Chews bed in crate

[Catherine]

Hello everyone,

We are experiencing a new trick from our 9 month old boxer boy, he has taken to chewing up his bedding in his crate. Harry spends the day in his crate from 7:30 to 5:30, with an hour out in the nearby dog park around noon. He has adpated to his crate (or so it seemed) quite well and it is getting expensive repairing his bed every few days. It is difficult to catch him in the act, although we tend to reward good behaviour as opposed to punishing bad behaviour anyway. We do place a kong and a nyla bone in his crate with him. Any suggestions for our ravenous boxer?

 

[Donna741]

Brighid is 3 and she still chews on bedding that I put in her crate :( I have begun getting cheap towels when they are on sale at K Mart for $1 or $1.50 each. That way when she destroys it I'm not quite so mad.

 

[Charlotte]

Hi Catherine~~
Could it be that Harry is experiencing separation anxiety?
Nine hours in a crate with one outting during the day for an hour is a long time for a 9 month old puppy to be by itself.
Is it possible to take Harry out for a good hour long run in the park before you leave for work?
Also, leaving a radio or the tv on during the day helps to prevent boredom for your pup.
There are some great links listed in the archives about crate training and separation anxiety to check out.
It sounds to me like Harry is bored and lonely. Playing with him in his crate will help to make him feel that he is not being punished every day when you go off to work.
I hope this helps.
Charlotte &
Sigmund, German, brindle, natural ears, docked tail 17/9/99

 

[Brutus and Amaya's Mom]

Well...the easy fix would be no bedding in the crate. I'm sure he'll still be cozy. Bru usually removes anything we put in his kennel so we gave up and all he has is plastic...apparantly he likes it best that way