Wood-Obsessed Doodle

[Phoebe's Mom]

Help! While I know 'this,too, shall pass', but I am hoping that I survive this phase. Once Phoebe turned 6.5 months, she became obsessed with chewing on my kitchen chairs. I am not talking about a nibble here or there but donwright chomping on the seats. I feel as though we have tried everything from different chew toys, to putting her in her ex-pen, to Tabasco sauce and bitter apple (which she loves), to more outdoor time (despite a newly fenced yard, I cannot put her out alone for a little while as she devours the plants/grass/rocks) including more fetch/recall training and walks. I am at my wits end as I do NOT want to see her being kept in her ex-pen and then placed right into her crate when we leave (I also think that I would be defeating my purpose by reducing the amount of exercise she gets). I need advice before I end up landing on the floor when I sit on my kitchen chair!

[Kyoko]

Japanese style dinner - sit on the pillow on the floor -?
Just kidding :-)

[Phoebe's Mom]

Oh, very funny! We all love doodle humor! Actually, my husband beat you to it with that suggestion only it was not said in such a friendly way!

[Gwen A]

My Gabby Girl is also wood crazy. Chairs, kitchen cabinets, doors, firewood, stairs, anything wooden she can make tooth contact with. I finally gave her a small piece of pine 2X4 and sprayed everything else I could think of with Bitter Apple. She gnaws at it until it is a wet soggy nasty thing and it's pretty little now. I have little pieces of pine everywhere. I do keep reapplying the Bitter Apple. I have tried other chew objects (nylabones that she doesn't like, rawhide bones that are just too messy) and this is what works for now.

[Phoebe's Mom]

I have joked about doing that but I am afraid she might choke if she gnaws off too large a piece. Of course, Phoebe-doodle LOVES bitter apple spray! I have to admit--as awful as this sounds--I temporarily covered the sides of the chairs with clear, heavy strength packing tape hoping she will ignore them as she cannot gnaw on it anymore. I suppose Architectural Digest won't be featuring my kitchen anymore with my new decor--ha ha ha

[Chris & Boys]

Ouch, I guess this does not help the second doodle argument with your hubby. I wish I had an answer. I just found that Fozzy is chewing the molding in my basement bathroom.....Ugh! What's next?

[HANNAH 8/2/07 & HONEY 7/2/08]

Sorry no advice here either, OH wait a min....call the Dog Whisperer...Cesar should have the answer. Maybe you can write to him and let us all know what he suggest...here's a link for him.....

http://www.cesarmillaninc.com/tips/

Good luck hope he responds....should be interesting

[Debbie and Thomas]

You could buy some plastic patio chairs to use at the table!!! This could be a very "al fresco" aproach to decorating your kitchen-you know, like eating outside. All kidding aside-our dood munched on our oak staircase, our coffee table, and most of the baseboards in the front hall for several mths. He is 10 mths old now and doesn't do this at all anymore. Why don't you set up a booby trap on top of the chairs-like a cookie sheet loaded with spoons and hang it off the edge of one of the seats with a nice morsel buried in amongst the spoons-like a big fat piece of chicken weiner. Tuck the chair under the table a bit-so when she goes for the weiner, the cookie sheet falls off and the spoons will go crashing to the ground. She will be so startled by this that she may avoid the chairs in the future. I tried this on the counters for my" counter surfer". I am not going to lie and tell you it worked for him-but others here offered me this advice because it worked for their dog. Maybe Phoebe is not as stubborn as our Thomas..

[HANNAH 8/2/07 & HONEY 7/2/08]

LOL we tried all of this also with my brothers Doberman, OMG he ran away with the silverware and tried to eat that...lol. Taco was great at eating everything....Seriously though you really need to be carefull with them chewing wood, Taco loved to chew, no matter how we kept him away from things to chew he would find the smallest peices to chew on and Wood was the best..but that is what killed him also. A peice splintered and peirced his intestine and even after the surgeries and best of care, nothing could save him. So please just be very carefull when and what you let your dogs chew on.

[Phoebe's Mom]

That is why I am so worried about this. The oddest part about it is that she will NOT be distracted from her 'quest' despite our playing with her, walking her and givng her an endless variety of appropriate chew toys. I am thinking that I might run it past our vet or trainer just to see what they might come up with--although I must say that the tape UI fashioned over the chewing areas has deterred her somewhat. The problem is I really don't want my chairs taped all the way around (although my husband told me I might be starting a new decoarating trend...doodle designs!)

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Tabasco usually works but - try a paste of red pepper.

[Dan, Judi, & Timbow]

I read once that listerine will help them stop. Timbow has never been a chewer (so far...fingers crossed!), but I read up on it and besides the bitter apple and tabasco, listerine was the only other thing listed. Have you taught her the leave it command? Maybe that will help her learn too.

[Phoebe's Mom]

I have never heard of using Listerine but I can certainly understand why it might work...it would for me! As for 'leave it'--Phoebe is a work in progress right now. She is trying but has certainly not mastered that command as yet.