Chewing and shredding toys and bedding

[Bumbleby]

Hi
Our one year old cocker spaniel chews and shreds her toys and bedding. She stopped chewing furniture and other household things when she was very little, but can't really leave her or keep her occupied with a toy, as she shreds the toy or takes the stuffing out of her bedding. We swapped to old towels but she can shread these too. Want to help occupy her when we can't play with her but she destroys most toys, we have tried kong brand toys and others branded as tough, but only a few have survived. I appreciate she is bored but we can't entertain her all the time. Any advice please?

chewing is calming for dogs, and if he wants to chew and everything is removed he will chew what is available… ie the bed.
have you tried offering really hard chews like buffalo horns, hooves, olive wood etc?

Our patterdale x destroyed beds and toys until he was about 3 . He still pulled the extremities off toys but stopped totally destroying them

How often is she walked/interacted with? Have you tried frozen kongs to keep her busy and chews as mentioned by PP? Destructiveness is usually boredom/frustration i think with dogs. Can you change her routine to make it busier?

Thanks for the replies. Will look into buffalo horns etc. She is interacted with a lot as we both work from home most of the week and our adult daughter is at home and around a lot. She gets at least 2 walks a day, sometimes 3 but could be longer walks. Our previous cocker did shredded stuffed toys, but not bedding, balls and harder toys. I don't really want to buy her stuff as it is a waste of money

How much exercise and mental stimulation does she get?

Natural chews are great if you want to use them, but outside of puppyhood, excessive chewing and destruction are often signs that their needs aren't being met in other ways.

So a cocker spaniel is a working dog bred to flush birds out of bushes - as well as exercise you need to make sure you tap into her desire to hunt too.

As others have said, it could be frustration. Have you tried things like hiding tennis balls on walks or dropping them and walking off before sending her back for them?

That said, I do all of that sort of stuff with my dogs, and they still eviscerate toys....

I take the opposite approach. I buy cheap toys in bulk from charity shops and let them have the joy of exploding them.

Some dogs are just shredders. They shred because they are happy, sad, tired, too much energy, bored over stimulated, just because they like it!

All part of the predatory motor pattern

1. Orient
2. Eye
3. Stalk
4. Chase
5. Grab Bite
6. Kill Bite
7. Dissect
8. Consume

I agree that it is fine for the dog to do but make sure what they are playing with is safe and they do not ingest it.

Tearibles dog toys may work - the have limbs and bits that are designed to be pulled off and then can be stuck back together again. However your dog may need supervising as they may then chew the actual toy. However many dogs find the tearing the toy apart enough.

Old jeans shredded and tied into knots can be quite hard to chew through but still give the dog the pleasure of trying

Agree with other natural chews but sometimes this is not what the dog wants to be doing.

If she is not eating the stuffing you can put old t towels and jean material torn into strips into hoollee balls and she can pull out the stuffing and then you can just pop it back in again.

Anything with fabric though will need supervising.

The black kong is the toughest so should stand up to be spanielled.

Have you tried hunting and hiding games - that may also satisfy her and help her be a bit less destructive. Also encourage her to chill . she wont want to being a spaniel but she does need to. The more rest she gets the more chilled she will become (within in reason she is a spaniel )

Mine is a disemboweller. I stuff a jeans leg into the other jeans leg and triple sew. That usually lasts a couple of days. I also sacrifice the kids old toys and take off the eyes buttons etc first. They last about 30mins. I'm lucky as she doesn't eat the material or stuffing. She loves destroying a cardboard box as well.
She's a happy dog and not destructive with anything else at all.
The only toys I buy now are the beco "rough and tough ones". I get a couple of days out of them before I have to do some surgery on them.
For harder chews I have a massive root thing that she's been working on since Xmas and buffalo horns but her fav is destroying a soft toy.

Vetbed is not cheap but lasts well, can be brushed or washed and is cosy and hardwearing. We have it in our spaniel’s crate.
we have used yakkers and hooves, but stopped using antlers because they are very hard and can break teeth.
we have to supervise play with toys because of pulling out stuffing and squeakers etc but some are a complete waste of time. We had ‘clam’ toys and rope toys I think they were from Tufenuf
Scent training classes are wonderful for your dog’s instincts if there is a trainer near you

Our dog destroys most toys, the only ones he hasn’t are the harder flavoured bones and some heavy thick plastic ones we got him. Anything that’s a teddy/fabric in any way but labelled ‘tough’ doesn’t last at all, so I’ve given up buying them.

If all her natural needs are being met (exercise and mental stimulation appropriate to her breed) then some dogs just enjoy it!

My terrier hound was dreadful. Everything got destuffed and she had plenty of input! She could 'kill' a tough toy in seconds. My full terrier stops at grab and then she just licks and chews gently. All her puppy toys still exist! Unusual for a terrier but then they're all individuals.

A cage ball stuffed with rags (obviously make sure she can't eat them!) is a great outlet. Shredding cardboard boxes is fun too - loo roll tubes etc.

I have a 2 year old cocker spaniel who loves to chew he now has a plastic bed as he pulled the stuffing out of the other one but prefers the sofa to sleep any way he no longer gets soft toys as the hunting instict made him just pull them apart i find having puzzle feeders keeps him ocupied and hiding treat in his bed so he can rummage for them i have attached some of the tried tested and still in tact toys / chews he still has that he loves and the puzzle feeder he uses i put his dry food and some treats in it and he will just graze at it he also has a knog that i break up treats and out it in until its jam packed so he has to work hard to get it out

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My ten year old springer still shreds toys, so poor puppy, under two years, only has hard toys.

@Spanielsarepainless he has blankets and rags he plays with and softer squeak toys and ropes he likes to play tug with he is the happiest content loving puppy ever

I dont see how having him pull apart a toy and choking on the stuffing is going to do any good he has lots of edible treats to do this with I dont need to waste money and cause him harm, hes is more spoilt than my children ever were !

Thanks for all the very helpful replies, I need to give them another read and try some things. I don't think she does it of stress, I think she finds it fun and believes that is what is the done thing! We have vet bed, she has not completely destroyed it, but pulls off clumps of it. She probably needs more stimulation

This brand is one of the few my dog hasn’t destroyed, they’re pretty hard plastic but he goes back to them time & again.

He’s four now & we’ve given up on all fabric type toys, he disintegrates them in minutes, it’s just not worth it.

Nylabone Extreme Tough Dog Chew Toy Bone, Durable, Cleans Teeth, Beef Jerky Flavour, X-Large, for Dogs Over 23 kg https://amzn.eu/d/gHsPf5A

The black kong is the toughest so should stand up to be spanielled.

Black kings can stand up to being bull terrier es so they will DEFINITELY stand up to being spanielled

My boy just loves to chew - the black kongs keep him occupied for ages just sitting chewing (but without breaking) like a baby would use a teether!