How difficult to solve is excessive chewing? Bedlington terrier

[lecce]

We have visited a lovely Bedlington terrier 7 months old in a rescue centre. They say he has been returned to them 3 times because of excessive chewing when left. They say there are no other problems and he has not been mistreated that they know of- he was brought in as a stray.

Dh is a sahd so he would not be left regularly for long periods but, of course, we would need to leave him for short periods. How difficult a problem is this to solve, and, as an aside, does anyone know anything about the breed? Do they make good family dogs?

[mistlethrush]

Hmm.. we rescued a chewer - although, as we had lots of toys, she tended to chew those and not the dining room table or the door. I think you need to know what he's chewed so far.

Tabasco is a good thing to use to deter chewing of the things you don't want him to chew (worked for our chinchillas on the skirting boards!).

I would also be looking at ways of making him work for his food, so that he actually had to chew in a positive way - lots of people mix kibble up with some natural yoghurt or cottage cheese and then freeze it - that takes some working on to finish. You can get treat balls where you could put his dinner in.

I would also look at providing a good range of things that he is allowed to chew - we had one who had a stick mania - we had an 'inside stick' and an 'outside stick' at home, as well as the sticks she found on walks - which were for chewing, not throwing. Bones are good too - we couldn't feed our last one baked bones as she ate them too quickly and then sicked up lots of ground bone - but the uncooked ones are OK in the garden if he does eat the baked ones too quickly.

The real chewer also had toys that she could tear up - one of her favourite was knotted tights which were a long pull-toy but regularly got shredded too. She did manage to get through quite a lot of things, including several pairs of shoes, lots of toiletries and quite a number of large rolls of sellotape in her time, but it was worth putting up with the chewing to have the dog.

[Floralnomad]

If you looked at crate training him it shouldn't be a problem ,but there will be a period between getting him and him being happy in the crate where you may have an issue. Have you an area of your house where you can pen him in if he doesn't like the crate that would be minimal damage ?

[QueenQueenie]

Poor poor dog, returned 3 x and only 7 months old!
Are you an experienced dog owner? Have you had terriers before?
We have a 4yo Bedlington girl who we have had from a puppy. She is adored by all of us and has never been ill treated... but I would say she is a real terrier (ie don't be fooled by a Bedlington's cute and meek lamb like appearance). She is noisy, stubborn and quite anxious. Other Bedlington owners I have met report similar traits... I wonder whether the chewing is a symptom of anxiety rather than a chewing thing per se perhaps?
Pm me if you'd like to talk Bedlington...

[mistlethrush]

We had a rescue puppy who had had 3 homes by 4 months...

[tabulahrasa]

I've got a nearly one year old...he still chews, it's not that uncommon in young dogs and 7 months is still a puppy, tbh he'll more than likely grow out of it.

You can either try and leave him somewhere as puppy proof as you can with things for him to chew on (kongs, bones, etc.) building up slowly from a few minutes at a time or you can crate train him. Properly crate train him obviously not just stick him in a crate and hope for the best.