Chewing stuff up

J

JessicaR

Forums Enthusiast
I don't know what is going on but all of a sudden Dusty, who is 8 years old has started chewing on things again like a puppy. He chewed the zipper out of my sons pants (his fault for not putting them in the dirty clothes basket) He also chewed on my 2 year olds stuffed toy and the bottom of the couch.

I don't understand why he is doing this. He was never much of a chewer even when he was a puppy, and they have tons of toys around the house for them to chew. Needless to say hubs is not very happy with him right now (Dusty is his favorite dog) so I have had to resort to crating him at night and when we are gone.

I thought maybe he was having teeth problems or something, but nope vet said his teeth are in great condition, he has seen dogs half his age with worse teeth. He has a little tarter build up on his molars, nothing an extra raw bone wouldn't fix, and he does have a little wear on his front teeth, but again not worn down enough to cause any pain.

He still gets the same amount of exercise, the only difference is he is in the house more now that it is winter, but this is no different than any other winter. In the summer the door is left open and the dogs can go in or out as they please, but in the winter it is too cold and muddy to leave the door open.

I just want my good dog back! :(
 
Maybe he needs more stimulation than just a walk and physical exercise.

Try some 'thinking games' with him, such as those from Nina Ottosson. They come in different levels of difficulty so as he gets better at solving the puzzles you can get harder ones. You can also make some thinking games at home. A simple one is to take a muffin pan, put some treats in the bottom and a tennis ball on top. He'll need to figure out how to remove the tennis ball to get to the treats. (Hopefully without tipping the pan over, which would be cheating. ;))

You can also teach him Rally Obediance in your home. The stations and descriptions of the behaviors are available online, free.
AKC Rally
Signs: https://images.akc.org/pdf/events/rally/signs_2012.pdf
Rally Rules and Station (Sign) Instructions: http://images.akc.org/pdf/events/rally/Rally_Insert_020612.pdf (The Station instructions are on page 43 of the PDF)​
WCRL Rally

Finally, you can also try teaching new tricks. There are a lot of different tricks on YouTube or dong a Google search for dog tricks.

The mental stimulation, especially for an older dog, is great for them. It will not only tire him out but will also help keep the brain functioning at high levels.
 
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He does 4H obedience and rally with my daughter. We haven't had any training classes yet this year, but my daughter does do short training sessions during the week. maybe we need to add some extra sessions. I would try putting his food in a kong and make him work for his dinner but with the other dogs that probably wouldn't work so good.

This just has me so confused! Why after 8 years has he decided to start chewing inappropriately.
 
Vet said he is in good health other than he is starting to develop some mild arthritis in his hips. He didn't run any blood tests though since his senior panel last year was good. He said if I really wanted to he could run another panel but he doesn't think it is warranted at this time.

The only thing I can think of is maybe one of the dogs in the neighborhood is in heat and he is just frustrated?
 
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