The dog's chewed a hole in my car!

[scotsgirl]

My lovely new car now has a big old hole in one of the back headrests where my darling dog has chewed it. He managed to get his skinny head around the side of the dog guard, turn it at a 180 deg angle and munch away. We had left him in the car boot with a lovely soft bed to lie on, weather cool and overcast (so he wasn't hot - probably more likely to be a tad cold if anything) while we had a bite to eat in a cafe.
I know you're not supposed to leave dogs in cars, so I guess I deserve to have my car chewed, but I have left him in the past and he's been fine. Was he just having a bad day, or will he now chew every time? (i.e. chewing's a great new game when in the car)

He has chewed things in the house (door frame, phone wire, door etc) before if left for long time (i.e. 4 hours, which seems to be about his maximum) but I've put this down to the fact I rarely leave him for more than 2 hours at a time.

Can I train him to be left for longer periods? (Realise this is slightly different topic to the car issue).

Clever pooch . Sounds like he was bored, too me, and he knows it will get your attention, even in a negative way, when you come back. Mine pees where he knows he's not supposed to, for the same reason.

The safest way, for him and for your home, to leave him, is to get a training cage that's big enough for him to stand up and move around in, and get him used to spending time in there, even when you're around, so he treats it as his safe den. Put it in the middle of a room and not near a rug, so he can't grab anything to pull in and chew. Then gradually build up the length of time you leave him in (with bed, bowl of water, a couple of toys). Each time you come back, give him lots of fuss, and play with him or take him for a walk, so he associates time in his den with fun afterwards. If your car is big enough, you can also use the cage in the car, although it is preferable not to leave dogs in cars.

Our dog will now use his travel box, which is smaller than his cage, as his den (he goes in there to escape dd sometimes , and will happily sleep in it overnight if we are away, which is really useful.

Lucky it was only a head rest. Could've been a seat!

Roskva, thanks for the advice. We used to cage him when we went out, but he kept chewing at the bars and even managed to escape a couple of times by (we assume) rattling the bottom catch loose and squeezing through an unfeasibly small gap (He's a whippet, so pretty slim!). We kind of 'promoted' him by letting him have the freedom of the kitchen when we went out, and there's only been a couple of chewing incidents since then, till now that is. I think you're right about him being bored though. Maybe a chew toy or raw hide chew would distract him.

solo - yes, now I'm worried about the seat!

Oh dear, I'm not sure how to deal with a canine houdini - mine's not that clever. We do demote him back to his cage every now and then though, if he starts getting too big for his boots (he's entire and very definitely an alpha male)

LOL! Roskva, you've just reminded me of a nickname I used to give my now deseased dog Ben...Houdini Hound! he really was an escapee doggie!

He has seperation anxiety, mine is the same altho he is 11 now and much more chilled.

Can recommend one of these suffed with peanut butter/kong paste etc which will take him a while to clean out with tongue...

www.kongcompany.com/worlds_best.html

otherwise, just try not to leave him too long, yes I know, mine rule my life.

As for training to leave longer well, things can help..i let mine have run of the house so they can go where offers most comfort...usually my bed. Again leave kong toy to keep busy. then there are cds you can leave playing to keep him calm, I use this one :

www.amazon.co.uk/Music-Pets-Perry-Wood/dp/B000BXJG9M/ref=sr_1_1/203-3526873-6727111?ie=UTF8&s=music& qid=1216645790&sr=1-1

try these things and see if they help.

Thanks for the tips everyone. I think i need to set myself a plan which gradually builds up the length of time, as it's all a bit random at the moment.

He is, despite not being 'complete', a bit of an alpha male too, and still tries to move up a rung every now and then, but I'm putting that down to age (still only 2). I do find it confusing though, as sometimes he's a total angel. Bit like my DS come to think of it

Off Kong shopping now ...