A chewing monster.

[Devil_Boxer]

Most of the time my boxer Apollo is a crate dog and I let him roam free every once and a while of a couple of hours at a time. I do my best to "puppy proof" the house and only allow him access to one room which is empty., but he always seems to chew the heck out of something especially window blinds and kitchen counter items (I didn't realize he was so tall) He has about ten different types of toys laying around but chooses household items instead. What should I do? Never let him out? Will he grow out of this? Please help. Thanks

 

[Jan]

Actually, it sounds like your boxer is spending too much time in the crate already. He needs exercise and playtime. Half a dozen boring toys lying around are not going to interest him very much. Pick up all his toys and just give him a couple at a time. Change them every day or so. Try giving him a stuffed Kong when you leave, and a treat ball, like a buster cube. Make sure that he can see out the window, boxers like to look out. Leave the blinds open and then he won't pull them down. :(

Good luck!

 

[Coopster2208]

I'm wondering why he is crated so much? Why add a dog to your life if they only know a crate? Dogs are supposed to be a part of the family.

Cooper is a crate dog for most of the day, both my husband and I work, and we love Cooper dearly (thus providing him with a penthouse size crate), but dog owning should not be isolated to those who can be "stay at home moms & dads". Just as our daughter goes to daycare while we are at work, Cooper goes to his den. We include Cooper in all that we can, we take him in the car if we have to pick up a few things at the store, one of us walks him up and down the strip, while the other picks up whatever we need, and of course his favorite trips to Petsmart. He sleeps in our bed with us also and just because he is a crate dog doesn't make him unhappy, or deprived at all! He is very much part of our family, and putting him in his crate does not make him less a part. When we are at home he goes in there by himself to get a drink, gnaw on a toy, or take a nap....

We are working on getting Cooper out of his crate, but as was stated by Devil Boxer, puppy proofing your house is near impossible... They always find something. Depending on how old your boxer is, he might be teething, thus finding your harder furniture/counters comforting. When he is out roaming around keep an eye on him and remind him what is and isn't his chew toy. If you catch him chewing on the counter, bring him down, tell him to "leave it" and give him one of 'his' toys...

 

[Jill's boxer]

aaahhh...your second post is much clearer than your first--I think everyone (myself included) was getting the picture that you choose to keep him crated except for brief visits out of the crate! It is understandably that you may need to crate him while at work, that's fine...but once home, he should be allowed out since you are there. One option might be to simply close off extra rooms, therefore limiting where he is allowed to go--I keep my bedroom and office doors closed so I can control Gracie's access to other parts of the house when I am home. It is great that you take him places with you, etc..but one thing that is very important, especially with energetic boxers, is EXERCISE--not just a walk around the block, but real exercise--can you take him out and run him, etc to let him burn off some of the pent up energy from being crated all day--an exercised, tired boxer will be much less destructive than one that is full of energy! Its amazing the difference in Gracie's behavior on the days that we go for our "power walk" to the fields and do our "sprints" than on the days when she doesn't get out to burn off all that boxer energy! Also, how old is your boxer--some of his chewing could be related to teething, which he will outgrow. Be sure he has a good "teething toy" to keep him busy (Kong, Cuz...) When he starts to gnaw on something unacceptable, provide him an appropriate alternative. Teaching "leave it" is an excellent idea...he will learn, when he goes for something not allowed, immediately bring him something good to chew, as soon as he lets go/stops chewing the wrong thing, say "leave it" and give him the acceptable toy..

 

[Cammie]

I remember my boxer was a puppy she chewed up some eye glasses and chewed up some cords to my fish tank (they where not pluged in just so you know) just to name a few. They do out grow this but as mentioned above alot of it is they need exercise and A LOT of attention. Also I have heard that 2 word camands do work best so the idea above about leave it is good idea. Good luck.

______________________________
1-boxer fawn, black mask, white markings 2year 2 months old

 

[Devil_Boxer]

Thanks for your replies everyone. My first post was probably too vague because I didn't want to write a novel. I really meant to say that I leave him out of the crate a couple of hours at a time when I am not home and cannot take him with me. On a weekday Apollo is only in the crate for a total of about 5-6 hours total because I have to work all day. Other than that when I am home he is out and he even sleeps in my bed with me a night. I did not want to come off as a bad father. He is 6 months old and he never tries to chew up anything when I am home because we are always playing with his toys together. We also go on walks/runs everyday. It only happens when I leave him out and I am not there. I hope that clears things up.

 

[DonieM]

It only happens when I leave him out and I am not there. I hope that clears things up.

I can relate. The good news is that he will out grow alot of the behavior with your help. I cant remimber all they things Abby chewed up as a puppy. And it was only when she was out of our site. We did a couple of things. 1. we tried not to let her out of our site (I know it is tough as they can slip into another room quickly) 2. we would find toys that she loved. 3. we sprayed the things that she would chew (that was not her toys) with green apple. (you can find this at alot of petstores). 4. We would set her up with something she was not allowed to chew (like a shoe) and when she went to chew the shoe she would shake her head (she did not like the taste) and we would give her one of her chews and praise her when she left the shoe and took her toy.

This is not an over night fix and I do not thing we could trust her until she was about 6 months old.

Some of the reasons we had a hard time was that I noticed that she would take something of the kids and to get it away from her they would give her a doggie treat and trade. She thought this was a great game and until we corrected our behavior she would chew.


Hope this helps and I wish you luck.