HELP! Dog is eating my furniture!!

My dog all of a sudden, (7 mos old) is knawing on my dining room furniture!!! :cry: She ate 1/2 of one of the legs on my buffet table...she chewed up other pieces of it as well....it looks all scratched & eaten....and she chewed off carpet on 2 corners of my 2 steps (in my house). :cry:
She likes that Sour apple spray- so licks it-- what else can I do to stop her? HELP!!!! :x MY house is getting destroyed!!!!! :!: AHHHHHHGH!!!!!!

 

Is this the Lab mix? If so then you are experiencing the "Labs Will Eat Everything" syndrome. Hopefully it will pass before you lose you house and everything in it. I had to finally crate Duke after he ate my electric alarm clock while it was still plugged in.
And you are in double trouble if your dogs actually likes the bitter apple spray. That stuff is suppose to be fool proof.
My only recommendation is to crate until she matures, which takes about three years. Do not let her out of your sight while free. With a Lab puppy, if alls quiet in the house, you are in trouble.
Good luck.

 

Warning: The "Labs Will Eat Everything" Syndrome has spread to other breeds, including St. Bernards. It is especially devastating in this breed due to the large capacity of the St. Bernard mouth, and the high destruction factor of St. Bernard teeth. Sofas have been reduced to mere scattered pieces of foam. Carpets have been shredded. Keys, cell phones, video tapes - all have been destroyed! Due to the size of the St. Bernard, crating is not a viable option - hence, many St. Bernards are now confined to the outdoors or completely empty rooms, until a human is available to watch to monitor their every movement.

 

Hi everyone!

Labs will eat everything...who knew? Certainly not me. I've seen some pretty strange things come out of my lab. She suffers from separation anxiety to the 10th power!! Every sofa cushion has tears in the upolstrery, and one cushion is missing the back corner and is completely unserviceable.

She finally got started on my favorite chair a couple of months ago. My vet suggested she was lonely while I was away, and suggested a companion, so we bought Jenni. We all know how that ended. The bright spot of the situation though, is she hasn't snacked on a single peice of furniture since Jenni came and went. I know that the reprieve won't last, and once again she'll be looking for things to munch on so I'll be having to think of getting her another companion. I've talked to Sophie (the cat) and she said in no uncertain terms that she hates the dog, and the best thing to do is find her another house. I told her we couldn't do that...she said I was on my own!!! Snotty cat.

Anyhow, I wanted to stop in and say hi to everyone and to let you know that I've made it a full day without breaking down and crying. Jimaya, that poem you left on my Parvo thread was so beautiful, and you were right, a huge help. So much so, I think I'm going to try to chart it and perhaps stich the poem and frame it with a picture of our Sweet Jenni.

Lorelei

 

I did something similar when my dog died. It did help, at least a little bit.

For the eating furniture thing - the only thing you can do is watch her when you are home and redirect her to things she is allowed to chew on. Teach her what TO do, rather than just teaching her what NOT to do. When you are not home, you need to confine her where she can't get into things. We have ex-pens set up to fence the dogs into one room and also fence the furniture away from them. You could also use a crate, or gate her into a bathroom or kitchen or laundry room, etc. Of course, preventing her from getting to the items teaches her nothing, which is why it is important that your dog have access to the furniture when you are home to teach her what to do.

 

When your dog starts eating on the SIDE of your HOUSE, you come talk to me...

Buki (the South African Boerboel puppy) One of Sara's litter, is a serious chewer and destroyer...

I had, let me clarify that HAD an anitque stand... no longer exists. I came home to practically saw dust... and a chunk that appeared to be chewed wood from one of the shelves...

Then she comminced to eating and tearing out insulation from the side of my house!!! We had removed some of the sideing and started remodeling it with Hardi Plank... apparently concrete pressed wood is appitising to dogs... She will sit there and chew on the left over cuttoffs of the boards.

She has a 2"X4" about a foot long that is her "log toy" She found that piece of wood (its untreated lumber) by the barn and decided its her best friend. She carries that damn thing everywhere!!! Its now round from her chewing it. She doesn't eat anyof it but jsut chews on it...

I've gone through sooo many stuffed toys with her its not funny. Precious is careful with her stuffed toys. She plays with them and runs and thows them for herself. but will baby them to no end.

Sara ahd a stuffed toy for her since she was a puppy, and i took it along with me. That thing is soo nasty, but still intact and full of stuffing!!! I thorow it in the washer everynow and then though...

If it weren't for the kong... I don't know what I'd do!!!

 

My Mom's pom Reuben has eaten her house too. Granny's antique setee (sp?) couch-thing, dining room chairs, bedroom furniture and the back porch. But Mom thinks he is so cute, she can't bear to crate him. When he comes here, he's in the ex pen in the middle of my kitchen (he pees too). I agree with all of the advice already given.

