Destructive dog 10 months

[StaplesCorner]

Hi this is my second cockerpoo, this one is a live wire, but he has literally nothing left to play with or lay on. He eats everything - from bricks to rubber, from plastic to pottery. I've tried him with toys meant for large dogs and he ignores them as they can't be chewed up.

I've spent maybe £200 on toys with claims for being stronger and stronger. He can rip and surface material within minutes and consume that and the contents. If he has a ball to play with, he can remove the surfaces layer of cloth or rubber within half an hour. He eats a LOT of plastic and a couple of times a week throws it all up.

The vet said I just need to keep an eye on him. The other morning he got up to be sick (plastic and cloth came up), came downstairs with him and he started eating the skirting board, stopped for his breakfast, ate a mouthful, then started on plants in the garden. Its relentless. The only thing he's not keen on is dog food. If he has a kong with something nice in it this seems to last seconds (although kong material itself is one of the few things he can't eat into so that's good!

He's so unhappy. Help me to see this clearly. I can't spend any more cash on toys - also please feel free to make suggestions, but I bet he's already had and eaten it, whatever it is!

Bitter apple spray can help save your carpet/sofa etc.

Our lab was the same until he was 18 months old then just stopped one day, I think it was his teeth finally finished growing.

Large Kongs were the only thing he didn't destroy. We kept a close eye on him and crated at night and gave him a long walk and then crated if we went out (for no more that 3 hours at a time). Crating meant he couldn't eat anything that would harm him.

He doesn't eat anything if we are out. I've got bitter apple spray here, we tried it when he ate plaster off the wall and parts of dining chairs. No luck.

I am hoping he will grow out of it too, but when you say crated do you mean that unless he was being walked or fed he was in the crate?

When is he chewing all this??

If this is happening when you're out then clearly he's suffering with separation anxiety or boredom.

I can't imagine giving my puppy all this opportunity when I'm at home.
She tries her luck sometimes yeah, but nine times out of ten I'm there to prevent her from doing it.

Do you exercise him enough? Play with him enough? Give him plenty mental stimulation?

Sparkling these are good questions:

He doesn't do it when we are out, well maybe a tissue or a sock but not hardcore destruction. He seems to just sleep when we are out.
And he doesn't eat anything on walks, he doesn't grab disgusting things and run off chomping them, no worries there.

If you play with him, his only interest is getting that toy to chew up, so I end up taking the toy away. He goes out twice a day, I am sure he'd go out 10 times if I could. I work from home and DH retired, so we are here all the time. I literally sit down to type something, 5 minutes later look round and he's gnawing the flooring.

Maybe mental stimulation? What does that actually mean though in practice?

Have you tried bones? My gsd is an absolute so and so for chewing and as you say it is always when we are there! I buy her veg based chews shaped like hedgehogs (other shapes available but not so popular - I think its the spines she likes) as well as real bones. The real bones i started on duck necks as they are soft and prob the right size for a cockerpoo you can get them frozen from petshops. It has really helped my bitch, especially as i give them just before they have thawed so it cools the gums as well.

He'd eat a chew like that in about 30 seconds flat, but I like the idea of the duck necks. (Well I don't but he probably would!)

It does sound like he could be bored and also potentially lacking the ability to self settle.

Mental stimulation can mean all sorts; trick training, scent work, body awareness exercises, impulse control games. There's literally endless stuff you can do in short bursts to get them thinking and it can be just as effective (if not more so) at wearing them out than physical exercise, especially when they're young. A book like this one is a good basic starting point. Changing how you feed can be a really effective but simple way of getting a dog thinking more. Rather than just feeding from a bowl try using food dispensing toys (the Kong Wobbler and Nina Ottosson Dog Pyramid are great for dry food) or even just chucking his food around in the garden for him to search out.

I'd also look at teaching him how to switch off when you're not interacting with him. Kikopup on YouTube has a good series of videos on the subject starting with . Mat training can be really useful for this as well, I rather like this book (which is free as an ebook at the moment) but there are loads of resources online as well.

That's brilliant thank you Cornflake and everyone else; I'd like to think this can be resolved by training.

