Help! Eating walls!
 

help! Remy a few months ago (he's now almost 9mos) started to scratch up and eat my walls when i was away to work. he didnt do this when i first got him at 3 mos, only a few months after. ive never seen him do it, but i now have huge holes in my walls from his scratching, biting, licking, etc! it looks horrible and i dont know how to stop him because he never does it in front of me. and i know it can't be safe because he's eating the paint off the wall!

i've resorted to placing cardboard all around my bed so he can't get to the wall, but im scared that once i rearrange my furniture and remove the cardboard, he'll just go for it again. after i cardboarded up my wall, he went for my wooden dresser. help! i can't have cardboard all aligned my room and he's even scratched up and eaten the cardboard!

any suggestions on how to stop this?! i thought maybe it was his teething phase but he has PLENTY of toys and maybe he's just doing it out of boredom when i'm gone at work? or for revenge?

now, hes an angel and just sits or sleeps when im gone, but i need to remove the cardboard someday! anyone else have this problem?! how can i stop him if i can't catch him in the act? ive seen him attempt to but only to get my attention. he seems more encouraged to do it when i tell him no. :-( maybe ive just spoiled him too much. what do i do?

thanks in advance!!!

He needs something he enjoys chewing on beside toys! I give mine Harpers Dental Chews and they chew on them for hours. Or a good bone from Petsmart.

Venus started and finished her chewing stage (knocking on wood here). Someone here recommended me putting clear deoderant on anything she starts chewing, which it worked for me. Everything within her reach in this kitchen has clear deodertant on it. She even chewed a hole in the lenolium in my kitchen! I put the clear deoderant all over that spot, and she hasn't bothered it again, except one lick. Thats when she decided she didn't want to chew there again.

Seems there is also something you can buy from Petsmart that deters chewing. Something apple?

I love the clear deoderant suggestion! I'd never thought of that & I bet it works like a charm. You can also buy Bitter Apple spray from Petsmart, etc. & use it on the walls or furniture. There's a chance that Remy won't find it yucky, though. It works with our Muffin. It's also handy because you can actually spray it on the furbaby if he or she chews on their coat or paws. We're using it right now for a surgical incision & it's doing the trick. Muffin was not at all pleased with the conehead Elizabethan Collar thingy-ma-jig!
C.J.

I'm wondering (seriously) if we shouldn't check our houses for termites! You know, there are dogs that sniff out termites, now! Abbie has a particular spot in my kitchen - a corner right under the kitchen cabinet - where she scratches and barks and chews. And, she gets hysterical if we get near it! She will growl and bark and snap at us. Not sure if she's protecting us from 'IT' or, 'IT' from us! Anyway...bizarre.

My Chloe went through a phase of chewing on the Hardie Board siding on the house right after she had her pups. It stopped, but I wonder now if it wasn't a vitamin deficiency. Have any of you ever heard of pregnant women craving dirt or other gawd-awful things? It could just be a bad habit, but it wouldn't hurt next time the pup has a vet visit to ask about a multi-vitamin:confused:

it could possibly be a mouse in the walls?

I guess; but......eeeewwwwww!!

is licking deoderant healthy for the dog? when i put on deoderant myself, Remy smells it and tries to lick it. so, i'm not sure if putting clear ones on my furniture/wall would help him.

ive thought about the chew toys, but he gets bored of them very quickly.

Yea, Remy can sniff out a bug almost immediately in my room. he sniffs it out and tries to get it but once it starts crawling out towards him, he backs away and barks at it! :D its too cute, but im glad he can sniff them out.

i think i have seen those, but like you said, im not sure they'll work on him. i think he'll lick anything! but i guess anything is worth a try. does it damage the wall in any way? or even putting on deoderant to the wood?

thanks!!

My Miko is 2 years old and He just started doing this again, after we've been leaving him alone during the day. When my in-laws lived with us, he would be able to be out during the day, but now that they are not there, he stays by himself. It definetly has to do with being bored and alone. I've tried toys and bones but he still manages to do it now and then.:confused:

You've definitely got a point there! Muffin can't stand deoderant/hair product/lotion smells, so it would deter her. If Remy likes deoderant, it probably wouldn't be so successful.
C.J.

On the Bitter Apple Spray bottle it suggests testing it on a hidden area. Since I happened to have some handy, I sprayed it on our off-white wall & after it dried, it left no stain or mark. If you buy some, you can try it out on any fabric, walls, etc. But before you do that, spray some on your fingers & hold them out to Remy to make sure the furbaby doesn't like it!
C.J.

I had a dog that chewed/scratched up my baseboards. It's a pain and not cheap to replace!

We did bitter apple as well as put him in an ex-pen while we were away. can you do the ex-pen away from walls?

My dog does the same thing, but only when Im home. If Im on the computer and ignoring him he'll be bad. So far he has chewed the window sil and my wall. I rubbed the areas with vinegar and that helped for now. Does this have anything to do with separation anxiety? He only does this when Im home and never my DH. Its weird how he does it in phases.

deoderant is posionous!!!!...Chewy ate a little bit and i had to call poision control...They told me to give him bread and water to obsorb it!!! I would spray bitter apple... it is made to prevent chewing and has woked for us!!! Be careful with the deoderent. On my daughters deoderent it says right on it, contact poison control if ingested!!! So where did you read it was ok??? :confused:

The clear deoderant hasn't hurt my table and chairs, china hutch, baseboards, door frames, or walls in my kitchen. And that hole she chewed in the lenolium, I coated that spot really good with the deoderant, and she only went back to it one time....I suppose that one lick told her she didn't want to chew there.

Anything she showed an interest in chewing, I put it on there! Even put it on my cousins boot laces.

Next, looks like the back of my refrigerator will get it. She's chewing that black cardboard off it too.

You know, maybe if she ate a stick of the stuff, might be harmful. But it tastes so bad, no way would they attempt that. Another YT member suggested this, so I tried it. It stopped her from chewing everything I've caught her chewing on.

If your dog doesn't have an aversion to the deoderant, then putting it on the furniture, walls, etc...isn't going to help. I think the person who suggested this meant you should do it only if you know that your furbaby is going to turn their nose up to it, i.e. put some on your hand & see what happens first. We use Bitter Apple Spray with great success, but a lot of dogs don't find it yucky & it doesn't stop their chewing/licking behavior.
C.J.

if he likes deodorant, im sure he'll love apples! hahaha :animal36 but i'll definetely give it a try, thanks!!

what is an ex-pen?

yes, i think it is separation anxiety mixed with boredom or anger that i left him alone. he also does it in moderation. some days i come home and looks like hes been an angel, other times i find cardboard or paint all over my bed and floor! he too attempts to do it when im ignoring him on the computer. haha. they can be so bad, but cute at the same time! :animal36 thanks for your input! maybe i'll try vinegar, i dont even like that. :tongue3: