Chewing while home alone...

[gtram]

How do we stop Mia from chewing while we're away?
Today it was a small plaster statue. We we out for 3 hours. Got home to find her surrounded by two Kongs a Nylabone another chew toy and a now headless plaster statue. Yesterday while we were out for a couple of hours, she had carried a half full bag of coffee beans to where she was laying. Didn't eat any, just put it near her. This follows Christmas where she had removed a couple of soft ornaments from the tree, disassembling one of them. The plastic fencing around the tree stopped that. In the past she has carried a washcloth from the bath and set it in the middle of the hall? It only happens while we're out. When we do leave, there's no issues. I tell her and she goes right into her crate. We don't latch the crate door. Did that a few days when we first got her. Up until the past two months she has been fine not in lock down. She gets at lease a 40min walk on the leash every day. A fenced in yard where she runs and lots of attention and a balanced diet. She is a stray that we have had for 9 months that the vet thinks is around 2 yrs old. There is usually always some one at the house. This only happens when there is not. Is this separation anxiety? Any ideas before we resort to locking her in the crate on a regular basis?
Gary

[Samba]

You can try to provide interesting toys...puzzle toys with treats, stuff Kongs, chew bones she finds really desirable.

I, myself, don't know of any way to make this foolproof and can't leave most of my dogs out and not unexpectedly find a bit of chewing done. They get bored and it is really hard for a little dog brain to comprehend okay versus not okay things to munch on.

[Bama4us]

I would suggest locking the crate when you're not there. Either that or finding a room with nothing to destroy. I haven't been brave enough to let my Bear have freedom when we're not home yet. I cringe at what I'll come home to when we do. He still is crated at night, but he loves it in there. What part of Alabama are you from, Somerville here.

[JerzeyGSD]

I would definitely say that you should start recrating. The chewing could be due to seperation anxiety or just simply due to boredom. Either way, this is the only way to protect both your dog and your house because you are definitely putting your dog at risk of swallowing something that could require surgery or, worse, something that is poisonous and could kill her.

I wouldn't view the crate so much as a place you're "locking her away" to as much as a place to keep her nice and safe while you're away.

[StGeorgeK9]

Ava as an adult has reverted a time or two in the past few years. Once, when DH was traveling and gone a lot she destroyed his fancy dancy remote control (that even turned on lights and fans). I figured she was missing him, and that smelled like him, sooooo I took one of his socks (yes a used one......ewww) tied a knot in it and gave it to her, that seemed to help (I usually try to make sure everything is up, but I'm human and do forget sometimes. I would start crating again, since the pup isnt going to just one thing, but I think with true separation anxiety you would be looking at much bigger destruction (i.e. you would still be finding coffee beans that were flung about). One other thing I did for Ava was get her a puzzle ball to work on, the treats are inside and she had to figure out how to get them out. It needs to be difficult enough that treats dont just fall out, but easy enough for them to get a couple with work.

[doggiedad]

crate her when you're not home. i would start house breaking her.
leave her out and you leave the house for a short period.
in the begining i would only leave the house for 15 minutes
then return. slowly increase your time away. practice several times a day.

start putting things away so your dog can't get to them.
i know that's hard because you don't know what she might go for.

why don't you latch the crate door when you leave her in her crate?

[mysablegsd]

A crate.

[Riley's Mom]

Ditto - she's safer in there.

You may lose some important personal property by her chewing it up one day but that's property. One day she could get into something that could seriously hurt or even kill her.