Destructive Chewing (kinda long)

[BellaGurl]

I have 2 boxer babies (Bella, 7 mos, female and Taag, 6 mos, male), when crated during the day (at the most 4 hours) they destroy any and everything in their crates (they are crated separately). Primarily their beds and mostly Bella. I even went as far to get a bed that ties down in the crate and is made of Cordura nylon. She chewed a hole in it the first day. These beds were not cheap either ($70 a piece)

Now I know that they need to have toys and such in their crates to keep them from getting bored but I have tried that (although the search for crate safe toys has been a challenge). The Kong only keeps them occupied for a short time even if it is frozen. And even outside of the crate we have challenges, plush toys do not stand a chance in our house. Taag chews off the ears (he has a weird fascination with ears, human and otherwise) and Bella tears out the stuffing.

They get plenty of exercise. I work 2AM to 11AM, so we go out for a quick pee run before I go to work and then my mom comes over for feeding, walks and play time from 5:30AM to 7:15AM. Then I am home from 11:30AM on and we go on walks and play.

So I have said all that to say, has anyone else had this problem? I want them to have toys and beds but this is getting pretty expensive. Any suggestions on things to keep them occupied in the crate? What about toys to have outside the crate?

I appreciate any advice you can provide.

Vanessa

 

[mancin]

I'm going through this right now too. I have a 5 month old and 3 1/2 month old. They chew on EVERYTHING. Luckily, they don't chew on anything in their crates, but if they did like yours I would strip their crates of any bedding. I would rather have them sleep on hard plastic then ingest part of their bedding.
I don't give them anything in their crate that they can swallow or choke on - I have a kong w/ frozen treats inside, Nylabones, any large bones that I can get (ie. knuckle bones), some treats hidden throughout the crate, a large fabric ball that I soak in water and freeze, a tough rubber chew toy w/ nubs to massage their gums...
Outside of the crate I give them greenies, bully sticks, roped toys, frozen towels, squeaker toys, ice cubes...
For toys that I think they can destroy, I supervise them while they are chewing. If whatever they are chewing on can fit completely inside their mouth, I throw it out cuz I figure if they can put it entirely in their mouth, they can swallow it whole.
I've seen some toys at the pet store that are "tough chewer" toys. There's one that's shaped like a tire and has rope hanging out both ends. Maybe try and get some other Kong toys... there's all sorts of shapes and sizes and you can fill them/cover them w/ different treats if you'd like and freeze those too. I've been told that those black in color are the toughest.

 

[semccart]

I recently had a post that discussed Harry and his crate destroying abilities. I could not even contain him. I agree with Mancin about taking all the bedding out. I would try laying a t-shirt of yours down that smells like you, one that you really do not care about. I lay one out for Harry and he has been doing much better. I also buy him nothing but pure rubber toys. He really likes the rubber tires that are attached to the rope and the kong bones. Stuffed animals are out of the question even with my supervision. It really is a waste of money. He destoys them in seconds.