Our lab (12 months old) is crate trained, and remains in the large crate while we're at work. He goes in with no apprehension, and almost immediately lays down. He is only in there for 4 hours at most before someone comes to let him out and play with him for an hour. He doesn't like dog beds (frankly, he just swings them around and plays with them), but our breeder recommended placing a towel in his crate. He was fine with the towel for months, and then all of a sudden he ripped up two towels in a matter of two weeks. We waited a while, and then put a thin blanket in there with him, of which, he destroyed and ate all the fuzz last night. Any recommendation on reintroducing something into his crate? I feel bad having him sleep on the plastic, but it just seems that he doesn't want to lay on anything else.
Hello and welcome to the forum You could try vet bed, which is up there in the indestructibility stakes. It doesn't have long scary fibres that could get wrapped around intestines, so if he does manage to eat it, it's get less potential for damage than anything made from any sort of thread. If that doesn't work, I'd just leave him on the plastic! My dogs often choose to lay on the hard floor rather than soft bedding, so I wouldn't worry too much. My two older dogs (two and a half years) used to destroy anything soft, but were OK with vet bed (other than a few small holes). They grew out of it and can be trusted with any sorts of beds now. My puppy (nearly 7 months) doesn't eat beds. Shoes are her thing It does sound as if he's a bit bored, though. Could someone pop in earlier and give him a frozen kong to keep him occupied?
If your boy has started to destroy towels etc in his crate it would indicate that he is bored/stressed with being in his crate as behaviour doesn't change without cause. 4 hours is quite a long one for many dogs to be enclosed in a crate with nothing to do. Is it possible to create a pen and crate scenario to giverify him more room together with more kongs to keep him mentally occupied or introduce more visits during the day for walks, play and social interaction.
Hello and welcome from me and Lilly! There are a few dogs who just don't "do" soft bedding. Vet bed is cheaper than a dog bed and worth a try. I agree that he may just not be very happy and chewing from either anxiety or boredom. It might be worthwhile setting up a camera to record what he is up to. Kongs, stuffed and frozen are a great boredom buster - and the chewing is soothing too. jac What a way to welcome a new member Fiona
We have a bed chewer here...he drives me nuts with it! We resorted to vet bed and towels. He would nibble and still chew the ends of the vet bed, but I felt happier he couldn't do any damage to himself. Unfortunately there doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to it....he just thinks it's fun! Neither of my other two chew beds, thank god!
Hehe, by the power of the edit button, it's now fixed! Although, I left the typo in your quote for posterity (and so it didn't seem you were bonkers)
Thanks, everyone! I will definitely look into a vetbed. His behavior is really great when we're home (besides the occasional puppy crazies). We tried a few times leaving him out of the crate downstairs in our home for the afternoon, but he was exhibiting more destructive behavior than we've ever seen him do before, so I actually thought that leaving him out of the crate while home alone was causing anxiety. We have a completely open floor plan, unfortunately, so it's either his big crate, or the whole downstairs. We tried penning him a few times, and each time he was able to get out (as you can see from his photo, our house is mostly tile so he was able to push them around).
We started de-crating at around a year old, but she was definitely anxious being left out of her crate, so we basically de-crated her the same as we crate trained. We started in very short increments and built up time. We started with leaving her in the house when bringing out the garbage for just a couple minutes, then for errands etc. We started out with all doors closed in the house as much as possible, and over months of good behaviour can now leave bedroom/bathroom doors open, even closets with no worries. On the days she is home for 3-4 hours before being relieved, we have a routine - walk, then when I leave she has breakfast from a dispenser, frozen kong, treat hunt. This keeps her busy for about an hour, then she sleeps.
We had one of these http://www.petsathome.com/shop/en/p...5B0+80%5D||ads_f13501_ntk_cs%3A%22X+Large%22# It was great. Luna destroys most stuff even vet bed but she was fine with it, until we went on holiday and left her at the trainer's. But to be fair to her she was probably int he kennel much longer than we would leave her in her crate at home and she got board. So at the minute she has a load of towels that she pulls about and arranges into a bed but I keep meaning to get her a new mat (which won't be going with her to the trainer's in the summer hols!) She is pretty much decorated now but mainly stays int he litcken but she stil goes in her crate at night. We tried to leave her out of it and she was fine int he kitchen but then every night after that around 9 ish she would put herself to bed into her crate. We think she thought she had been forgotten. So we have just stuck with it for now and i might give it another go in the summer. (The crate is under the stairs it's to int he way in the kitchen you see.0
I am looking at these at the moment. Benson who is three and a half (the half is very important to him ) is a terrible bed destroyer! I like the idea that these hik9 dog beds are off the ground, so air can circulate, yet still comfy without masses of stuffing to distribute around the kitchen. https://www.hik9.com/
I've been eyeing up the hik9 beds for a while, too. Wondering if they'd be good for when it gets hot in Spain, especially if I set a fan up by them. One day we'll have air con, but not just yet! I think it was Helen @charlie who had a similar design but cheaper? If I was in the UK, I'd have bought one at that price (I think £19.99) just to see if any of them would actually use it
