Destroying everything in sight

Ive come a problem with Tyson which i cannot solve and its becoming increasingly frustrating...

He has gotten into this habit of destroying personal belongings when we're not at home. He finds ways of climbing onto tables and kitchen benches and taking anything he can see and ripping it into a million pieces. I know most you will say "well dont leave stuff where he can reach it" but we really dont...its like he's learnt to fly or something
I dont even know where he gets half the stuff from but i came home yesterday to find my kitchen covered in white foam. He had pierced through a Hair Removal can and it must have exploded from the pressure or something and the whole kitchen was covered in the foam. I was so worried that i called the vet to make sure he couldnt've poisned himself from it. She said to keep an eye on him, if he starts vomiting then to bring him in...but he's is fine thank god!
Then i stepped out in the back yard where i found chewed up razors, a manicure kit, a bottle of shampoo and coniditioner, a tube of cream...and mind you i have NO IDEA where he is getting all this stuff from because our bathroom cupboards and door is always closed and he never even has access to the bathroom unless we're in there And im sure we would've noticed him walking out with ten items in his mouth!!
Its almost like he has learnt how to jump over the barrier which keeps him out of the rest of the house, open the bathroom door, open the bathroom cupboard doors, remove everything then close everything up again???? I just dont get it???

Did anyone elses staffy go through this distructive stage when they were 8 months old?? And what can i do to stop this behaviour??? When will it end??????

Sorry Esther, but your story made me laugh (I know it isn't funny ). I am "lucky" Shoei mostly destroys his blankets, our pillows from the couch and his toys. He also takes our shoes and socks, but doesn't destroy them . He only sleeps with them. I do know that if we don't pay attention Shoei steals things from the bathroom or the garage and hides it . I could have stopped this behaviour if I locked him up, but don't want to do that, so sometimes I have to buy a new blanket/toys for him. Locking Tyson up is probably no option for you because you work fulltime.

Not funny
If you say that Shoei still steals things what hope do i have
How old is he? Tyson also steals shoes, socks, undies...anything thats on the floor!! But its all the stuff thats he's destroyed in the past week that has me scratching my head I just dont understand how he managed to get all that stuff without us noticing...honestly, i think he turns into a human when we're not around and goes and gets things and then turns back into a dog by the time we get home...and rips it all into little pieces

i can imagine the mess he made, sos but it is funny a flying staffy too, Tyson the super dog
but joking aside Esther, as shoei says hes more then likely stealing things and hiding them,then destroying them when youre no there, sounds like mainly your things. Its seperation anxiety Esther he misses you when youre not there and hes letting you know, hes probably bored too, As your at work full time. Leave the radio on low and lots of chew toys, hes still young at 8mths.
Have you got one of those Konga toys you put treats/food in? that can keep them occupied for hours! lol

staffsrock wrote: i can imagine the mess he made, sos but it is funny a flying staffy too, Tyson the super dog
but joking aside Esther, as shoei says hes more then likely stealing things and hiding them,then destroying them when youre no there, sounds like mainly your things. Its seperation anxiety Esther he misses you when youre not there and hes letting you know, hes probably bored too, As your at work full time. Leave the radio on low and lots of chew toys, hes still young at 8mths.
Have you got one of those Konga toys you put treats/food in? that can keep them occupied for hours! lol

Never ever leave toys alone with youre dog the chance they wil swallow a pies and choke is not worth it , there is even the chance it get stuck in there bowels and infect (Duke`s brother did die from that)
If you wanna leaf a toy the best thing is the BLACK KONG not the red the black is almost indestructible

Sorry to hear about Dukes brother Hardtrackz thats real sad
I assumed Esther would know the 'safe toys to use, meant KONG not konga Didnt know there was a difference between the colours though good info, maybe you could do a post with pics of ' staffy proof ' toys . I know that you can also buy pieces of cow hide/pelt that they can play tug on and is supposed to last ages, will try and find the link again

Thanks for the info staffsrock and hardtrackz...we leave toys for him to play with but he's not interested in them so im not too concerned about him eating them...he only plays with his toys when we're there to play with him. I might go buy the black kong ball, cause we have a red one but if you say the black ones are better then its worth a shot. What can i put in it though that would last all day??

isn't there a special filling for kongs ? Tried the black kong, but Shoei takes it, eats the filling out and starts chewing the kong (so it's not Shoei proof ).

I thought people just put dry food into kongs but Tyson gets the food out in a second, gobbles it up and then he's over it. Ive heard of people freezing water or putting frozen peanut butter or something like that but ive never tried doing that. Has anyone ever done that or heard of people doing that?

I think frozen water is a good one, but only water is not that tasty. Although Shoei likes ice cubes.

Yea Tyson loves ice cubes...my only problem with it is if he gets bored with it...it'll just melt all over the floor. I guess melted water is better then hair removal cream and razor blades You could always mix the water with some cordial to add flavour....might give it a go!!

There is also a staffy proof bone, called Nylabone. Perhaps thats an alternative. This bone is of very hard plastic and they can't destroy it easily.

The only way to keep a dog safe is in a crate, I still crate Tilly because she will chew everything she can find when left. Make sure nothing is within reach when in the crate as well, it is amazing what they can pull in when they want to, my handbag went in one day and there was very little left of it. It is too dangerous to leave a dog out that chews like this. I once had a vet bill for £2,500 because Merlin managed to get up to a shelf that was 7ft high and got a box of Roses. I learnt the hard way

Exercise your dog well before leaving them as well, this will help, as well as stuffed kongs frozen, or filled buster cubes to keep them occupied.

staffsrock wrote:Sorry to hear about Dukes brother Hardtrackz thats real sad
I assumed Esther would know the 'safe toys to use, meant KONG not konga Didnt know there was a difference between the colours though good info, maybe you could do a post with pics of ' staffy proof ' toys . I know that you can also buy pieces of cow hide/pelt that they can play tug on and is supposed to last ages, will try and find the link again

I think/know that Esther knows but there are other peeps reading this forum and if there is one that don`t know he or she knows now and can`t say "I read it on sbtn.com so it must be oke"

Roxy ate my kitchen wall twice last year, little bugger ate right through the plaster, we crated her after that. She has just been trusted to have run of the kitchen now (fingers crossed all ok).

Roxy had a treat ball (Kong one) that she has to turn to get out treats and her King which I put cheese at the top of as it melts over the rest of the food as they lick it making it a lot harder to get whats underneath out. Frozen Kongs work well to.