I have a 6 month old lab, who likes to eat plaster from our walls until you can see the brick work in our hall way. Harry also likes to eat/lick the drain in the garden that comes from our kitchen sink . Any ideas how I can deal with this Lourdes
It sounds like he is either bored or stressed. Does this usually happen when he is left alone? How long is he alone for? Is he crate trained? As for the drain in the garden, you can get drain covers which would stop him getting to them. I would also suggest closer supervision when in the garden as he might also be eating/licking other things.
One of the dogs we had when I was a child licked holes in the plaster, but only in one perticular spot in the hall where she liked to lie. My dad put up some wooden pannels along the hall which stopped the dog licking.
All our pups have fancied skirting board and plaster! We put chew deterrent on (every night at first) and it worked with all of them. Be sure he's had plenty of training, play and exercise. Only leave him for a couple of hours at a time with Kongs and use chew deterrent. If it persists leave him in a utility room/kitchen with puppy pen round the sides Ellie bo make an excellent one.
Thanks guys. I forgot to say harry has an older brother Archie who is 3 and they are like best friends, there is no chance of harry getting bored as we have more toys than toys r us . They get plenty of exercise and forever playing together. We need a drain cover but all I can find are plastic ones which harry would chew I'm sure
I don't think the number of toys makes a difference. Snowie brings his ball to us to play with him; he doesn't want to play alone. Re protecting your wall. We got a barrier made at the hardware store. We bought a big rectangle of MDF and attached two feet (wedges of wood) so that it stood upright. Very basic, looked like those old-fashioned asbestos heaters. We put it wherever Snowie might chew - e.g. He'd lie quietly on his bed while gnawing the skirting! This way he gnawed the barrier - we didn't care. As long as what needed to be protected was protected. We also used it as a temporary door, in place of a baby gate. It was very cheap and useful, albeit rather ugly! Long chucked out - Snowie is 5 years old and no longer chews what isn't his.
If a dog hasn't done this at all by 6 months are we safe? (Imagine a little icon of praying hands placed here! )
I agree that the number of toys doesn't make any difference. Dogs are social animals, and rarely play with toys alone. My two even rarely play with each other - it's me that they want to play with. They can get bored without that social interaction, even if they're surrounded by toys.
Don't feel it's a criticism! It's really not! Of course you play with your pups But, the sad reality is that we can't spend all day playing with our dogs, as much as we'd like to. We have to do dull human stuff, too. You know, washing, tidying, working... and, man, we take so long to eat! So sometimes, our dogs can get a bit bored. And, when they're bored, they look for fun stuff to do - which generally conflicts with our idea of what they should be doing. That means that, because we can't be expected to entertain them or watch them every second, we have to use management tactics sometimes. So stop him physically getting to the things you don't want him to. He'll probably grow out of it, but that's less likely if it becomes a habit, so the fewer opportunities he has to practice the behaviours you don't like, the better.
My puppy - from 8 weeks - was obsessed with the drains in the yard and garden. If it was raining, she'd stand with her head under the downpipes taking the water from the roof and get soaking and filthy. Drove me quite mad, very annoying. I used spare panels from her puppy pen and a couple of sheets of plywood to fence off the drains. She wouldn't leave them alone otherwise. Best thing to do with annoying behaviour is to just make it impossible before it turns into a annoying habit. Dogs do what they get to do. If they don't get to do it, it can't become a habit. Same with the plaster. If your dog is well entertained, has enough exercise, training time and 121 time, then just stop him chewing the plaster with a physical barrier (well, stop him chewing it anyway, but also do the exercise and training thing etc). Put him in a crate or pen. Or, put the pen panels along the wall he chews to stop him getting to it.
