Hi all, My puppy is 8 months old now and she's been pretty good with most things. She walks reasonably on a leash, follows cues reasonably, and is now fully housebroken. One thing that just started is that she became a power chewer and destroys fairly rugged toys in a few hours to get to the stuffing. This is fine and we've been transitioning her to only have chew toys like nylabones, kongs, other rubber items, and edible chews like rawhides. The problem is that she's going after other things like socks, underwear, dish towels, and even a couch cushion. Most recently she's started managing some pretty impressive grabs to get things off counters. Most of which has been when we are out of the room for a few minutes (couch happened when my wife was in the shower). I'm wondering if anyone has any advice to help prevent this, or if it's just a phase that she will grow out of and we just gave her too much freedom before she was ready. Thanks for the help
I have only one answer - keep all socks, tea towels etc well out of her way. She will, in time, get out of the habit - but it can take years! Tatze is four now and still pinches the occasional cushion lol.
I must admit I have given up on trying to hide all my socks - Bailey still manages to produce one each morning! I am sure he has a secret stash of them somewhere! It is as Mags says just keep everything out of their reach/way. I become a much tidier person once Bailey came into our lives! We still put our shoes away each time we walk in the door!
I noticed that at about 8-9 months Harley's michievous rating went through the roof. She would be taking things because there would be a reaction and she really wanted a reaction. It has calmed down and we are lucky that she doesn't destroy things, she just likes to present us with items in return for attention. 8 months is adolescence time...
I agree with the others in terms of trying to keep what you can out of reach. Plum has her own toy box full with fantastic toys but if she found a slipper lying around she'd think all her Christmases had come at once. All shoes and slippers are hidden as are tea towels, oven gloves, the bin is locked away, etc. I don't even know if she'd go for the tea towels and oven gloves anymore but I don't want to take the risk!
Thanks for the advice, I hope she grows out of it, but sounds like no more leaving things on counters for a while
