Hi everyone, I am new to the website, I have a 16 month red Labrador bitch. She has the most lovely temperment and well behaved other than her chewing. She’s got into a bad habit of chewing walls! There must be something in the plaster, she loves it, she will even do it in front of me. She has so many toys but it seems sometimes only the wall will do. What can I do to stop this behaviour, she has ruined my kitchen and hallway. Has anyone else had a wall chewer?
Welcome. Some dogs love plaster, Gypsy did. We used bitter apple spray and it worked - it needs re-applying every couple of days until the habit stops.
I’m so glad it’s not just her munching on plaster I will have to get the bitter apple spray! I have tried lemon water in the past but that didn’t bother her. Thank you
This might be a very expensive pet if she continues this wall eating habit. I suggest determining the underlying cause of such behavior. And it is not because she likes plaster. Something else is going on and she's trying to tell you. Give us more info on yours and her daily routine.
I had this once with my Bernese Mountain Dog. I ended up having to smear the walls where he was chewing with Colmans mustard - the powdered sort mixed up quite strong IIRC. He stopped fairly quickly, but it was quite a mess to start with.
Do you rotate your toys, so that only 3-4 are available at any one time? Or are they all "available" all the time? We use about 20 toys, 3-4 available at any one time. After a week of not seeing an old favourite toy, the boy is very excited to get chewing it. If the same toy was left on the floor for a week, he wouldn't be interested at all. Dog toys are like dating. The subject matter becomes much more interesting if it isn't available all the time.
She has a toy box that she can pick what she wants from. Her favourite is tennis balls but she breaks them in less than an hour. She’s got plenty of new toys ready from santa, maybe we will put others away when she gets her new toys and swap around.
There is probably an underlying behaviour, she's possibly chewing the walls out of boredom, frustration... My dogs don't have free access to toys, toy time is time is 'fun time' with me then they are put away. She needs distracting, perhaps a stuffed kong, split antlers, short games to tire her brain. Grannick bitter apple spray on the walls can be off-putting for some dogs but you need to get to the root cause.
