question

I own 2 staffies..
Zion who is 4 yrs..
Bunny who is 2 yrs..
Zion went through a chewing stage at an early age and has grown out of it..
Bunny didnt have the chewing stage till starting a half a year ago..
Bunny doesnt chew things while we are not home... He chews things while we are sleeping..
Originally I thought it was due to doors being closed (bunny doesnt like doors closed)
So if the bedroom door was closed he would chew things in the room while I slept...
If the door was opened he wouldnt..
But he has taken up to pulling items out of the closet (yes he will open the door)... off the dresser.. or chair and desk..to name a few.. even while doors are open..
Again while we sleep.. Sometimes in the same room.. or in another room..
The items consist of clothing and shoes...

I have tried to leave him things to chew .. but we have wood floors and he will bang them against the floor while we sleep..

Any ideas why?

thanks eric

Hiya and welcome.
Firstly I'd child proof all closets!
Have you ever crate trained Bunny? Its not something I have done but I know people swear by it.
How long have you had them?

ye an deff for crate training you know your dog is safe and not being distructive

Janey, Thank you for the quick reply and welcome...
I adopted both dogs when they were only a couple months old..
Both dogs were crate "trained" when they were younger..
But like I said they can be left out in the house when no one is home and they are not destructive.. unless you consider they play so much I find the beds in the corners of the rooms from them running around and landing on them that they roil to the corner...
I have had dogs my entire life..(I am 44)
dobies.. rotties.. elkhounds..and a couple other types.. these are my first staffies..
It just seems odd that bunny has taken up to chewing things while I sleep..
I dont like to keep them crated anymore esp. when I am home.. since I dont get to see them while I am at work..
Just was thinking someone real familiar with the breed would know his moment of neurosis..
And I did realize bunny will be three this march.. so he is closer to 2.5 yrs..

thanks eric

Eric, feeling for you! I must be very lucky. Mines an angel! Could something have spooked bunny? You have far more experiences being an owner of so many breeds. Has bunny's routine changed? Not much help but keep me posted 2 brains are better than 1!

I'd crate him.

After all, while you're asleep you're not interracting with him, which is, I think, what's causing it all. When you're out, he knows you can't play with him. When you're in, there's nothing to stop you - or so he thinks. Therefore at night time when you're asleep he gets the hump and decides to make his own games.

Caryll.. that makes absolute sense...
As of late I have been putting everything up..
If I forget it is my own fault..
He might be crated if I put the crate back together.. (or loose something expensive).. lol

I've used crates for my last 4 dogs. The first time I used one I was told that I was cruel! That was before crates became more acceptable. I was the first person in Fulham (as far as I know) to use a crate for their dog! I was just so fed up with things destroyed, wires chewed etc.

Once they get to a ceratin age they can be allowed to have the door left open & they just treat it like a den. The only prob I ever had was Bandit - When he got to about 18 months old we decided he could be trusted (what fools we were) and we left the door open one day. When we came back he'd dug a holw in the floor & the wall & had destroyed my OH's collection of scale model airplanes that had cost an absolute fortune! We tried again when he was about 2 years old & he was fine from then on.

Dempsey's still shut in when we go out but the door's left open most nights now.