Help, my puppy is tearing apart my home

[Alicej88]

I have a 6 month old pomeranian who is destroying anything she can get her teeth into. I have bought her chew toys, nylabones, gummy bones, edible bones. She'd rather chew my chairs, woodwork, wires and rip my wallpaper off the walls. Any ideas? I thought I did a good job of puppy-proofing these rooms, but right now, the only one she is allowed in is the kitchen and she stays locked in there with a gate while I'm at work. All the bad behavior is done right before my eyes while I'm home. I play with her as soon as I get home and when we get up and before I leave for work. I also walk her in the evenings and stop by friends' homes with her, so I don't understand why this is still going on and why she continues to chew this rather than her toys.

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Alice

[lhg0962]

I can't give you any explanations, but I can say I am very sympathetic. Don't have a lot of words of hope as I am still going through chewing with two of them, both over a year old. Mine are golden retrievers. They actually stopped for a while and it is like they are going through a second childhood because they have started it back up. The latest catastrophe is an ink cartridge for our color printer. One has a blue ear and the other a blue leg now. Don't even ask me what my rug looks like! Good luck. Practice a lot of patience.

[RachelJ]

Just don't give up on your puppy. Our Hannah was a true "devil dog" as a puppy. She too did stuff right in front of us. The only thing I can suggest is plenty of exercise. Find play activities she enjoys that give her a lot of exercise. (A tired puppy is a good puppy!) Keep trying different chew toys. Eventually maturity will kick in and you will be glad you didn't give up.

[thejeromins]

There are many ways to stop this activity. One that I learned from dog obedience school was to put a few pennies in an empty soda can and tape up the hole. If the puppy is doing an unwanted chewing behavior shaking the can makes an unpleasant sound, usually enough to distract them. However if you throw the can and it hits the floor near the unwanted activity, it's enough to scare the puppy and make him/her think twice before chewing on that chair leg. Make sure that the puppy is unaware that you are the one throwing the can and don't hit the puppy with it either. When you are not home... using a kennel (crate) is best. Kennels keep both your puppy and your home safe when your not at home.

[Muji]

I have 2 chewers. One is still a puppy. I kennel when we're not at home, the can with pennies works very well, (even hanging it with fishing line so when the dog touches something it rattles works very well)and stuffing a kong toy with food works as well. Good luck.