 minutes and just sits down, or picks up her end of the 20 foot lead and heads for the door. Right after we come inside is her most active chewing time. We are going to a puppy social on Wednesday morning.  I'm extending my time on the eliptical machine to prepare for lots of walking in 2 weeks.  In the meantime, I am taking a leaf out of Loki's Mom's book and spraying the vulnerable areas with a mixture of water and grated horseradish root that I had left over from last Passover (I wear swim goggles while grating the stuff, it's really noxious).  Roxie the cat strolled over and sniffed the wall right after I sprayed it and I got the full performance  - arched back, hair on end, hissing and the evil eye.  By the way, Belle LOVED the Petstages wood stick, but now she has hidden is somewhere and neither of us can find it.  I bought a small one because she is just a 5 lb puppy, but next time I'm going to get the biggest one I can find so it can't disappear as quickly. OMD, there is so much to learn!

[Jessica, Loki and Moose]

Good luck! I hope it works for you! I remember staring at the wall he ate (part of it was down to the studs) and just being in shock and not really comprehending that my sweet little puppy was capable of doing that. These little guys are full of surprises!