My dog chews through her own bed!?

Question

I have two dogs, a male 2 1/2 year old lab mix, and a female1 1/2 year old yellow lab. The male chewed on stuff when he was really young, but grew out of it. The female chewed on EVERYTHING when she was young, and grew out've except when it comes to their bed. We have hard-wood floors, and its a chilly North Dakota winter, even with the heat on, the floors are still cold so of course they need a bed. We had a couple of cheapo walmart beds that the male had forever, and when we got the female, she chewed them up. We waited until she grew up, got them another bed, again she chewed it up. I found a bed through Orvis that was supposed to be unchewable($180, but we were desperate!), and it just lasted 2 days. I just got home from work, and she had chewed off the grip on the zipper, then somehow unzipped the bed, and pulled out all of the wood chips and stuffing! What the ****?? Has anyone gone through this, and been able to solve it, or are the dogs just out've luck for a bed.

is there some kind of "gross stuff" I can rub on the zipper of the bed so she wouldn't try and chew it again? I really appreciate any input.

Thank you so much! You guys have had some wonderful ideas!

Thank you so much! You guys have had some wonderful ideas and input!

Answer 1

I have two pups and they will chew on their beds too. Dogs are so clever. I was with them in the same room, when I noticed that they figured out how to open the zipper enough to get at the stuffing inside, which they started to tear apart. As I wrote, I was there, so I quickly stopped this and scolded them with a lound "Hey! What the!" As they are obedience trained, that was all I had to do to not only get them to stop, but hide in shame! LOL!

My trainer told me that dogs will do whatever they can - that is, if they can get away with it, they will, even well trained ones. So never assume that even if you train your dog she will "know better".

Your dog is still fairly young, so there could be several issues here. One could be boredom. Even with toys and such around, she may be bored and start chewing on her bed. Try giving her something that will occupy her time more, like a kong. A kong is a harder rubber chew toy - that alone will make it tough for her to chew. You can put treats inside of it, including peanut butter or whatever. She may work at that toy for hours, not only enjoying chewing on the kong, but trying to get the food. This may help.

A second issue could be separation anxiety. Does she exhibit other destructive behavior or make any messes? I have some problems with one of my pups possibly due to this. He still goes in his crate at times when I'm not home or not there to watch him. I think he has a tiny bit of separation anxiety (although decreasing his water intake has helped). You may need medicines from your vet for this, or go through other training techniques. I provided a link for boredom vs. separation anxiety.

The last issue is if she has enough toys or other chew items. If so, then you can use a spray around the zipper equivalent to a dog repellent spray (not the ones with mace or a pepper spray - but one that will discourage a dog from a certain area). I've provided that link too. Just be careful of that one because if you overuse it, it might prevent your dog from using her bed completely!

Hope this helps!

Answer 2

you can use bitter apple, its a spray but I'm not guaranteeing that she wont chew it up... Here is a number of things:

1. Dogs dont NEED beds, they have fur and they didnt have beds when they were living in pacts and lived outside.

2. She's bored so she is trying to find something to keep herself busy, buy some chew toys for her to distract her from wanting to chew on her bed.

3. Buy the bitter apple spray and hope this helps.

4. If nothing else works then she lost the privilege of the dog bed, take it away! But still get her something that she is allowed to chew on. There are many MANY products out there that are especially designed to keep dogs busy when owners arent around.

Answer 3

I like this stuff called Fooey. Its way nastier than Bitter Apple. I've known some dogs to actually grow to like the taste of Bitter Apple. You have to first spray it in the puppy's mouth so they get the nasty taste in their mouth. And no this isn't cruel, they wouldn't make it for animals if it wasn't safe to swallow. Then the next time you see them chewing on something they are not suppose to,saturate it down and scold the puppy very firmly but not to harsh so as not to scare them. The puppy may naturally sniff the area you sprayed right away and try licking it to explore it, and then they get that yucky taste it remembers from earlier. Maybe the won't bother trying it, but as soon as they do the effect will be felt. And bam, you got em'! They are so busted! Lesson learned...:) And I do suggest crating\kennel training them just as others have stated on here when you cannot watch them or have to leave for work. It is their den and not a prison and dogs naturally will not go potty in it. Crate training can potentially be one of the most important training steps that you take with your dog. It can end up being a lifesaver for you and your pet. It can save furniture, carpet, curtains and just about anything a bored or angry dog can get its mouth on. A dog any age can be trained to go into a crate of its own free will.

Answer 4

I go to home depot and buy a canvas drop then go to a fabric store and buy a 24 x 24 x4" thick foam pad most will cut to size. Wash the canvas in hot water and bleach then dry. Wrap the foam in the drop cloth it will go around and over several times. Makes an inexpensive dog bed and when the pup chews a hole in it wrap the foam a different way and the hole is gone. My dogs love these beds and you can make them any size you want and replace the tarp any time

Answer 5

we bought a bed for our puggle, well actually 2.
the first was a foam bed with a sheep skin looking material the top and sides, but leaving the foam open on the bottom...he would turn it over and chew on the foam
so
we went out and bought another one that wasn't foam, but stuffing...needless to say he chewed just the part where he would lay and left the outter ring alone
when we asked a friend about this (trying to find out if it was the pug or beagle who chews) she said its all beagle, that they don't like "their" beds messed with...I had taken everything out of his crate and washed it, then put it all back so he would be comfortable...never again

Answer 6

I don't think you should waste anymore money on beds. The dogs will be fine indoors, the floors can't be that cold. My lab used to love to eat the bark in my flower beds, it was cedar, which is what they use in the bedding, for the most part. I don't know if he would chew a bed, he always slept with me.

Answer 7

A dog should be trained on how to eat, walk with you, not to bark, potty training and sleep on its place etc. You can teach anything to your puppy, dogs get trained easily with some good instructions. If you want some good training tips visit https://tr.im/qadDG

If properly trained, they should also understand whistle and gesture equivalents for all the relevant commands, e.g. short whistle or finger raised sit, long whistle or flat hand lay down, and so on.

It's important that they also get gestures and whistles as voice may not be sufficient over long distances and under certain circumstances.

Answer 8

i would begin crating the female, shell realize what she is doing is wrong and hopefully will get over it. also at times when animals consistantly destroy stuff (your stuff) it could be bordom or seperation anxiety. you could try sedating her when you leave, or this great thing iv recently started to do for my dogs, you can buy these rubber toys at the pet store or at zanies.com , what they do is you fill them with dog food, the dog has to sit there for hours and play whit it to get all the food out. this helps in 2 ways, 1.) it keeps her busy longer so she wont want to chew up anything, 2.) in nature animals arent handed their food, it takes long periods of time to get all the food they need to be full so shell also be less hyper cause she's all tuckered out from "hunting", my dogs love it and they havent chewed one thing up since i got it.

Answer 9

What I did for my dog is go to a cheap linen store or a Family Dollar and bought a King Sized comforter for less than twenty dollars. I fold it twice and it makes a big bed that they can dig in and re-arrange if they want to and it doesn't hurt it. Also it's easy to wash.

Answer 10

They have some spray at petsmart that stops your dog from chewing on things because it has a bitter task to it, i belive its called chew stop or something like that, you can just ask around at your local petsmart or pet store.