[olgak82]

Hi,
I have a 4 month German Shepherd puppy, each day I drop him off at daycare on my way to work. I put him on the backseat, I have bought and installed a backseat doggy hammock, which is doing a good job of protecting my car from dirt and him from falling. However, he started chewing on the hammock and has chewed holes through it, even though I keep screaming "No" and "Leave it", as I keep driving. This bothered me, but not too much, however today he chewed through the leather arm rest of my back door. I heard the noise as he was doing this, and kept yelling "No" and "Leave it", after that did not work, I did my best with driving with one arm and trying to softly slap him on the nose with the other arm to make him stop chewing. He would stop, but only for a moment so he could lick my hand, then continue again. At the end of our ride, my car door's arm rest had a hole. Please help! How do I stop this?
The only thing I was able to come up with is buying him a muzzel, but I don't want to be cruel. Is he even old enough for that approach?
Thank You,
Olga

[ara28]

I have no idea if this is even usefull advice, but maybe you could give him a chew toy to occupy himself while he's in the back seat. That way, he chews on the chew toy and not your car.

[RonE]

A crate will protect both the car and the dog.

Esther ate a seatbelt before I followed this advice myself.

[DogPaw]

Will a crate fit in your back seat? Give him a kong filled with something good like cheese or peanut butter. You can try some exercising to tire him out before the ride.

Do not muzzle him. You could end up with even worse problems. He's just a puppy, chewing is what they do. Although I've never had any of mine chew up my vehicle. They usually just slept.

[Elana55]

Crate. I worry about this to this day even tho my GSD has never offered to chew the car.. I have also never had her chew while in transit (too much to see out the windows).

I really worried after I bought "her" a newer truck with a cargo area and it came with a payment book.

When I can swing it, I am going to get a cap for the truck and put a crate in the back.

Crate.. because driving distracted will lead to disaster at some point.

[Labsnothers]

At 4 months, he should still have some growing to do. I like the idea of a crate, but one big enough for a Shepherd may not fit in some cars. We have managed not only a Shepnerd, but many Labs by training the puppy to lie on the floor of the car. You can supervise fairly well with it in the front. Perhaps start with a passenger. It is easy to train a dog to lie on the floor if you start with a 7 week old. It just becomes one more part of its strange new home. The big dogs insist on the best spots.

[olgak82]

The thing is I have been driving him around every day, since we got him (which is the past 2 month) and he has been good up to now. He also loves looking out the windows and having the run of the seat, so I am guessing there will be a lot of crying if I put him in a crate, but that does sound as the best solution. I already tried chew toys (not as tasty as the car), the treat idea will work, but I don't want to have to resort to that 2 times a day every day.
Thank You Everyone for you help.

[lexilu]

I feel your pain. Cody ate the back seatbelt and the Emergency Brake handle completely down to the metal - not a cheap replacement either. Luckily he outgrew this stage. I've never used a doggie seat belt, and have never seen one in use either - bu perhaps this could be an option to use in the front passenger seat to keep an eye on him better? Maybe others can advise if it is safe for a dog to sit in the front seat. ( I never let my kids sit in the front until they were at least 10 years old)

[qingcong]

Spray bitter apple on all the parts he chews?

[hulkamaniac]

Originally Posted by RonE

A crate will protect both the car and the dog.

Esther ate a seatbelt before I followed this advice myself.

Agree with this 100%. My dogs are always crated when they are in my car. I know they will sit there and stay out of trouble, but I don't care. In a crate there is no chance of them distracting me while I'm driving, plus it gives them protection in the case of a car accident. I've heard of cases where the driver of a car is killed, but the dog survived because he's in a crate. People wouldn't think of having an unrestrained child in the car, but do it all the time with dogs. I don't get that.

[Labsnothers]

An air bag will kill a dog on the front seat just like a child. It needs to be down on the floor or secured in the back.