Calling all boxer owners.....

My friend has a 1 year old boxer, female, and they have had her since she was 8wks old. They also own 2 other - well behaved - dogs.

This dog has caused almost £2000 worth of damge to their house and they are at their wits end with her now.

During the night, she chewed her way through a solid mahogany stair post. She has chewed through a pine door and eaten a concrete plant pot..along with shredding clothes, furniture etc

She is regularly walked, has all the toys and chews in the world but is a notorious distructor. They have tried crating her of a nightime but she tries to dig her way out and howls the place down. She has also started to pick on the other 2 dogs - who were there before her!

Any suggestions?

Are all boxers this scatty?

Erm no, mine never chewed anything he wasn't supposed to.

Mine have chewed the odd thing around the house but nothing too bad

I would probably get the crate back out and try again with the crate training or keep her confined at night so she cant cause so much damage. She is probably hitting the teenage stage too which could be the reason she is picking on the other dogs.

Just a thought, Saffy (Boxer) went through a stage of chewing chairs etc, when she was 1, and when I took her to the vet, the vet told me that she had a problem with her teeth, her jaw wasnt quite right even for a Boxer and he removed 2 teeth and we never looked back.

The boxer i had was a chewer, once i left him in the house for 20 minutes, came back and the sofa was absolutley destroyed (and i mean destroyed) and he also once chewed a duvet up (a feather one) he grew out of it at around 3 or 4.

As far as the cheing goes, I would certainly try the crate again.

Picking on the other dogs - you don't say whether the others are dogs or bitches, neutered or not. Is the bitch spayed? If not it could be that she is coming into season. If she has had a season recently it could be that she is having a phantom pregnancy,which would explain her picking on the other dogs.


As Roxy also pointed out I would have her mouth checked at the vets just in case there is an abnormality there which could be sorted out by the vet.

Boxers often suffer from seperation anxiety, if this is the case then that problem needs to be addressed, she could ask the vet to refer her to a good behaviourist. Good Luck