My Cavalier is 9 months old, and I feel like he's been more destructive than ever. Right after I got him he wouldn't destroy anything at my house. He would chew on an eventual shoe I happened to leave on the floor, chew on his toys and play around. However now it seems everyday I get home he destroyed something different! He had been going over my shelves in the living room I don't know how and taking papers I leave there - which are usually bills - and will chew on them and leave them all over The House. Last week he ruined my Venetian Blinds from pulling on them, and a few days ago he actually chewed on the Fabric of one of my chairs! It's one of those fluffy ones with cotton inside, and there was cotton everywhere! He is a little monster!!! Do you have tips on what I should do so that he doesn't do that? I know puppies do that, and I walk with him every single morning before work to minimize his boredom, but i don't know what else I could do!
From what I've heard puppies when teething have to gnaw on anything they find to alleviate the teething pain [in their gums]. You could try the following to teach the puppy that chewing on household stuff is not appropriate behavior: If you find him right in the act yell at him as loudly as you can. Upbraid him until he goes cowering in a corner. Do that until he learns to distinguish between toys and stuff you don't want him to touch. When the situation calls for it, a treat should be offered in exchange for whatever your puppy is chewing. In time it will get to know if it doesn't gnaw on anything, it'll get some goodies. What you should never do is punish your puppy long after it has vandalized anything. It won't help eradicate the undesirable behavior.
All our dogs used to be very destructive when they were all younger. Cables, shoes, sandals, and clothes were their number one victims every single day. It was most annoying when we had visitors and they lost their sandals and shoes because our dogs took it somewhere and chewed them. We tried shouting at them whenever we found them chewing those stuffs and we also keep everything at a higher place so they don't reach it. After sometimes, they naturally stopped and never did it again. They all started chewing woods and whatever they could find though before that after we hid everything.
I would suggest a massive load of chew toys in a designated area where there is not a lot of other things they can get to to chew. Also, if I'm not mistaken, they have something for puppies that you rub on the gums to relieve itching? I cannot exactly recall.
How about buying a cage for your puppy and just putting him in there? For sure you would be able to prevent him from chewing more things. You can just place the cage inside your home. I used to place my cat in a cage even if he is already inside the house.
I suggest looking into watching some episodes of the dog whisperer. I'm sure he has tackled this subject in at least a few of their episodes. From what I understand, there is usually an underlying problem behind any bad habits your dog is forming that can be solved with a little training and understanding. Here is an alternative version on YouTube that I've found which seemingly derives it's tips from the dog whisperer show as well. [video=youtube_share;w9cDhUNpJsM]http://youtu.be/w9cDhUNpJsM[/video]
You need to crate train your puppy and puppy proof the area. If you are not going to be home he needs to be in his crate or at minimum a small room with nothing to destroy such as the laundry room. Also consider going to training with your dog. It looks like he is too old for puppy classes but adult obedience classes would help a lot.
I'm sure there may be better methods, but we more or less had to baby-proof our house from all three of our dogs when they were puppies. That would include leaving doors shut in rooms you don't want them in as well as putting up baby fences to keep them out of other areas. In addition, we never left them all alone by themselves - my mom was usually at home to keep an eye on them throughout the day while we were at work. I believe there are some sprays you can use to deter them from certain things though, such as chewing up your furniture. One that I recall reading about was made from cider vinegar (or maybe it was apple juice) which seems like it would be harmless and humane. Make some chew toys out of old socks, shirts and towels to keep them occupied in the meantime. This reminds me of my neighbor's great dane. I was driving past their house one day, and they were moving some furniture outdoors temporarily, so their couch was sitting in their driveway and the dog was sitting on it. When I came back home, the dog was sitting in the same exact place, but the couch pads were all torn to shreds and there was foam stuffing all over their driveway, lol. He was just sitting there acting like "it wasn't me!".
I think that dogs are destructive to some extent and that cannot be avoided at any cost. I would also love to find a way where I could tame my dog to a huge extent. It is really great to be able to teach the dogs to behave itself, however, this should never be done by creating a fear in the minds of the dogs. It must be done in a very healthy and relaxed manner.
