# 6mo destroying everything!



## Chestersmum (Jun 21, 2010)

I have a 6 month old Vizsla who has been a lovely addition to our house  We've worked really hard with him and I feel he's settled in really well.

Recently he's been in a really destructive mood, tearing all of his toys apart and anything else he can get his mouth around (luckily not the furniture!). 

I would've thought the teething stage had passed so this must be something else?

It's not really a problem but I'm running out of things to give him that he doesn't destroy (and eat!) in 10 mins flat!! He's just destroyed a puppy kong in the space of 30 mins!

We usually see this behaviour in the evenings as he sleeps most of the day while I am working (from home). 

Any ideas?!


----------



## BamBam (Feb 14, 2010)

wiley rips up all his toys and de-stuffs them, they only last a couple of seconds.
We give him raw hide chews or bones from the pet shop, the really stinky messy bones if you know what I mean?
Also with the kong do you stuff it with soft food- like banana, peanut butter, dog food pouches- that sort of stuff- and then freeze it for a couple of hours, then it seems to take Wiley ages lick it all out.
it says in my puppy book teething occurs between 3-6months and then just as the teething phase begins to pass another more ferocious urge to chew occurs at about 7-10 months of ages.
perhaps it's this?


----------



## jp (Nov 24, 2009)

We went through this. Could be related to adolescence? She is under better self control now two years later, but can still be quite destructive. This has limited the toys that we give her. Forget puppy kongs, go straight to the extra strength kind. Penny can still rip at these, but they last a lot longer. It's pretty much only those and rawhide things that she is left alone with. Even things like frisbees and tennis balls will be destroyed in the middle of a game of catch. And no stuffed toys, or anything stuffed as it will be quickly disemboweled. This is a problem with small children who like stuffed animals. I have almost posted a topic called: Can vizslas co-exist with stuffed animals?


----------



## maxxie (Jan 3, 2010)

This sounds familiar, as up until Bentley was about 7 months old, he was as good as gold. He had not chewed any toys or broken anything around the house or chewed anything he was not supposed to, in comparison to our previous Lab, who ate everthing in sight!! However, Bentley suddenly started to chew at his toys, removing ears and tails, taking out stuffing, so had to remove some of his favourite toys in the process. He seems to be able to eat his dental chews much quicker too, confirming the strength in his jaws has increased immensely now. We have to keep our eyes on him, as he will grab anything he fancies, such as my husbands, slippers, glasses, newspapers and Golf score cards, running off to see if Daddy will chase him, which he usually does, swearing at him as he goes!! Unfortunately, I try to explain to my husband that Bentley sees this as a game and he must get into the habit of calling Bentley to him with an alternative toy, to make the exchange and in the long run, this will prevent the behaviour escalating, but he is not good at taking advice!!! If Bentley tries to take anything of mine, I refuse to chase him and pick up one of his toys and proceed to play with it. Curiosity soon gets the better of him and he comes running to me to play. I am hoping that his chewing phase will soon stop as he gets bigger, but in the meantime I try and give him tougher stuff to play with and chew on. He can go back to stuffed toys later on once he has settled down a bit.


----------



## Moreteyne (Jan 8, 2009)

Around 6 months you are looking at second stage teething. ( Adult teeth coming through )


----------



## Chestersmum (Jun 21, 2010)

Thanks both. Yes I mentioned this to breeder yesterday and he said it was second stage teething. 

Luckily he knows better than to steal our stuff to chew but I was concerned about the amount of his toys he was getting through. Time to pop down to the pet store and bring in the tougher toys!


----------



## Ro-Ro (Aug 30, 2009)

Ziva started doing the same thing at 6 months. All of her toys are in pre-op, although I think it's a waste of our time to even try to fix them. A few days ago we got her a kong ball and she hasn't torn it up yet. We bought her the "tougher" toys", and she still destroyed them in a matter of minutes. It was just crazy, she had the cutest pink elephant with silver wings she carried around for months then one day she decided it needed to be disected. Her big toy box use to be overflowing, now there is like 3 things in it. Hoping she will grow out of it soon. She is 7 months old and all of her teeth are in. In fact, she has one baby tooth that isn't going anywhere that the vet is going to remove when we have her spayed.


----------



## Blaze (Aug 6, 2008)

Blaze did not start destructive chewing until he was 6 months. And it was *BAD*! not to mention expensive!! he had a Thing for Oakly and Bolle sunglasses, Leather Lazy boy sofas, bar stool legs. I could go on but it is all a bad memory now :'( That said, he is worth every penny and every bit of angush over ruined "stuff". _He got over it_. He is 2 1/2 and the best boy ever!!  Keep on top of your dog's every move when in the house so you can correct as it happens, and if you crate, definitely use it when you leave him alone in the house! And an hour a day of good exercise is a huge help. That is all I can advise. But _this too will pass_ as they say


----------



## sarahaf (Aug 17, 2009)

I'm afraid this is still an issue for us w/ Rosie at 16 mos. Ironically, she's pretty good with her toys, but she still destroys our stuff at times when she can get her hands (teeth) on it. Probably as much as anything our failure to train her. Durable toys do help with the toy aspect, but again, for us, it is more the furniture/glasses/pens. She does it when she's bored or wants our attention. I got the bitter apple spray for the furniture, and I think this helps (needless to say, you wouldn't want to put it on toys). I think some dogs are just more into mouthing/chewing than others--not to mention the stage related issues (teething, puppyhood) as others discussed.


----------



## Blaze (Aug 6, 2008)

Well , I just bought a brand new leather sofa /love seat and I'll admit I am a bit afraid his love of that type of big leather chew toy may resurface. I let him up on the fabric couch on the den -he has always been a lap dog! but with the new stuff in living room I will have to make it _strictly off limits._ Not quite sure which strategy to use.


----------

