Adult dogs chewing furniture

I have two adult dogs........one is 2 years old and one is 5. I am not sure which of the dogs is chewing but it could be both. They have shredded a part of my couch and total decimated a remote for my new surround sound system. I keep them locked in the kitchen when we are not home or upstairs but this is getting really old. By accident I left them out when I dropped my son off for hockey and they started on a new patch on the couch. I want to get a new couch in the fall, but don;t trust them. Any ideas. I know I need to buy them more chew toys but they go through them very quickly. HELP!!!!

 

Have you ever considered crating them?
A great toy to keep them occupied is a Kong. You can fill them will all kinds of goodies and most dogs will spend hours trying to get at the goodies. You might have to seperate them if you give them these though...some dogs might fight over them.

 

They were crated for a long time and I really hate to start doing it again. There is no problem with them being locked in the kitchen, they never chew any thing in there, including their beds and shoes. It just seems to be in the living room. As to toys, I did have a kong but it has disappeared. They are best of buddies and the little dog will go up to the bigger dog and take toys right out of her mouth. They play together really well. I do have to go out and spend a bunch of money on toys for them tho. A couple of kongs is a great idea.

 

2 & 5 years old? At this age they should be trustworthy in the house. Or did you mean 5 months? How much exercise do they receive before you leave the house? It sounds like a simple case of boredom. I suggest changing and increasing their exercise regimen.

 

They are 2 and 5 years old. And they used to be very trustworthy in the house. They have also taken to peeing and pooing when I get up in the mroning even if it has only been 6 hours since they were out. I am thinking of crating them again at night time and see what happens. I think that you are right tho, they are bored. I am going to buy lots of toys for them this weekend. Hopefully that will help.

 

Has there been any changes in the home lately that could be leading to anxiety? A death in the family, new job, different hours at work? Dogs are quite sensitive to our emotions, and can act out of frustration and anxiety to emotions they sense but don't understand.

If you think the problem is boredom, and you buy them new toys, don't just dump a bunch of new toys on them and leave it at that. Rotate their toys every day or two, so they have something different. Otherwise, they just get bored with the new toys, and you're right back at square one.

You might also leave a radio on while you're gone so they have some background noise to block out sounds from outside that may be disturbing to them.

 

The problem generally happens when we are home. If they are left in the living room, they eat the couch. I think rotating the toys is a great idea, as well as not leaving them alone downstair as much. We tend to congregate in the den upstairs so I think they are bored and lonely.