Help - Ridley is eating the sofa!

[smdaigle]

I haven't posted in a while but I'm back with a new problem. Ridley is 1 1/2 years and we've had him for almost a year. He's a great dog with a wonderful personality. However, as of late he has decided that the sofa in the basement is a chew toy. This started when we were testing him to see how he would do not being crated during the day. The first few days when well and then he started on the sofa cushions. Back to the crate he went. That solves the problem of him destroying the sofa during the day but now he sneaks down to the basement when he's bored and tears into the sofa - it's like a guilty pleasure for him (the rat!).

My husband forgot to close the basement door this morning and he got into it again. Ridley knows it's wrong - when I took the dogs down before I left for work he bolted to his crate and wouldn't look at me - this is not his normal routine!

Aside from keeping the door to the basement closed (which I know is not solving the problem - just keeping it from happening), how can I get him to quit doing this?

Thanks!

[mysweetkaos]

I have no idea. We only had that problem with Kaos once and we discovered one of his toys was stuck in the sofa...since it is ongoing with yours though I doubt that is the problem. I just wanted to reply so I could tell you, the dog in your avatar is BEAUTIFUL!!

[smdaigle]

Originally Posted by mysweetkaos

I have no idea. We only had that problem with Kaos once and we discovered one of his toys was stuck in the sofa...since it is ongoing with yours though I doubt that is the problem. I just wanted to reply so I could tell you, the dog in your avatar is BEAUTIFUL!!

Thanks, that's my little sofa eater!

[N Smith]

Originally Posted by smdaigle

That solves the problem of him destroying the sofa during the day but now he sneaks down to the basement when he's bored and tears into the sofa - it's like a guilty pleasure for him (the rat!).

Well you kind of anwered your own question here! Your dog is telling you that he is BORED and chewing the sofa is fun, wastes energy and satisfies his need to chew.

So what is his exercise schedule like?

[smdaigle]

Originally Posted by N Smith

Well you kind of anwered your own question here! Your dog is telling you that he is BORED and chewing the sofa is fun, wastes energy and satisfies his need to chew.

So what is his exercise schedule like?

Long walks in the evening with lots of ball fetching at least 3 times a day.

[Scarlettsmom]

Scarlett is a notorious shoe eater. Like Ridley, she gets lots of exercise, and she KNOWS good and well that eating our shoes is NOT acceptable. She will do it when we are home too. It's not entirely about separation anxiety...It's frustrating.

That is why we are going to try her out as a Therapy Dog. I think if I can take her places that stimulate her mentally AND walk her, hopefully she will not be so bored that she eats our shoes!

Smart dogs...they are a challenge, aren't they?

[ponyfarm]

Exercise him more, if possible. Can you spray Bitter Apple on the sofa? What about close the basement door?

[Samba]

I doubt, really do doubt, that the dogs "know" something is "wrong".

The advice for exercise and entertaining chews, etc is great. I protect the dogs and our stuff by confining themwhen I am gone.

[smdaigle]

Normally he does a couple of laps around the basement goofing around but not today after his latest round of destruction. Instead, he wouldn't come near the newly chewed sofa and then raced by it to get to his crate. Very different behavior from the norm and to me it's pretty clear to me that he knows he's done a bad thing. I didn't say a thing before he was in his crate. Even then, I didn't raise my voice to him - I never do.

He's crated during the day - the first incident was during a trial run of leaving him out. Today he just wandered away from me while I was getting dressed and did the deed. There are toys and chews all over the house so it's not like he didn't other options - he just chose the sofa.

We have been keeping the dogs more confined because of this but don't want to spend the next 10 years moving baby gates around! My main concern with this is that eventually he might try out the sofa in the Living Room or worse, our bed and bedspread so what I 'm really looking for is a way to discourage/prevent the unwanted behavior.

[N Smith]

Awesome physical exercise, what about the Mental exercise?

Training, searches, games (101 things to do with a box)...etc