 

yeah, ok maybe I don't have it so bad. I can say that Tori hasn't sampled the house yet. Could it be because it's brick, not sure. The first time I found out that she was a furniture snacker was about 2 weeks after I got her. I didn't know anything was wrong yet until my daughter came running down the stairs and said "Mom, you better go look in your room." I thought maybe she had an accident in my room, but was completely unprepared for the sight of a hole, the size of the dog in my mattress. I of course panicked and called the vet and took her in for an emergency visit. At my urging, they kept her overnight to make sure she wasn't going to be clogged up. I got her back the next day, she had been having bowel movements at the vets office, so they said she was fine. I watched pieces of mattress coming out of my dog here and there for the next few days. I bought a new mattress (excuse to splurge on a Temperpedic, best 2 grand I ever spent) and told the dog that I would break her legs if she chewed on that bed, then made it a habit to close my bedroom door when I leave her at home. She's not allowed on my bed, and has learned and no longer attempts. No one told me the I would have to sweep a pound of hair off my kitchen floor every day before I got her. But I don't want dog hair in my bed.

My daughter is not as picky and therefore invites the dog to her bed, a bed that she's not eaten yet.

The living room furniture is a different story. I have to replace it all, and am hoping to have a companion for her before I do. The cat avoids the dog, so another dog will have to do. Any suggestions about a small to small-medium breed out there? I'm definitely going thru pet-finders.com, I wish I could have all the dogs, but only 1. Anyone have any experience w/ Petfinders? Would love to hear about any experiences with them.

 

This must be the same Syndrome as "Rotts Eat Everything".
List of consumables.
2 Couches
1 Bed
1 Boot (leather, new with steele toe, Toe and Heal Remained)
1 Wood shelf
1 12 inch area of 4x4 post holding up deck (replaced)
1 small tree from middle of yard. (was in the middle of run path)

Prio to my existing Rott/Chow mixes an old room mates Rott destroyed 1 bed and 1 couch as well.

Dogs get bored I guess. Might be fun to watch these incedients happen though.

 

Ohh...we call it "Pit Bull Seperation Anxiety"
We lost:
2 couches
1 bed
a carpet
several stuffed animals
a hole through a wall(is drywall tasty?)
pillows
mini blinds
many high heeled shoes(oddly enough she had her own sneaker to tear up and she never touched ours...)

The good news is we did work through the problem and we even bought brand new furniture this year which is happily still intact. Kong toys and near empty peanut butter jars are very helpful in curbing this behavior

 

Mostly empty peanut butter jars are awesome. I am trying to find photos we have of Nala passed out next to one that was licked clean as far as she could reach. The photos are so funny - she looks like she is drunk and passed out, LOL.

Chomper ate a big hole in one of the couch cushions last week. Goofy little guy.

 

bodi loves to chew on smoked cow ribs however he chews on them so hard we are afraid he might break his teeth. he chewed his dental kong in half . he loves to eat and smell our shoes. we have been training him with positive reinforcements treats, and negative saying the word no and spraying him with a apray bottle. it is working but he will test you and challenge you.

 

My Shar-pei did the same

I have a shar-pei hound mix, but, he took on the shar pei side as far as his looks. He ate two couch cushions, namt pairs of shoes and slippers, stuffed animals and every dog toy I buy him he eats! I found his best friend is his crate when were not home. I leave the T.V or radio on for him so he doesn't think he's alone and this has helped us . Also, I found he doe not like the tate of lemon oil thata I use on my wood floors. So, I put that on the legs of furniture or anything that he starts chewing on and so far so good. Hope this helps.

 

Oooh i do not want to sound weird but i am sooooo glad i do not have it that bad with Ice ( Lab x Rottie ) there was me pulling my hair out and she only chewed her bed, toys and garden fence, but guess what since i started letting her sleep in my bed room next to one of my other dogs she has not chewed a thing and she been like this for 4-5 days now.

I think i would die if she went to the extreme some of you guys/gals have had to deal with.

However did you all cope.

Mike

 

Try going back to square one.! 8)

__________
Killerbee

 

Yeah I'll agree with the Lab eating everything syndrome I came home from work one day and it looked like it snowed in my living room. It wasn't funny at the time but now I can laugh about. Oh she also ate through my wall in the kitchen. :shock:

 

this reminds me of a funny story....my sister and her husband adopted a lab pup early in their marriage.
Peanut ended up being a 120 lb. dog - huge.
My sister and I worked together and used to go to her home for lunch. Peanut was probably 6-8 months old at the time - sweet puppy :roll:
She and her hubby rented a fully furnished mobile home at that time.
Got to their place, walked inside and the sofa was shredded. I'm talking majorly shredded. Nothing left of the original piece of furniture. Demolished, devastated - I'm sure you get the picture.
And there was "little" Peanut just laying on the kitchen floor looking so forlorn, well we took it for scared and assumed someone had broken in and torn up the sofa.
We called the cops LOL
the puppy teeth marks on the furniture pretty much helped the police sove the crime

 

yeah sounds just like it funny thing was She (Cocoa) was laying in the middle of all the stuffing looking at me like she didn't know what happened. I took a pic on my cel phone and sent it to my husband and said the dog had a productive day. She never really eats any thing just destuffs everything Oh except for the mouse she swallowed whole superbowl sunday last year she was 5 Months at the time The big joke was Has anyone seen Staurt little latley.