[drfong]

Hi everyone. I have a new problem with my pup(s). I really don't know if it's one or both. I recently fenced the yard and put in a dog door for the dogs so they could go in and out during the day while we are not home. One or both has taken to eating the door frames and even the dry wall at the corners. I don't know which one it is or if it's both because they never do any dustructive chewing when we are home. I leave them kongs and chew toys when I leave so they have stuff to chew on. They don't show any anxiety when we leave and act just like they always have when we come and go. If they are left in the crate they don't tear them up. The only real destructive type behavior they ever exhibited is they will shred paper/potty pads if left unattended with them. They tear it up in tiny pieces and spread it all over the floor. I used to free feed them and they would just share the same food. Recently I have been feeding them in thier crates because Brady is a year old and we changed his food. She is still on puppy kibble so we have to feed them in the crates or they don't eat their own food. I may be starting a new job and really need to be able to leave them uncrated as there will be no one home to let them out durring the day and they could be crated up to 12 hours. That just is not fair to them, but I'm not sure why this new behavior has started. Any ideas as to where to start trying to correct the problem?

[Cheetah]

Have you tried spraying bitter apple where they're chewing? That could help... >o.o<

[Curbside Prophet]

It sounds like mental and physical boredom, which tends to be overly emphasized at their age. I would reassess your exercise and training regimen and decide if you need to increase their aerobic workouts, and add some new learned behaviors...or both at the same time like agility. I forget, how young is the young one again?

[drfong]

Almost 9 months. I must admit I have not been doing much training lately. I have been so busy with the move and working on the house I haven't had lots of time for training. I will start working with them more. They are getting lots of physical exercise because they are now able to constantly run and play. They run themselves ragged playing and stuff so they actually seem to sleep even more as they seem more physically drained, but I guess I'm not giving them enough mental workout.

[Cheetah]

At 6-9 months dogs go through a second chewing stage. At this stage they are exploring their territories and they mouth and chew things as one way to explore. So it seems normal to me. But if they chew something they find revolting, they shouldn't come back to it. >^^;<