and now she's tearing apart her pillow/mat in her crate

is it just because she's just over 4 months old and going through the naughty adolescent phase? she chewed it once or twice before but nothing major. i think she likes her crate, doesn't seem to have SA but the last few days she's just tearing the pillow in there apart and ripping up the mat.

she is really trying my patience! will the pass or how do i correct it? i'm trying re-directing her chewing if she goes in voluntarily but then starts destroying, but if we're not there, not much we can do. can i spray bitter apple on the spot in the mat or will that make her think the whole crate is spoiled?

ugh. it's just something new every day

add to that problem 2 - peeing on the carpet. no problems for AGES, thought she was pretty much there with housetraining, did everything we were supposed to do with the crate and all of that (except keeping her on the lead when we took her out to pee/poo in the garden). only change in the last couple of days, because she was starting to dig in the garden, was that we are now keeping her on the lead with us, bringing her back in right away, limiting her garden time and only doing training stuff there now and not just keeping the door open for her to come and go.

guess it's back to the drawing board with crate training - but she'll destroy her crate "stuff". guess we have to take everything out of it as well

That is a hard age. They are going through the teenage phase and teething. Bitter Apple works wonders. Old blankets are great so they won't destroy good bedding. For the nipping just ignore the behaviour or remove them from the room. We all go through it and it seems to be overwhelming but patience and consistancy do pay off in the end

don't worry.. we too are going through the exact same thing! zeus turned four months old yesterday and he nips quite a bit (probably because hes teething) and he throws his tantrums! just have a look..

before:


after:




as jstaff said, i think im going to be using some old blankets for bedding now as he simply chews his beds to this point!

ive never tried bitter apple but white vinegar works a treat! i spray it on anything i dont want zeus chewing and he stays away from it!

wow goldie! but for the pillow color and the puppy, that after picture looks VERY familiar!! old blankets - good idea. I worried that if we let it go, she would just think that's OK behavior, so wasn't sure if we needed to correct it. so it's really OK to put bitter apple on stuff in her crate?!

I've been trying to give her cold, teething soothing treats and stuff to chew, just gotta hang in there until she's through this phase! she's SO SWEET and adorable and such a friendly little pup, but every now and then she acts like she's possessed >

Dempsey did the same, and still would if I still used foam bedding! I bought a couple of ex-german army blankets off ebay. They're a little expensive, but quite thick & very strong. So far he hasn't ripped them to shreds!

ex-German army blankets - check! thanks so much for all of your help everyone!! i probably sound whiny and scared - and i am LOL but i love her to bits and want to bring up a lovely, polite puppy - this is all helping very much

i hope the peeing on the carpet thing is just a one-off.

Sometimes they have little 'accidents' but they become less & less. It's a bit like potty training a toddler - every so often they'll forget & pee their pants!

i suppose so - it's strange how just yesterday and today, boom - accidents. but generally she's pretty good.

Hi,
yes I would not see tearing dog beds apart as a problem, Stella destroyed couple of them now she has an old duvet in an old linen and so far so good
I give her plenty of things to destroy like carton boxes, old balls, fluffy toys (with any hard parts like eyes removed) so she probably satisfies the "destructiove instinct" this way
I must say I admire how methodical she is when it comes to chewing toys in bits, it's amazing to watch her
And she has not chewed anything else in the flat, just her toys and beds, which is what I was hoping for
Stella is turning 1 year now.
Good Luck and don't despair, it'll get better but certain things such as fluffy beds and fluffy toys are probably too irresistable for them to leave them in one piece

giving her a box to tear apart is a good idea - i bet she would have a blast!! she's such a cutie pie, i just want her to be happy x

marley still does it, we only use our old bedding or stuff from charity shops as his bedding, it's not worth spending too much as it never lasts too long

Nope my two still destroy their beds in their crate and mine are alot older then yours, it's just a dog thing

Totally norm. Like everyone else says. Old towels and/or blankets works wonders. Mine go crazy for boxes. They absolutely love it, but it is a bit of work to clean up.

We have a few old polartec blankets, Callie loves them and easy to wash. We put one on the couch when we want her to know it's OK to come up and sit with us. I hadn't even consider getting Miss Jaws a bed

She loves to destroy cardboard too...are you guys worried about your dogs eating pieces of it though? Maybe I could watch and see...because she will eat ANYTHING.

I worry too, but she mostly just tore a shoe box to bits. Messy, but stopped her shredding the pillows in her crate lol

roxi's 4 and we gave up on beds in her crate, we got tiled carpet instead! she's not in there for long periods though so her main bed is inour living room and she doesn't attempt to chew that. With weeing on carpet roxi had accidents but not had one since she was around 11 months old, she still dribbles when over excited though!! I wouldn't mind but everytime i try tell her off she gives me a sorry look and a crumble which made the whole training process 10x more difficult on me haha! good luck x

that's a good point Gemma - she won't be using the crate forever, hopefully just until fully potty trained and at bed/nap time.

Sophie has destroyed 5 beds so we use an old blanket (charity shop £5) and a quilted matress topper (charity shop £1.50).

If your dog isn't in a crate then these dog beds solve the chewing problem straight away.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Coolaroo-Raised-Dog-Bed-Med-/280825949062?pt=UK_Pet_Supplies_Dogs&hash=item416287eb86