Give him a deer antler or buffalo horn instead of a bone. Our girl is a powerful chewer and wrecks everything (but isn't destructive to the home) but her buffalo horn has lasted 3 months so far....

My cocker spaniel chewed everything until about 16 months and then suddenly stopped after her second season.

Just a helpful tip for a bed, look for a product called VetBed. It's the best thing we have found for our chewer to sleep on.

I literally sit down to type something, 5 minutes later look round and he's gnawing the flooring

I think this is quite telling. Cockerpoos are smart dogs and they love human attention - it sounds like him chewing is a sure-fire way to get your attention! He doesn't do it when you're out because there's no point - you aren't there to reward him. And by reward I mean anything! Eye contact, verbal, tactile.

My guess is that this behaviour starts off small and has increased as he's learned you'll react when he chews something he shouldn't. If so the only thing you can is totally ignore him (and bite your tongue at the destruction) until he realises it no longer works.

I have a staffie that loves to destroy toys. A chuck it glow in the dark is the only thing that lasts

www.amazon.co.uk/Chuckit-Max-Glow-Dog-Size/dp/B00280MUW6/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1500075001&sr=8-2&keywords=Chuck+it+glow&tag=mumsnetforum-21

I got my dog when he was 4 so no real advice about puppy life, perhaps spray sonething like lemon or orange water to stop chewing?

Interesting what Veterinari said. My cocker would start to chew his bed or a shoe but I would shove him out of the room for a few mins and close the door. When he was allowed back in he would just settle down as he soon learnt that being destructive would mean he was removed from us.

I would at least try and do a simple quiet remove him to a safe place (crate?) until he calms down and repeat every time he starts eating the house. They really aren't stupid and soon learn but you have to be consistent and not reward bad behaviour. It is so easy to accidentally encourage them. My dog had a habit of picking up shoes and running off with them, if we hadn't noticed he would come back and show me he had them because it would mean he got attention. It was only when I realised I 'rewarded' him stealing my shoes and changed my behaviour it stopped.

thank you all. Feel quite down about this today - he wanted to get up early, so started chewing his bed then found him with sellotape he'd discovered, got that out of his mouth then he went under the bed where I can't get him, he clearly had something in his mouth and it turned out to be a hairball of some sort.

When I came downstairs I was looking at some of the damage he'd caused to the house and it is depressing. He is chewing on a chew now and my friend is walking him soon, she does a very long walk on saturdays, its respite time!

I agree with cornflake, he is bored! He needs stimulation and activity to tire him out. It's very telling that you say when you stop interacting he turns to destruction - like Veterinari says, he's looking for ANY acknowledgment!
Please don't give him the antlers - I work in a vets and can't begin to tell you the damage these cause! Look into bulls pizzle, ostrich tendon etc as these are tough, edible treat that are safe!
Up your exercise, up your mental stimulation.
(Owner of multiple crazy dogs - I've been in your position!)

Do you use a crate OP? When mine used to try and eat his bed in a room that we didn't have the crate he would get a timeout e.g shoved out the room. If he continued the bed got removed, if he continued he got put in his crate. Every time he did it effectively I was removing the excitement and or him from us which he hates. The thing is you need to put him somewhere where he can't destroy anything else hence asking if he had a crate. Also baby gates are good if you have an area which is relatively chew proof that you can banish him to when needed.

Chin up OP there are lots of things you can do to improve this and it WILL get better - teenage dogs are a nightmare!

Firstly ignore the chewing - restrict his access to rooms if you need to - it def sounds as he's doing this as a game/for attention.
LOTS of physical exercise to tire him out.
Try and do 2-3 very short (5minute) clicker training sessions per day with him to engage him mentally and give him attention for calm, focussed behaviour
Feed from a Kong wobbler or Nina Ottoman puzzle feeder, not a dish to keep his brain occupied and him engaged for longer periods.

Lots of praise and affection when he's lying down quietly - you MUST reinforce this behaviour, NOT when he's chewing or pestering you for attention.

All of these things will tire him physically and mentally, and teach him that calm quiet behaviour gets attention (we often forget this part)