I'd do the baby steps, as others advised, such as keeping her in one doggie-proofed room with her crate inside it and opened. I also agree with it depending on the dog. RB Cody tended to get into stuff, especially FOOD items, off and on all his life. He figured out how to open a drawer where we kept a bag of potatoes once. He once raided my purse while I slept because there were cough drops in there. He figured out how to get into a lidded trash can. That collie was Houdini when it came to food. Willie, on the other hand was not all that destructive, nor was he a big problem-solver the way Cody was.
Tommy I kept gated in the hallway with access to two dog-proofed rooms up until he was around 3. If there was a sock, dish towel, cloth shoe, cushion, blanket, etc. to be found, he'd have it pulled back to his dog bed and partially chewed before you realized it was missing. He still snatches dish towels from the kitchen counters (he's so tall, he can reach them without really jumping up).
Tasha is the type to be very careful of, however. She would lull us into a sense of security that she was over her chewing stage and not getting into things, being good for days and even weeks at a time.. only to one day come home and find the sofa cushions pulled down off the couch and half the stuffing out all over the floor, or a table and/or chair leg gnawed down to a splintered stick, or the comforter off the bed with large holes and stuffing all over (de-stuffing was one of her favorites). It always came as such a surprise because she had been so good for so long, and always seemed to be something BIG and EXPENSIVE. I would say that she was completely over her destructiveness by around age 2, except perhaps for anything stuffed that was laying on the floor
Those are my experiences. Sorry to be so lengthy!![]()
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