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Desperate For Help With CHEWING EVERYTHING!

by Joyce
(Boynton Beach, FL)

Always ready to play

My husband and I have a 1 year old beautiful Aussie named Zoe. We have had her since she was approximately 6 weeks (maybe younger), when we adopted her from a shelter. Our problem is this, she chews everything: my husband's shoes, our small area rugs (rubber backing and all), my husband's Engineering books for school, baseboards, cabinet corners, wall corners (we rent) etc... And besides the possible medical issues I am sure can be connected with what she eats, he is fed up and wants to get rid of her. I will not allow this, but it is causing issues.

We chose Zoe and we may not have known at the time about Aussies, but I have read enough to know they are working dogs and therefore need an outlet for their energy. The problem lies in that I am gone from 6 am to 5 pm monday through Friday. When I get home, I do play with her, if only fetch, but enough to tire her out. I then make dinner, feed the pets, clean up, and am wiped out, so I have no more energy to do anything with her for the night. He is home during the day, but is very busy with homework, and running errands for me that I don't have time to do after work. I need to know if a professional trainer may be able to help, or give me further ideas to entertain her and keep her mind and body active.

I do not want to part with my Zoe, she is the best dog I have ever owned. But, in fairness to her, am I causing her unhappiness? She is a very loving, wonderful dog. Are there other games and toys I can get for her to help with her destructive behavior? I do need to let you know, every single toy we have ever gotten her, and there have been ALOT, she has eaten/destroyed. We have found 2 tuffy-tuf dog toys, that she has not been able to destroy, which she loves, and those are what we play fetch with, or a tennis ball. Thank you in advance...

Comments for Desperate For Help With CHEWING EVERYTHING!

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Zoe
by: Nonnie / Dee Cutshall

Frisbee really tires them out. Especially if she loves it and will jump in the air for it. One of our Aussie's absolutely trembles waiting for me to throw the frisbee. We can't say the word out loud unless we are going to play now!!!

chewing
by: Gayle-- Big Run Aussies

I suggest that you read my article on games to play with your dog. You can even do these while you are relaxing. You need to make certain that everything is picked up that she likes to chew. Give her a black KONG that has been frozen with peanut butter inside. The black KONGS are for heavy chewers. Invest in bitter apple spray for corners of cabinets, etc. Keep her within sight at all times. If you can't watch her, crate her. Get her some food dispensing toys such as a Buster Cube. It seems that my girls have always been worse chewers than the boys. My 9 yr old chewed my down comforter last year while my husband was supposed to be watching her. Although, one of my boys ate my son's new school Nike Jordans when they were brand new. It was a lesson for Joel to keep his shoes picked up with a puppy in the house. Dundee was a year old at that time. You can also teach her tricks to keep her mind busy. Mental fatigue is actually more important than physical fatigue. You might also want to think about getting her into an agility class. Good luck. I know you can do this!

chewing
by: yusaf

there are alot of solutions to chewing.
make sure you have plenty of things that are okay to chew my fave is bully sticks affordable and safe for the puppy.
and another thing is bitter apple type sprays, the normal things dont work for me but there is a really good one called fooey that is safe to spray on anything and the dog will hate the taste and not want to chew it
hope that helps

Daycare
by: Anonymous

Take her to a doggie daycare when you can. My daughter is a nursing student and they have a ten month old male aussie and he's just full of it. She takes him to doggie daycare at least once a week and it wears his little butt out.

Just a thought. :)

Aussie chewing
by: bj

My year old mini aussie Bruno is one big chewer. He just chewed the toe on my last pair of dress shoes. I turn my head and bingo he has something. He is on a mission to destroy. That is his goal. He has chewed the wood at the bottom of our railing, have a whole in a chair in the living room, a spot on the wall he was chewing. I could go on and on. We have gates up and he is only allowed in the living room, dining room and kitchen, but every now and then like this morning I left the gate open too wide in the bedroom and he got one of my last pair of shoes. We have had dogs for over 30 years and I thought my cattle dog was kind of over active but nothing compares to Bruno. He is sweet and loveable but full of it. No one can leave the house or come in without him screaming and running from the window to the door, etc. He has changed for the better in a lot of ways but still has a long ways to go with some things. We love him dearly but boy is he a handful. We are an older couple and can't do things with him that should be done. He has been going to training every Sunday for months with a canine instructor and he is good but off the leash he is hell on wheels.

Australian Mini
by: Anonymous

We have a 2.5 month pup named Biscuit. She is a hand full of energy. I work from home so we play all day (between naps). She chews on things. We have found that if we provide a number of chew toys options, keep her busy, and show disapproval when she screws up that she is catching on. If I hear something that's not right just getting up from my office chair will get her to stop (she knows).

At 2.5 months - she is 90% potty trained, plays fetch, sits, walks on a leash, and terrorizes our cat. I'm pretty confident that, like children, you need to be consistent and not give up.

I had been told that this breed needs to be stimulated or they will do it themselves - I believe it!

mini australian shepherd also a chewer
by: carol

So here's my story about our 1 & 1/2 year old mini aussie Belle, she is a very loving and adorable dog. but the chewing thing is definitely a problem. She has many chew toys around the house, but boy if you happen to leave a bedroom door open, she will get in and chew shoes, socks, clothing ect.. (We stopped crating her when we are gone, she wasn't a big fan.)

I have always had dogs and have never had one that was so driven to do this. We lost a 17 year old border collie, and decided on this breed as a replacement. She is eager to please and is very trainable. She is even a better frisbee dog than our border collie was. We thought that this breed would be a bit less focused like our border collie, but that has not been the case.

On the good side she is wonderful with children, we have grandchildren whom come over, and our 5 year old and her are inseparable.

Chewing
by: Harriet

My Aussie (8 weeks old) is a chewer. She chews anything and everything. I have tried sprays like Bitter Cherry and something equivalent to Bitter Apple. Nope. She licks it up.
She has lots of toys.
Any ideas?

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