Expert: Lee Charles Kelley - 11/21/2007

Question
Hi.  I have a neutered male rottweiler-lab mix who is about 3.5 years old.  We've had him about a year and he's started chewing up dog beds. He shreded his first bed the first time we boarded him, and tried again the second time, but had it taken away from him. He never did this at home so I though it was something specific to the environment there.  I know he gets plenty of exercise there - more so than at home.  

But he's now started doing this at home - usually in the morning when he is up but we are not.  Because I can't catch him at it, I can't issue a correction.  He has plenty of bones, balls, kongs etc. to chew on/play with at any time.  No soft toys except for a rope toy because we didn't want to encourage ripping up things that resemble pillows and couches.  I don't want to take the beds away because we have a 11 year old sheperd/hound that I think needs a bed - both for physical reasons and being strongly trained that the "right" place to lie down is in one - and they switch back and forth, neither "owns" a particular bed.

I know behavior generally improves with more exercise, but is there anything specific I can do to address this problem?  Should he not have a rope to either?  Or should he instead have more soft toys?  Other strategies?  Thanks!

Answer
Hey, Jill,

The primary mechanism dogs have for dealing with stress is play, particularly games that allow them to chase things and bite them.
When your dog was boarded the first time I would imagine that he was a bit stressed at not knowing where he was, etc. Now that the behavior has become transferred back to the home environment, my feeling is that the dog isn't getting enough hard, vigorous playful exercise every day.
I think if you give him a couple of really intense games of fetch and tug-of-war for about 15-20 mins. 2x a day, you may see an improvement in this bed-shredding behavior.
It would do absolutely no good to correct him for the behavior, even if you could catch him at it, as that will only increase his stress levels. (He needs to have SOME means of reducing stress!)
You could spray Bitter Apple on the beds, but my feeling is that since the behavior has become habitual you'll also need to bring in the big guns, meaning lots and lots of hard vigorous biting games.
By the way, when you play tug you should always let the dog win and praise him enthusiastically for winning. The best tug toy is an old sock or bandana.

I hope this helps,
LCK