Sampson wasn’t much of a chewer when he was a puppy, mostly he chewed on his own toys. If I CAUGHT him chewing something he shouldn’t, I would tell him “No” and give him a toy that he was allowed to chew.
One time I caught him plucking at the loveseat, but he stopped when I refocused his attention on a toy. He never touched that loveseat again, except to lie on it.
He did have a tendency however to chew wood. I had to use bitter apple on my antique coat rack in order to deter him, though truth be told I didn’t really care that he had chewed it, because it needed to be refinished anyway.
There was one time though that I came home to find he had chewed the end of the foot rest on the breakfast bar. I was scared to death to tell Hubby, because I was afraid he would want to punish Sampson. Imagine my surprise when I told Hubby and he laughed and said, “I didn’t like it anyway.” 🙂 We took that foot rest off and threw it away.
Sampson was never much of a counter surfer either. If memory serves me he only went on the counter once when there was some steak up there, but we were going to give it to him anyway.
Oh and butter, he would go up on the counter for butter as often as he had the chance. In fact, he loves butter so much, that my sister calls him, “Butter.” And he answers to it.
It’s fairly easy to puppy proof your house when the puppy stands about 10 inches tall and is easily redirected.
It is quite another when the ‘puppy’ is 75 pounds and her head just about comes to your waist.
Delilah is not so much a chewer as she is a tearer upper.
I’ve been giving lots of thoughts to why she tears things up, and I don’t believe she’s stressed. Nor do I think she’s suffering from separation anxiety. And she’s certainly not doing it out of spite.
I think she MAY be bored, but it is more likely she is looking for food. Most of the items she has chewed have or had food in them. I was reminded of this when I used my 1/3 measuring cup this evening and saw all her bite marks.
She certainly keeps me on my toes about putting things away, because I can be quite lazy at housekeeping sometimes, then there are times when I think I have picked everything up and lo and behold she finds something.
What do you do? Do you have a chewer, or a tearer upper? How do you handle this issue? What creative methods have you used to deter your little tearer?
jodistone 
Comments on: "Chewer or Tearer Upper?….Day Three Hundred, Sixty Five" (22)
She did a number on that cup didn’t she? 😆
So it says day 365…shouldn’t we have a party or throw confetti or something? It has been a year right? Congratulations!
She did do a number on that cup and on the 1/2 teaspoon too, the butter dish was so bad I threw it out. LOL what won’t she chew?
And yes, today is the one year anniversary, thank you!
I had the same thought about day number 365 as 2browndawgs – I shall toast you tonight with the “hooray the boys are finally in bed” beer. As always, I enjoy your post.
We used to have a chewer in our dog Rosy when she was younger. She is most famous for eating my father’s new electric razor but she prefered paper products for the everyday chewing. We combated this by picking up before we left and childgating her in the “dog room” which is really our t.v. room complete with dog friendly couch and doggy door. Today she is 13 years old and only on special occasions will chew something up.
Thank you, I love that you call it “hooray the boys are finally in bed” beer. 🙂
I do try and pick everything up, but some days it just doesn’t work. :0
Really she ate an electric razor? I’m glad she made it 13 years, especially after eating that!
I may have to start putting Delilah in a ‘dog proof’ room if I can’t get a handle on it.
Congratulations on writing your blog for 365 days in a row – uninterrupted – even during a power outage. That is great!
Lila does like to chew stuff, but we have been pretty good about putting things away especially after my husband left his cell phone on the stairs, and Lila destroyed it. Thankfully I keep all our old cell phones just in case we need them! My husband’s phone was a pretty basic model, so we forgave Lila pretty easily.
I like the tip about the bitter apple. Sometimes Lila likes to gnaw on the furniture. She also likes to destroy boxes. Never a dull moment!
Thank you Mary Ann. I did miss a day though. 😦
I think we would be really mad at Delilah if she ate a cell phone, it’s a good thing you kept your old ones!
I like the bitter apple too, it seemed to me to be a humane way of deterring unwanted chewing. Let me know if you try it and if it works.
Day 365! Congratulations! An impressive accomplishment. Are you going for 730?
Thank you, I think I will shoot for two years and try to post every day but not be terribly upset with myself if I miss a day here or there. 😉
365 !!!! CONGRATULATIONS!!! What a super milestone.
I (Frankie Furter) only gnaw and chew on MY thingys… Now Ernie is a bit of a different matter. BaaaaaWaaaaah
Thank you for the congrats!
BOL Frankie! What does Ernie chew that he shouldn’t? I hope you are trying to set a good example for him.
Gwynn ate all the toggles off of boots… He also chewed my retainer on one of his escapist forrays upstairs while i wasn’t home (now THAT, i was upset about!), but he’s been surprisingly good, like sampson, mostly chewing things that we give him on purpose.
Congrats on 365!
Oh no, not the retainer!! It is something about the smell of the plastic and saliva. I know….gross! But my dogs used to try and take my retainer too (many moons ago) but toggles off boots?
Thanks for the congrats. 🙂
Hurley liked to chew on my shoes. So I was very diligent (and still am) about keeping them off the floor and in my closet. Giving him a toy box full of toys to choose from went a long way towards solving this issue. There’s something about having about a dozen toys in his own box that pretty much completely solved the inappropriate chewing issue. Thank Dog!
Thankfully she does not go after shoes! I’m glad the full toy box worked for Hurley, it hasn’t worked for Delilah. 😦
Shiva is a chewer, or a ripper-upper, however you prefer to call it. We’ve managed it by just never leaving things on the floor unless we are okay with her destroying them. Luckily, her tendencies have improved lately as she has grown more mature. Now she seems to be okay with only chewing her toys and antlers. Well, mostly. Unless she is looking for attention. The floor rule still stands, just in case.
Congratulations again on your massive accomplishment!
Thanks Kristine!
Delilah is funny, she can go for the longest time not chewing or ripping up anything and then BOOM one day all bets are off.
I wish she had matured, but she will be six in a few days and hasn’t seemed to mellow too much!
I’m glad Shiva is maturing, but now won’t you be bored? 😉
Congratulations on day 365!!
No ideas for the chewing other than a plastic bubble for Delilah 😉
LOL Misty, now there’s an idea! A puppy in a ball.
I love both but my favorite is chewing! 🙂
[…] Chewer or Tearer Upper? – Author’s Note: […]
Your 365th post coincided with bringing foster puppy Scooter into the house. Sorry I missed the day. But congratulations!
I had a team of destructo-pups. Agatha and Christie found a small knick in my kitchen vinyl at my last house which turned into a six foot by six foot hole in one day. Amazing!
My local SPCA sets up a shredding game for their dogs you might consider trying with Delilah. Start with a small box (like one for frozen vegetable) and put a smelly treat inside. Tape it up before putting it inside a larger box. Tape that box up and put it inside a larger one, etc. etc. etc.
Give it to your dog to absolutely demolish to get the treat. Then pick up all the shreds for the recycling bin while she’s sleeping it off. Apparently it’s quite a tiring task.
Congratulations on your new foster! I’ve checked him out via your blog and he is a real cutie, and I love that Honey is so patient with him.
The dogs have been destroying my rug. They lay on their sides and move their feet (it looks like they are swimming) and of course they do it right where the seam is, so the rug i trashed.
I like the shredding game and think I might try it. Especially if it will tire them out. 😉