Ziggy (almost 9 months) is being a total horror today. He's got some tummy problems so is on chicken and rice which always leaves him dissatisfied. This morning he has stolen 2 shoes, ripped open and unstuffed his new bed and then his old one, tried to eat his toy box and is now sitting in front of the food cupboard whining. I think I have to up the amount of attention (training/play) to keep his mind off his tummy but what can I give him as training treats while he's on a bland diet? He's so food oriented he'll perform for pretty much anything normally but he might want a bit more just now. I've taken his beds away into another room but this isn't sustainable - he has to learn not to destroy them. Beyond saying no and trying to put something else in his mouth (which is always less interesting) I'm at a loss.
It's not uncommon fit dogs to destroy their beds. It's why many of us use crates and vet bed. If your dog is a chewer beds are best left until they have grown out of it. I'm not sure why Ziggy should be so hungry just because he is on chicken and rice for an upset tummy, I've never had that problem. Perhaps you could increase the amount he has or feed several fewer meals to help his tummy settle.
I agree with @MaccieD - when mine are on C&R, I feed more frequently, smaller meals because it's easier on the tummy. In itself, that may settle him, but if not, just cook up some extra chicken and use that as training treats. I always boil the chicken together with the rice and make enough for a few meals at a time, so throw in an extra breast which you can slice into small pieces when cooled.
I don't know if you use frozen kongs, but I have filled kongs with chicken and rice when Ripple has been unwell, frozen them for a few hours and then this has kept him occupied for a while.
Might be a bit messy, but perhaps you can make Ziggy sit and wait while you place bits of his meal around the room. Then give the command to find the food. I did this with Snowie when he was being fed pellets and it worked a charm to exhaust him mentally. Also slowed down the time for eating. I didn't mind that he saw where I was placing the pellets -- on the steps, on a stool, on the floor around the kitchen island, varying heights to make it more difficult -- having to watch and wait taught him, I think, restraint. And anyway, he seemed to only remember seeing the last one hidden and then had to use his nose to sniff out the rest. I started giving him verbal clues like Yes! Yes! Yes! when he was close and Uhuh when he was moving away -- otherwise he'd come back to me to ask for more instead of persevering. Maybe I should've left him to persevere, would've been even more exhausting! I also varied this by making him wait in another room and then calling him to come and find his food. As for wanting more food -- I see others say less more often. I found, however, that when we divided Snowie's food into four meals, he was constantly hungry, never felt full. Making them two bigger meals appeared to satisfy him more. Although ours was not for an upset tummy; it was when he went onto epilepsy meds and we were concerned about blood sugar levels. As for tearing up stuff, we always had a cardboard box handy for Snowie to rip apart. He loved this activity! Thankfully he never chewed his bed but he did teach us to be very tidy, we always put away shoes -- after losing four pairs of sandals! Thankfully he doesn't destroy anything anymore, I guess they grow out of it. I also think that moving to raw chunks of meat and meaty bones as meals satisfies his need to chew. Even now, though, when he starts pulling things out of the bin, I know he's looking for something to chew, and then I give him a raw carrot and he goes and lies on his bed to chomp his carrot and calms down nicely. I have to add that when I notice various items with his baby teeth marks (the house alarm remote, the wooden stool, my bedside table), I remember those cute puppy days fondly!
