I'll bet for a minute there you thought I was taking inventory of my linen closet until I got to the couch. So, what am I talking about?
These are the things Maggie, our darling little adopted border collie/lab mix has decided to make a meal out of!
The afghan had holes in it already. The fleece was very old and worn. The pillow was a hand-me-down. The comforter was an inexpensive old one we have had for years. The couch was used. We usually keep the new cover on it, but it was being washed.All I can say is that I am getting a bit nervous because I know one of these days she is going to chew something that isn't holey, ratty, used or cheap and then I am NOT going to be a happy little camper!
There is a trend here if you noticed. Like me, she loves fabric....only I don't eat it. I make things with it. We do keep a close eye on her, but she ate the comforter while we were sleeping. The comforter was on the bed! Since we crate her during the day, I refuse to crate her at night.I have never had a dog that chews...have you? Any suggestions?
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7 comments:
Oh boy...Maggie we'll both be in the dog house if we don't get this right! I've heard that labs can take years to mature--I don't know if that's true; just what I've heard from other lab owners.
I'm sure you've ruled out the physical need to chew (i.e. dental checkup) so we must look at triggers. When does she chew? Is she bored, anxious, scared, energetic, hyper? That might help you narrow it down and watch for the signs of when she's about to chew and do the old distract-redirect routine until she learns how to do that herself.
Yes, I have had several dogs that chewed. Does she have enough chewy toys? Since she likes soft things you could even make her some chewy things though I'm not sure you want to encourage that...
I understand not wanting to crate her at night though that is exactly when I crate mine. I leave him in the kitchen during the day when I'm not home and sometimes when I am because I'm working and can't just follow him around ;-) I use baby gates to keep in the kitchen.
For chew toys I alternate a stuffed kong, one of those braided string things I can't remember the name of, a toy you can put treats in and a huge rawhide bone he can gnaw on but not eat ;-) I change those up all the time so he doesn't get bored.
Also, exercise, exercise, exercise. She looks like she has some border collie in her which means she's really smart and needs lots of stimulation and lots and lots of running! I trained my border collie mix to retrieve a ball and a frisbee which was great fun for both of us.
good luck! she's young and bright and busy!
Lucy liked wool and plastic :) I once went to the post office and when I got to the front of the line I noticed the postman looking at me strange. I looked down and there was a perfect half circle bite mark missing from the collar of my wool coat!
I would say don't waste your time with those "Busy Bones" Maggie will make a joke of them- go straight for the rawhide!
We once had a small dog that ate handkerchieves and underwear as well as plastic. She would have BM's that contained no organic material at all. It's a wonder she lived to be 12 years old!
Yikes! Sock toys? Her own towel? Good luck on this one!
Zira has clawed off the bottom corners of "her" chair. Y's mom gave him that chair but Zira just clawed it and clawed it. When we designed and purchased our way too expensive sofa, we "let" her claw the chair and keep it in the bedroom. It worked in that she will not claw the sofa, luckily. The chair is dead, no more corners left and she is working on our boxspring corners now :(
BTW, I sent out your swap gifty on Monday, you should get it soon :)
YAYs!!!!! Glad you liked it all.
Santa helped :)
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