We seem to have reached a new level of chewing! Storm is now 5 months old and had always chewed, but within reason, normal puppy stuff. However this week we seem to be on a mission to destroy! So far this week he has chewed through my kitchen wall to the RSJ, chewed through the wire of my alarm system, chewed a chunk off the skirting board, and chewed a hole in the plastic base of his crate!!! He has plenty of exercise, he has chew toys and even some new interesting ones I gave him this week, he's rarely left alone, he's outside in the garden lots, I have 2 children who play with him, so I can't think its boredom, but the chewing seems to have gone mad this week! Is he still teething at 5 months, or is it something else I'm missing? Thanks!
Re: Chewing! It's a possibility that he's still teething although I would have thought the worst of it would be over by now. It might be worth getting him checked over by a vet as he could be looking for a way to relieve pain by chewing as he's munching on some pretty hefty things. If it's just pain from teething your vet might be able to give you something for him to help ease his discomfort if it's upsetting him that much.
Re: Chewing! Wow, that's some impressive chewing! All I can think is, that you need to take another look at where he is, during the day, in relation to you. You say he is rarely left alone; yet it MUST have taken him some time to chew through the wall! I think that if you have a five-month old chewer, you cannot afford to let him out of your sight (and out of his crate) for more than about five minutes at a time, or else it's goodbye skirting boards… At five months a puppy has very little concentration, and quickly gets bored. If he is learning to entertain himself by chewing, you will have to step up your training program with him. Really truly make sure he is not left alone, unless in a very safe place. Bring on some more interesting training exercises to get him using his brain - this is far more tiring than just running around. Consider maybe changing his food to raw, as chewing raw bones will exercise his jaws and neck muscles and will keep him busy. Good luck, and please let us know how you get on!
Re: Chewing! Thank you! Yes I've been pretty shocked at the speed he chews things, the wall took less than 15 minutes!! I try not to crate him too much in the day if I can help it, and I am at home most of the time, but I will step up the training with him, but am obviously cautious of not over exercising him as he's so young. Any suggestions of training would be greatly appreciated, we do a lot of recall training at the moment as that's my biggest focus. Will keep you posted!
Re: Chewing! Have you tried one of the larger nylabones as a toy? Mine love them! I've introduced them as a distraction from chewing the wrong things and my puppy will happily gnaw one and play with it.
Re: Chewing! Thanks, I will try that, he's got a smaller puppy one but lost interest in it, am going to invest in some new distractions so will add that to the list!
