6 month old eating life threatening things/househould stuff

[NotOneThingButAnother]

That's the only way i can describe it really. Just found him in the garden chewing part of a brick. He also likes flooring - has removed parts of the laminate either side of my desk - and plaster/wallpaper, he has stripped the corners of the walls beside me. Why around me?

This morning I got up with him, fed him, gave him a kong with some treats in, and his toys (what remain of them) and immediately he finished all that he started on the walls and flooring. I had to bring him inside because he was looking for bricks and stones in the garden.

Literally he will come indoors from a long walk and start on the walls/floors - this has been getting worse this past week. He cannot have a toy for more than a few minutes without stripping it down into bite size pieces, I've been buying toys meant for massive dogs and he either ignores them or gets to work in making them a choking hazard for himself. If its not life threatening, he doesn't want it.

I assume he's finished teething. He usually only does this when one us is around, its rare he will destroy anything if the house is empty. So is it boredom? How bored can he be?

Mine obsessively chews her nylabone. It seems to stand up well. Found her chewing a lump of wood last night! She doesn't go out without me watching her.
Soak dried food, stuff Kong and freeze, carrots.
Long walks? At six months pup shouldn't be going too far.
Had a vet check?

Nerf make dogs toys.

Our husky destroys ordinary toys in less than ten mins but her Nerf stuff has lasted since she was a puppy! Now 3 and a half!! Not cheap but less than the amount been binned over the years!!

Daft idea. If he does it when you are there then that makes me wonder what you do when you catch him. Is he chased? So it's a fun game? Treats so rewarded?

Morning Wolfiefan - how old is your dog? Mine will chew wood too, that's on the desirables list. Nylabone, mine has managed to take bits off to eat so we binned it. Yes he likes carrots, but anything in kong lasts minutes then its back on the aggregates.

We brought home a new larger kong last night, a tough rubber toy and a duck shaped thing that was meant to be extra strong - he actually unpicked the seams on the duck, taking the manufacturers' label out and eating that first, the using the gap he'd created to pull the seam apart. It took him 20 minutes and the toy cost £9. Now he can't have it. I am thinking get cheap toys and just bin them.

But why is he so frustrated? He's a cockerpoo by the way. He's been to the vets a couple of times after eating rubbish, they suggested a box muzzle but he doesn't do this on walks, just in the house and garden, and usually only whilst we are with him too.

Googling Nerf.

Not chased, bit of shouting. He seems unable to keep his own company even for a few minutes; I was reading somewhere yesterday that dogs like this need to be walked until they are exhausted enough to sleep. Wasn't what I was hoping for that's why I got a cockerpoo!

But it's a Cockerpoo! Two high energy breeds have come together. They are rarely calm dogs. I know loads and they are mental and need lots of exercise and entertainment.
Have you tried puzzle games?
I have a 4 yr old Poodle and she is never worn out, never ever.

Cockerpoos are essentially a working breed. Your pup needs more mental stimulation and probably more exercise. Swimming works well with my Jack Russell. A muzzle might not trying the worst thing at this point either if it keeps her safe.

oh dear. In my defence this is my second one, the last was much quieter!

You can't walk a pup until it's exhausted. At 6 months no more than half an hour I think.
Mine is 7 months. Impressive bits being chewed off a nylabone. My wolfhound is only on her second one since December!
Brain games are the way to go.
What training do you do?
Also find mine is shattered after going to new places. Garden centre, cafe etc etc
How about teaching him to be calm on his bed? You can use his dinner if it's dried food! When he sits or lies on his bed he gets food. Mine would roam restlessly round the room but now settles on her bed by my feet.

If he had something to scent out in the garden would it keep him away from the dangerous stuff? Use a tin of sardines or tuna to make a trail he can follow, for example.
A game of Sprinkles can keep my dogs occupied for up to an hour.

I use the Victoria Stillwell methods Wolfie and go to training classes where, by happy coincidence, the trainer uses them too - I've also signed up to that Facebook site that someone (was it you?) recommended about training.

During training he often lies down once he's done whatever exercise we are doing - all the other dogs are repeating their sit and leave etc and he's like oh god they're so boooorrrring, looks comical but again I think is frustration.

I like the idea of him having a treat if on the bed and quiet. I work from home, he's hardly ever alone his bed is new to my desk. Sadly so is his favourite chew wall and floor.

It may have been me. It was recommended to me by someone else on here and I found it really valuable.
Yes I bet he bores easily. Need to keep him on his toes. We are always trying new stuff. Teaching her to climb onto a target. Teaching her to bring me the frisbee back and automatically sit and drop it!
I know many people disapprove but I also use a crate. (Well it's a bloody big cage really!) She sleeps in it and naps in it and goes in whilst I am eating dinner etc. Took a while to crate train but now if she's tired she climbs in and looks at me for a treat before a nap. I forgot to shut the door a couple of weeks ago and she stood behind the kitchen door whining in distress!

Wolfie I agree and so does our trainer. She says try everything else, do what you need to do but if its necessary, if you are eating or if the dog is playing up rather than everyone get stressed, put the dog in the cage for a while - and yes ours is big too so not too "confining".

Make sure you insure her.

Have you used the crate training techniques from that FB group? You should end up with the crate being the safe and quiet space. Mine is asleep in hers now!!

I have a working cocker spaniel and if you read the literature they say yes you can walk them lots but all that will happen is they will get fitter and fitter and you will just need to walk longer and longer so the key is to stop walking them and get them doing their thing such as hunting and retrieving.

Mine gets around 40 mins a walk off lead wandering about in the forest twice a day and that is way enough for him (7 months).

For chewing he used to try and eat plants and stones but doesn't bother much now. Deer antlers and extra strong chews tend to keep him occupied with his teeth.

Mine was also thoroughly bored at the normal puppy training sessions as well and only really responded when we went to gun dog training so maybe you have more cocker than poodle :)

My dog also went through a phase of pulling off wallpaper and chewing table legs at about 6 months of age - he did this both when left alone, and also when we were at home but ignoring him so I put this down to boredom. As others have said, brain games keep dogs occupied and tire them out. Activity may/ puzzle games. Sniffing out food on the lawn etc.

I'm not sure if we have 'managed' our dog out of this trait or if the phase has passed. If we are at home we make sure he has his own toys to chew - and yes he does destroy them, although I can recommend a suede type animal from green & Wilds which has lasted a bit longer. Plus antler, ham bone.

We actually had the bottom part of our kitchen tiled so there is no longer any wallpaper to chew!

The Pet Gundog by Lez Graham has a lot of sensible advice.

thank you everyone

My cockerpoo loves to chew things he shouldn't, we have found a knotted up pair of old tights to be a good (free) chew toy. Also use my girls old stacking cups toy and hide treats in them and it keeps him occupied for a while (usually while we eat dinner!). Cardboard boxes for him to tear apart as well with treats inside. He will run off with the odd shoe but tends to go to his box of toys when he wants something. Oh and the best thing we bought was a big old teddy for £1 from a charity shop for him to just go wild with and he loves it!