My Cassie is 13 months and is well behaved in the house. When we go to the park in the car she chews on seat belts and is tearing up the seat cover. I have tried to give her toys and chew sticks to distract her to no avail. I recently bought a muzzle for our short car trips but she is not liking it. Has anyone else had this type of behavior?
When we first got our dog (he was 8 months old) we put him in the back of our mini-van, where we had transported our previous dog. In the first month he had chewed through the two seat belts on either side of the back seat. Thankfully since he was in the back behind the last seat he couldn't rip up the seat covers. As time passed he settled in with us and we haven't seen him chew anything else in the car, but as I said he has limited options back there. I'm not sure exactly what to suggest, maybe some kind of seat cover to protect your vehicle? Maybe you could try a short journey (with someone else in the car) and give her treats when she is calm? Do you think this is anxiety related?
My friend's spaniel did this ,not a cheap thing to replace..... Have you looked at car crates? There's your safest option I'd say and the only guarantee of no chewing opportunities.What about a dog guard that separates the boot from the rest of the car? I have that in my car ,it would keep Cassie contained in the one area ,although there might still be temptation within reach... I imagine most dogs don't do well finding themselves wearing a muzzle without some planning and training.You can condition your dog to be comfortable in it but you need to build up gradually x
Dexter's suggestion is best, a crate where she can't reach anything she shouldn't, toys in it of course. Our previous lab BJ chomped through the rear seat belts of our car, right through - and we didn't even know until it went for its MOT !! We thought what a good boy he was in the back of the car, so quiet
I've had two labs that travelled in my cars and didn't touch a thing, but Ripple goes in a car crate - he's a great chewer and lives up to his name (rip all). I think it depends on the dog.
Benson ate both rear seatbelts, in a brand new car...very expensive! The crate we bought was also expensive but cheaper than the price of replacing the 2 rear seatbelts..
It must be some anxiety type of thing. I am on my second backseat hammock like seat cover which she is also chewing up.
