Chewing on her fur.

[Shelbster]

Greetings from a new Sheltie fan,

I have a 9 month old Sheltie who will randomly chew on her coat. She has chewed off much of the hair on the tip of her tail. In addition, she has taken to chewing on her side fur as well as on her neck and chest areas. I've noticed it particularly after I remove her from her crate, but she will also do it while I'm watching tv or other moments of down time. I've tried placing a rawhide in her crate with her and spraying the chewed areas with bitter apple, but she shows little interest in the chew toy and she will just find another area to chew on. Any suggestions? Thanks so much!

 

[BarbV]

This could be a number of things:

- boredom? Make sure she has lots of chew toys available.
- allergies?

These could be food sensitive. What diet is she on?
Or Environmental.....does she play in areas that may have been sprayed for pesticides, etc?

 

[corbinam]

I agree with Barb, it could be a health issue and I would start trying to pinpoint the cause. Start eliminating things from her diet, change her bedding or shampoo, etc...I would recommend meeting with your vet to discuss options.

Or it could be behavioral. I would probably put a cone on her while you are gone so she can't rehearse the behavior. The more she rehearses the behavior the more of a habit it will become and the harder it will be to reverse.