I have a 10 month old Chihuahua. He chews up everything, how do I make him stop?

Question

We put him in a cage when we leave the house. We've tried squirt bottles. He chews up my underware, bras, pj bottoms, the baby's clothes and toys, plastic hangers, paper towels, toilet paper, etc. He sneaks the stuff under our bed. We even tried blocking him from being able to go under there, he found a way. It's getting old. We even tried gating him in the kitchen, but he ate through the wooden gate and climbed over the 3 foot metal child gate and mesh gate. HELP!!!!!!! Also, he's housebroken and hides and pees from time to time under the kitchen table or our bed. How do we stop that? I'm tired of steam cleaning.

he is crate trained as well as litter box trained. Giving him away is not an option.

Can't spray anything on the stuff because it's clothes and baby items he chews on as well.

he shreds toys. We had a bunch for him and he destroyed them all. He has toys still, but they don't distract him enough, but they help.

He is NOT locked in a cage all day, I'm a stay at home mom. He's in the cage for 4 hours MAX if we need to go out.

He goes out ALL the time. We let him out every 15 mins to half hour. He goes potty, but now and then, we still find pee spots.

He gets the clothes by climbing into laundry baskets. Also, he's learned to open the sliding closet doors. We rent, so we are limited on being able to change the doors. We put everything out of his reach as best as we can. He finds ways. The house is kept VERY cean. He leaves my son's and husband's stuff alone though.

He is much harder to train then the labs and Newfoundland I had before.

He is neutered. Had it done at 5 months of age

When we leave, he's kept in his cage where he has a toy with him. He usually just goes to sleep. He cna't be left alone loose in the house. He chews when he's around us. Doesn't matter if my undies/bras/pj bottoms are clean or dirty, he LOVES them. EWWWWW!!!!!! he thinks of me as "mommy". We bought him when he was 4 weeks old and routinly visited him till we were able to bring him home at 8 weeks. At that time, I was also in my last trimester with my daughter. He's great with her and even lays next to her on my lap or on the floor (he thinks she's a litter mate)

Answer 1

Does he only do this when you leave or all the time? The reason he chews personal items is that they smell like you-especially if you are not there. My Yorkie chewed my underware-only dirty ones. Consider consulting a behavioral specialist.

As for the occasional peeing under the bed and table for some reason he is not considering those areas "den". In other words he doesn't see a problem with eliminating there. Try putting his food and water in those areas-dogs do not want to "go" where their food is.

Good Luck. Hope this gets better.

Answer 2

I've had a Chihuahua before - good luck! They are lots of fun, but this is a needy breed. I loved my Chihuahua, so I'm not trying to put them down when I say they are a bit psychotic.

Chihuahuas literally panic when left alone, and they will get themselves into lots of mischief when left alone. If you have a laundry area with tile or linoleum floor, or a bathroom that you can lock them in while you are away, that would work much better than a gate. BUT, make sure he cannot reach any chemicals! Get him chew toys, bones and rawhide that he can gnaw on. Last, but not least, knowing that he chews your clothes then don't leave ANY clothes lying around that he can reach! Hang up your clothes or put them away in drawers.

Also, be careful with wooden gates. He can get splinters in his mouth and that can cause discomfort and may lead to infection.

By the way, his peeing is from panic. He may also start pooping too. You can't make him stop. He will either grow out of it when he's more mature and gets over being alone, or it may continue for the rest of his life. Sorry for the brutal truth - Chihuahuas are cute, but they are psychologically very different from medium and large dogs.

Answer 3

Okay. Your dog will never think like a human so you need to think like a dog.

Your dog is alone all day, locked up in a small cage. I am not saying that you are a bad owner by doing this, you are probably doing what you have to do. (I personally have to lock my dogs up in the laundry room or they will pee everywhere when I am gone.)

He doesn't understand this though, and he is probably very lonely and bored. What your dog needs is mental stimulation. I recommend a KONG toy for chewing. Kongs are great because you can fill them with treats and the dog has to actually puzzle out how to get the treats so his mind is stimulated. I believe KONGs have a money-back guarantee to stop chewing too.

As for the peeing inside, all I can suggest is maybe to take him outside more often? My dogs seem to be able to wait 6 hours before going to the bathroom, and I think that is reasonable, although I take them out much more often when I am home.

Calling a pet trainer is a good suggestion too.

Answer 4

To stop him from chewing I would buy him alot of chew toys. If he is still teething, softer stuffed toys are good, or puppy Kongs. With Kongs you can add flavored treats or creams to them to entice him to chew these instead of things he's not supposed to. If you catch him chewing something he's now allowed I would take it away and say NO and then put him in his crate with a chew toy. Hopefully eventually he will learn what he can and can't chew, and if he's still teething, it will get better once he stops.

As for the peeing in the house, I would watch for signs that he has to go out, like sniffing, circling, lifting his leg, or whining and take him out right away. Also you can try to use puppy pads in the spots that he goes often and make sure to clean areas in the house that he messes with Natures Miracle or else the smell will make him keep going to the same spots to go. Hope this helps!

Answer 5

The easiest way to prevent the chewing is to keep anything that he could chew out of his reach. Invest in laundry baskets and toyboxes with lids that he can't get into. If the baby is playing on the floor, then crate the puppy with a few of his own toys. It sounds like he's only chewing on things he finds out...not floor boards, furniture, or walls. He may be confused about what are his toys and what are not. My pup loves bras and underwear lol...and I found that I just have to keep the bathroom door closed (where the laundry basket is).

As far as him hiding to potty....that's a hard habit to break because you rarely catch them doing it. My middle dog would spend 20 minutes outside and then come in and poo behind the couch. At 10 months, your dog is still a baby, mine was doing it at 2 years old. It took about 6 months of consistent training, but I now take her out twice as often as my larger dogs (she's smaller...so is her bladder) and have trained her to potty and poo on command. It just takes patience and consistency, lots of praise, and of course a good steam cleaner.

Best of luck

Answer 6

Is he nuetered? That could be the peeing problem or he may not be able to hold it. Anyway buy some squeeky toys and some rawhide chew bones. When you find him chewing on something he is not supposed to tell him no and take it away and give him a rawhide chew. You need to channel his bad habits of chewing your things to good habits the things you want him to chew. I've had dogs chew some of my things and then I worked with them and they turned out to be dogs that I could trust to chew only their things.

Answer 7

Buy a Kong toy, stuff it with peanut butter, and he'll be good for about an hour. Small dogs also like interactive toys that challenge them as they play. Try dogtoys.com for selections. For the peeing, try urine be gone spray. It works wonders!

Answer 8

you know, go to a pet store. they make a little mixture of stuff for anxiety and symptoms like that, they may have something for the chewing. if not, make sure you keep him really busy with bones and such. the greenies are great. my dog chewed on everything and than i gave him bones and greenies. good luck and keep up with the kennel thing

Answer 9

3 words Dog Obedient Classes

Answer 10

keep him in a kennel at all times that you cannot give him complete supervision, this also means you have to spend mor time taking care of your pet, but if you cant do that than you probably shouldn't have a pet, you could also call cesar gomez "the Dog Wisperer"