A
female
age
51-59,
*lskitten
writes:HiNot a relationship problem but an animal problem!Had a cross breed dog for 4 months since she was 9 weeks, she has destroyed my home and garden.Shoes, cushions inards ripped out, you name it, its been eaten. The last straw came yesterday morning when i got up, my kitchen floor lino was ripped to pieces, ive got a 17 foot kitchen and it wasnt cheap supply and fitting that. Saturday afternoon, she chewed through my mates sandals, so embarrassing, more expense. How old are they when they grow out of this? shes a lab x with a staffie we think. Shes got numerous things we bought her to chew on.My 12 yr old son adores her and wants her to stay but my 10 yr old daughter like me has had enough of our shoes being eaten if we forget to put them out of reach.I feel like im going insane at the moment! grrrrWhat would you do? Advice areciated.Caz xxxx
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female
reader, hlskitten +, writes (6 August 2007):
hlskitten is verified as being by the original poster of the question You have all been a great help, thanks very much.
I can get a crate off eBay. I Might give that a go. Petrified of her doing it to the floor again, as i havent got anymore spare lino to patch it up again.
Many thanks again.
C xxxx
A
female
reader, birdynumnums  +, writes (6 August 2007):
 Hi,
You have my sympathies - my puppy is finally a year and a half old and is finally dependable - so I know what you are going through. It is hard to train dogs, they are all different and there are so many different sources of advice. This is what I learned raising my first dog. Crate training is very good. Dogs are pack animals that love dens. They do not like to soil in their own home as they are trained not to soil in their dens by their mother. Crate training also is very useful when you travel or want to go out of the house. There are a lot of web sites for more information, google Crate Training. The next thing I learned is that you have to restrict how far the dog can roam, especially if it misbehaves. It is not cruel or mean to restrict the area that the dog can roam in, especially if it is not trained. It can be hard convincing other people (like the kids) that the dog shouldn't roam all over the house until it is fully trained, but you know that peril that it can cause. At one point I was leash training - in other words - having the dog on a leash beside me - inside the house at all times. Just like a small child, when the dog misbehaves - it gets a time out - in the crate with no attention. I know it is hard, but you will see a change. Right now your dog is about the age of a teenager, so it may feel like two steps forward and one step back! I can finally say that my dog is delightful company, she is about 18 months old now (and I have heard that larger dogs are easier to train than a small dog like mine). I don't have much experience with the chewing, but I have observed that our dog did finally pick-up on when she had been bad more from our saying - "Go To Your Room" - than any other form of dicipline or punishment. She really wanted to be with us - the rest of her Pack - and she didn't like being put in "Solitary". Unfortunately, time and consistant training is the only solution. There were times when I thought I was being trained more than the dog, but we seem to understand each others behaviours finally. Hang on, it takes a lot of patience and get every else on board with the discipline involved in crate training - consistancy is important. My Yorkie-poo was mostly poo for a long time, and there were times when I thought I had taken on more than I could handle, but she brings a lot of joy into our lives these days and I can't remember what the house was like before we had her. There is a light at the end of the tunnel, so hang in there and good luck. I hope some bits of our last year can give you a bit of help and insight.
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A
female
reader, anonymous, writes (6 August 2007): i had a lab that did this and reading this just brought all the memories back (shes dead now -aged 9 n half) Mine chewed loads of things i can't remember much as i was only about 6 or 7 at the time but i know she chewed both the kitchen and conservtory floor up and it cost loads to get it out of her at the vets as at the time she was only 6 months and wasn't insured. After she did that my mum had some big bits of wood that she found in parks when my dog brought them back and left them outside to chew on and also brought those marrow bones things with the hard bone outside and a meaty centre. We also had to keep in the kitchen when ever we were out or at night so she didn't chew anything else as the floor was already in her belly. We had to keep everything out of her reach but she eventually grew out of it by the time she was between 9 months and 1 yr old but waited to have new floors down until she had grown out of it. Also she had a plastic bed which she started to chew but that was hers so it wan't a very big deal, it helps if they have one of them as its something to chew without having to go far and they aren't anything expensive to replace. Labs are well known for chewing but soon grow out of it!
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female
reader, flower girl +, writes (6 August 2007):
 Try www.doggysnaps.com there is a forum on there and people talk about their problems with dogs i have used it in the past as my staffy went through a stage of eating her own poo, got some great tips off there.
You might find that your dog was given a shoe to play with before she came to you and thats why she is doing that because she thinks they are toys, she might need to see a dog behavioural specialist.
Take care.xx.
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reader, anonymous, writes (6 August 2007): next time this happens keep her out side locked up out of reach of anything to chew.. this may seem cruel but once i had a dog like that and he did it constantly eventually after finding a £60 pair of new boots chewed up i slapped him with it and locked him in the garden.. and did everytime he attempted to do anything wrong since then until he passed on he was lovely never did anything wrong..dont get me wrong it takes time but you'll work around it good luck X
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female
reader, eyeswideopen  +, writes (6 August 2007):
 I've had puppies that were chewers and they were like that pretty much the whole first year. But I've had a couple that were never much on chewing so I guess it varys dog to dog. I would bet she will stop with all the chewing after she turns one years old. They are cute little stinkers though aren't they?!
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