One dog was fine, two together are trashing the place! Help!!!

Hi, I have a 61/2 month old Northern Inuit who has never really been one to chew furnature or anything bar a small coin sized hole in the carpet, hes such a good boy!.

I recently got another NI called Misty who is now 13 weeks old. Misty chews everything!!!

Because Misty chews everything Angel has started joining in and for what I can only imagine was showing off he has now made the coin sized hole into a massive puppy sized hole.

The problem is that they are not stupid and only ever do these things when I am not around mainly once I have gone to bed, which means I am unable to tell them off or punish them for the damage. Between them they have eaten the middle of the carpet, the edges of the carpet, the underlay, skirting boards, walls and kitchen kupboard doors just to mention a few. I come down in the mornings and think oh my god!!!

My partner is close to having kittens so I have now taken to sleeping downstairs with the dogs they are now as good as gold at night they just curl up with me and go to sleep. I broke my back last year and it has never been right since and having to do this is not helping my already dodgy back, however I do it because I love them, but don't know how much longer I can keep it up for. This behaviour also means that unless their is someone here to watch them I can't even pop to the shop as they get stuck in straight away and it is amazing how much damage they can do in a short space of time.

Can anyone help???? Is their anything I can do to stop this???

Another concern is that sometimes there is no mess but the damage is evident which clearly shows they must be eating some of it (yes that includes wood, plaster and underlay) which I am sure cannot be good for their health.

I have tried chew deterrent but they love it and it only escalates the situation, they have lots of toys treats and bones to chew on and play with as well as each other. I have considered getting a dog crate but am not sure if it is really a practical long term solution not to mention how mean I would feel locking them away.

Anyone got any ideas????

Really sorry for the long boring essay!!!

Kate

I cant really offer much advise sorry, but i know what you mean with the deterrants, they just encourage a determind dog. We had a Lab x pointer as a rescue, he would eat doors, units, his bed, oh come to thing of it EVERYTHING. We tried the sprays but he loved them, untill a breeder mentions using Vics Vabour Rub on a couple of places. I dont mean a big lump of the stuff, just enough for the dog to smell it. Then when stopped chewing there the next time u leave them put somwhere else. Yes your house might stink for a few days but its worth it to save your back and your house. Just untill you can come up with another idea.

Other than that lock them in a seperate room wen you go out.

Good luck,

They are engaging in perfectly natural, albeit unwanted, behaviour. Chewing can be the result of teething or boredom. Do they have plenty of approved toys to chew?

The easiest and best solution is to crate train them. If they are crated when you cannot supervise them then you will have peace of mind that they are not indulging in inappropriate chewing and are not placing themselves in danger by ingesting potentially harmful materials. This article may be of interest: http://www.dogweb.co.uk/talkdogs/the...sed_15552.html

Dont want to seem harsh, but I am VERY surprised a breeder sold you another puppy while you already have one so young. Its common for there to be a lot more trouble when there are 2 youngsters together. I hope you find a solution and things work out for you.
Dawn.

can you put them in your kitchen at night? move every thing so they cant get to it.

You need to try to prevent them practising the "behaviour" so a crate (slowly introduced, don't be tempted to go too fast or you will never get them in there!) childgate etc, and preventative measures as you are doing...can you find a better chew deterrent...I have used Vicks, also Oil of Cloves (don't think it stains).

It may be that they have too many toys and chews around and are bored with them; toys generally need to be played with with humans too and chews are boring once chewed ... try stuffing a kong with very hard to get at treats and even try freezing it, and see if that helps...

good luck

How often do your 2 get walked, and for how long?

Do you do any training with them?

It sounds to me as if they're either bored, or anxious at being separated from you.

If I were you I'd take both pups to training class (separately), make sure they both get an adequate amount of exercise and mental stimulation and give them stuffed kongs to chew on (although they shouldn't need them at night, they should sleep at night if they're tired enough!)

We used a lemon on the wood when Bob was a pup we just rubbed the juice on to the wood and he stoped or he might have grown out of it

Shadowboxer: Thanks for that link it was really useful I think thats gonna be the best way to go.

Leo: Unfortunatly I am unable to lock them in the kitchen as it is open plan otherwise it wouldn't be a problem.

Tuti: Angel gets about an hour execise a day except Mon and Tues when he get half an hour. Misty gets about 15/20 mins a day as she is still very young and small an I dont want to over do her plus I play with them and they do spend time playing with each other too. I think that is about right given their ages correct me if i'm wrong. I am doing traing with them at home and they are doing well. Angel used to go to training classes and was top of the class for a while, unfortunatly I don't drive and the closest one is over an hours walk away, their is no public transport there eather. This ment I was leaving my house at 5.30pm to get their on time having a 45 min lesson and having to walk home again which ment I was not getting home till after 9pm. With it now getting dark so early and the whether deteriorating this is just not practical. However I do fully intend to start again sometime next year. As I said they are good as gold when I am there and will do things such as sit and stay and are good at recall. And they just love to cuddle up at night and get fussed over. The problem only occurs if I am not there even for a short space of time.

I think crate training is prob gonna be the best way to go. Fortunatly we are planning to do the house up in the summer anyway so I don't mind about the current damage too much its just a case of sorting it out before then so that when we do get the place done up it doesn't end up being a waste of time.

angelmist, do they do this if you go out during the day too?

how long are they left for, and when did this start?