Finn has a bad habit of playing with beds / mats / pads. Anything NEW. He has stopped chewing on his first bed that I got him, although at first he would play with it and chew on it all the time. There was a discount pad at the pet store and I got it for him as an alternative sleeping spot, but all he wants to do is chew on it and shake it around. Should I: A) Leave him to it and eventually he'll get bored of it? B) Constantly tell him no and try to get him to chew other things instead (seems like a losing battle) C) Give up on the pad and wait until he's older? D) ?
I'm with Lisa. Tough love approach. Duggan humped and chewed. Every time he did either it was taken away and replaced with a Kong or rope. Now his mat is his safe place. When we go places we take it with and he's much calmer. He never chews it anymore (it's his third one). But he will hump it once in a while. So we got him a pad for the living room that he can't hump and his bed is in my bedroom. He still goes in and gets it on a few times a day but it's short and sweet and harmless. I don't stop it and it lasts only seconds. Usually after his dinner walk when he's still a bit fired up before quiet time.
that's hilarious! Finn hasn't humped any inanimate objects yet. He started to try with my friend's dog the other day. Guess he's not a baby anymore. As soon as I write this he will probably try to hump his bed though....he's famous for proving me wrong.
I will also go with option C, give up the pad and wait for him to get older. You can also try to train him to correct this behavior while he is still young, or a professional trainer to help you with this problem. You can also buy him some chewing toys to avoid such habit.
C for Me too my dogs don't get beds until they are at least 2. They sleep on fleece sofas floors. I found sleeping on the sofa to be a real civilsing influence too.
His beds and blanket have been taken away, but I am still trying. He learned "Goto bed" command from puppy class. So I've been working with that. He lays on the bed and he gets streamed treats if he stays laying on his bed. In between, its alot of no and uh uh when he tries to hump it. Then it gets put away since he will hump away if let alone.
Brady has chewed through 3 dog beds. And my other labs chewed through beds as well, no matter what age. I did finally find one (K9 ballistic) that actually attaches to the inside of the crate and he has not been able to chew that because he can't pick it up. We found out that it is easy to clean as he had a bad case of upset tummy in the crate in the middle of the night.
