# Chewing through everything!



## akse929 (Jan 12, 2015)

Hello everyone!

I am brand new here, so please don't mind me if I have posted this in the wrong spot.

My V, Gus, will be 1 year next week. He is my first Vizsla and has exceeded my expectations in every way. I can't say enough wonderful things about him, but he has my whole heart, just as I am sure is the case with all of you and your vizslas.

My husband and I have one major issue with him that I could use some input on. Gus is crate trained and for the first several months did wonderful in his crate (After some initial separation anxiety). We put comfy blankets in there and he LOVED snoozing the day away in his crate while we were at work.

As of the past few months however, he gets bored and anxious in the crate and will chew to pieces anything that's in there. As a result, we have not been able to leave anything soft for him to lay on in there, for fear he will eat it and block his stomach. But it has become a vicious cycle. Because we can't leave him something comfortable to lay on, he hates being in the crate. Because he hates the crate, we try again to give him something to lay on, and he destroys it. 

He is so smart - I would have thought he would figure out that he needs to be gentle with his blankets in order to keep them in the crate. But I guess I can't apply human logic to him. Any advice? I am diligent about correcting him when he chews things in front of me, but I don't know how to get him to understand he is not allowed to chew the blankets in his crate when I'm not there.

I'm attaching a picture of his latest destruction


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## Ksana (Mar 30, 2013)

How do you exercise him? How often? For how long does he stay in his crate? Do you leave any chewable toys or anything to occupy him during the day (e.g., kong)?


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## hotmischief (Mar 11, 2012)

Do you have a dog walker that comes in during the day or do you pop back to exercise him? How about daycare so he isn't on his own during the day. 

Sounds very much like he is bored and left too long on his own.


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## MeandMy3 (Feb 27, 2013)

It sounds like he is bored and wants attention.  I have the same issue with my male lab pup. If I put anything in his crate, he chews on it. So - now he gets Durachews and kongs. That's it. Nothing soft to lay on. However, he doesn't mind his crate one bit. We use Ruff Tuff kennels for our dogs so they are more den-like. Have you tried covering his kennel so he feels more secure?


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## Jallen2014 (Mar 18, 2014)

Theres nothing you can do while being crated.... My Vz will chew & make fringes out of his pads or blankies... I've tried P-Butter filled toys, balls, rope, oh gosh anything to keep him occupied & Nope, nothing works. So I just keep him covered & don't leave anything that I don't want destroyed..
All Vz are so much alike.... Its scary!!!


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## jld640 (Sep 29, 2010)

Savannah went through a 'destroy-her-blankets' phase. We changed to old bath towels. They are a soft place to rest, are more durable than blankets, and don't make near the mess her dog beds did.

If you try the towels, try them for a short amount of time at first to make sure he chews them, but doesn't actually swallow them.

Good luck!


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## charliecoyot (Nov 26, 2012)

Crazy idea - never tried this - wireless baby camera with built in mic and speaker - might allow you to offer the 'hey' comment to correct from the comfort of your easy chair or from work??

Not sure if that would freak out your V hearing you without seeing you??

BTW - Gus' look of 'What? Wasn't me - that bed was defective, serious!' is darn funny!


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

Lucy would chew up any pad you put in her crate until she was 2. I just purchased some cheap towels, and used them for her crate. Even those would get holes in them, but she wasn't eating them, just chewing. If I left one of the other dogs crates open, she would slip in there and chew a hole in their pad. Then she would start pulling out the stuffing. I can't tell you how many times I had to sew them up.


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## dextersmom (Oct 29, 2013)

Dexter went through a phase of chewing his crate bed, too. Well it wasn't so much a phase - more of a when-you-least-expect-it-i'll-destroy-it thing. He's always chewed cloth, but I was worried he'd accidentally ingest the stuffing.

Our solution was to make a bed entirely out of fleece. My mom sewed him a pillowcase type cover and then stuffed with it other pieces of fleece, sewn together around the perimeter. This way, if he "unstuffs" his bed, he just pulls out a layer inside. Regular blankets didn't work all that well with him because anything "loose" in his crate makes him dig like a crazy dog  And he loves to pin down blankets and shred them with his mouth. This way it still feels like a "bed" and he leaves it alone for the most part. When the pillowcase part gets too many holes, we just make a new one and stuff the old one inside as a new layer.

They sell similar "pet duvets" but most are made out of canvas, which is his favorite to chew so we stayed away from those  They also have a zipper, which I would worry about our weim pup eating (she looooves metal). 

This won't help if you're worried he'll actually ingest the cloth though. Our pups only like to chew it - then they'll spit out the pieces. The stuffing I'm not so sure about!


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## dextersmom (Oct 29, 2013)

Also, bitter apple spray works really well with our two (though I really have to saturate it). When Dexter's bed still had stuffing, I'd spray the corners since that's where he'd start chewing. It worked, I just went through a LOT of bitter apple spray. Maybe you could try a small blanket that you've sprayed until he breaks the habit?


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