Help!! Bella is chewing my house away!!!

[bella100]

Bella will be a year old next month, we work all day except on weekends, when we get home from work every single day she has chewed a new corner on a wall. Molding is gone and chewed up. Any suggestions, she has my house looking bad and its only a year old!!!!

 

[Watson]

you can keep her crated while you are at work or keep her in an x-pen. Mines is almost a year old and I don't trust him to roam the house when I am away for extended periods of time. He stays in an x-pen

 

[nyerathrt]

crate em...i did that with jameson until he was over a year old...then i did small amounts out of the crate while i was gone...started with an hour and moved up till he could be trusted

 

[bella100]

seems so mean to keep her cooped up in a crate for 9 hours...haha i guess ppl do it all the time though, its ok...

 

[Biogirl71]

Yeah I think often times that a crate is actually better because you would rather them be cooped up a bit and just sleep versus eating something dangerous and possibly getting sick or choking. We don't crate Frank but we block off an area of the kitchen that is "Frank-safe" and have a bed there with his water bowl. He just sleeps the entire time we are gone.

 

[Alice Kable]

I agree with the above, if ya can't trust 'em crate or pen 'em!

 

[MamaAndi]

Even if she wasn't in a crate...she would probably sleep anyhow right? Some dogs really thrive on a crating routine, mine all know that when I say crate it's bedtime or we have to leave for awhile. They seem to enjoy their own "space"

 

[Davidh]

Crate her or use an x-pen as [MENTION=3872]Watson[/MENTION] has suggested. We crate ours every day when we are at work, sometimes for 9 or 10 hours. They do fine in them, we also crate them at night. They just go right in there at bed time. Sometimes when we are home they will go in there on their own if they want a quiet nap.

 

[gunnyboy]

Sarge is the same way, they out grow it.

 

[2BullyMama]

seems so mean to keep her cooped up in a crate for 9 hours...haha i guess ppl do it all the time though, its ok...

It really is for their best interest and safety to crate them when you are not home and they are not yet trust worthy in not chewing or destroying anything. They grow to love their crate and it becomes their safe place

 

[Corlando465]

I am sure she will outgrow it and is probably bored being home alone all day. I would suggest purchasing a baby gate or pet get, if you do not have one. Pick one area that is not large and doesn't have a lot so of things she can destroy, maybe a bath room or laundry room. Start leaving her in there with her bed, some durable toys and maybe a larger nylabone that is too big to swallow or get choked on. I agree that 9 hours is too long to keep kenneled without a break, so this will give her some room and yet limit her area to destroy. Once she proves she can behave, then give her some more room, like bath and hallway, etc...As an added discouragement toward chewing, I suggest wiping the baseboards, cabinets etc in the room with Apple Bitter. It taste bad and might help to break the habit.me

She may also have anxiety issues left alone and this may be her stress relief, or even getting back at you for leaving her.

You have been fortunate so far as that she hasn't chewed on something that could hurt her, like an electrical cord. Just remember, yelling or fussing after the the damage is done does not resolve anything. Its up to you make the required changes, that will make thing better for you both.

Love and patience (and food) are the requirement for a happy bully

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

 

[LariP]

You can get an ExtraLarge crate that gives her plenty of room leave plenty of chew toys and water bowl (non tip type) and it just makes a smaller room for her but a safe spot. She will be quite content and it'll save you a ton of remodeling work.

 

[JeannieCO]

I used to think it was mean too to crate a dog. Never ever liked it until we got Wilson and Jack last year and then Emma this year. Wilson has chewed the window ledge, the siding on the house, and part of the floor board molding and that all while we were home. He has a very large crate I got online, 3'x4' that he's in all day for 10 hours. I also have a home monitoring system and you know what he does all day, sleep. I have just begun giving him one day during the weekday when we're at work to roam free. So far so good. Jack my other one year old (pitty) has free roam of the house and he has again destroyed his dog bed. Something about that bed, lol. It's ok though because he's great out and can go outside via the doggy door. I have to close that when Wilson's out if we're not home though, safetly and theft reasons. Emma, she's 5 months now, is also crated. She's quite a bit more active than Wilson so I feel guilty at times when I check in on them on my phone but you know what, they're just hunky dory. Wilson and Jack always always go into their crate to just sleep at times, it's their own 'go-to-spot' so to speak.

Crate and do not feel guilty at all!! :D Oh and to EBN!!!

 

[Vicaroo1000]

seems so mean to keep her cooped up in a crate for 9 hours...haha i guess ppl do it all the time though, its ok...

I couldn't crate them all day while I was at work either, so I made the kitchen/dining room the "Doggie Zone" until they were older and could be trusted. I did this using puppy gates. Both Bea and Bo took their turns chewing on the bread drawer as wee pups --- but other than that....the cabinetry made it unscathed. I just applied "Bitter Yuck" to that drawer after that and they left it --- and all the others -- alone. Their crates were part of the zone and they spent most of their time, sleeping in them by the way. (Of course they did!)

Oddly enough, last night, I caught Bea chewing on the end table. I almost fainted. I never expected that! A quick correction (this ACK noise I make) and she stopped.