Hound dog
Nana's are Beautiful
Evidently I have a nervous chewer.............or maybe a bored chewer (although I dunno how she's bored, she get exercise and lots of playtime).......or maybe teething has kicked into high gear finally.
Maggie has plenty of things to chew. She has rawhides, her kong (although I've yet to find something to work inside the darn thing) and a wide variety of toys. She does chew these and enjoys it.
But she is also seems to love wood.......sticks.........and now I've caught her chewing on the legs of the kitchen table. Now my table is nothing fancy, so I'm not upset about it except 1. I don't want her thinking it's ok and 2. I don't think a belly full of wood slivers is going to aide in digestion. She also has been chewing on the baby gate.
I can understand the baby gate sort of. If the little boys are having a grumpy fussy day......well, Maggie going near them sets them off, so she gets crated into the kitchen. That chewing is probably a combo boredom and frustration because she loves to play with the boys. Soon as Connor goes down for his nap she's got the run of the house again. (he's the one that mainly gets set off) I don't like it but letting her play in the yard is not yet an option because I need a new gate and she gets off the lead too often.
I do correct her when I see her and she stops. Problem is, I don't always see her because I'm busy watching the boys. This is something she mainly does when the boys are here because that is the only time she's gated.
Sticks are easy to deal with......I just do what I can to keep them picked up. It's the furniture thing. Other than the kitchen.......anything else in the house that is wood is antique.......and Momma would NOT be happy should she start chewing any of those.
I've never had a dog with the wood issue before. Paper, crayons.......toys........shoes.......but not wood and not furniture. Providing plenty of rawhide ect to chew instead seemed to deter it. So is there anything I can do other than correcting her when I spot her doing it? Or am I just going to have to watch her like a hawk until she gets through this stage?
Maggie has plenty of things to chew. She has rawhides, her kong (although I've yet to find something to work inside the darn thing) and a wide variety of toys. She does chew these and enjoys it.
But she is also seems to love wood.......sticks.........and now I've caught her chewing on the legs of the kitchen table. Now my table is nothing fancy, so I'm not upset about it except 1. I don't want her thinking it's ok and 2. I don't think a belly full of wood slivers is going to aide in digestion. She also has been chewing on the baby gate.
I can understand the baby gate sort of. If the little boys are having a grumpy fussy day......well, Maggie going near them sets them off, so she gets crated into the kitchen. That chewing is probably a combo boredom and frustration because she loves to play with the boys. Soon as Connor goes down for his nap she's got the run of the house again. (he's the one that mainly gets set off) I don't like it but letting her play in the yard is not yet an option because I need a new gate and she gets off the lead too often.
I do correct her when I see her and she stops. Problem is, I don't always see her because I'm busy watching the boys. This is something she mainly does when the boys are here because that is the only time she's gated.
Sticks are easy to deal with......I just do what I can to keep them picked up. It's the furniture thing. Other than the kitchen.......anything else in the house that is wood is antique.......and Momma would NOT be happy should she start chewing any of those.
I've never had a dog with the wood issue before. Paper, crayons.......toys........shoes.......but not wood and not furniture. Providing plenty of rawhide ect to chew instead seemed to deter it. So is there anything I can do other than correcting her when I spot her doing it? Or am I just going to have to watch her like a hawk until she gets through this stage?