1 yr old Mastiff EATING COUCHES AND REMOTES! HELP

[Jess&Kris303]

Our awesome 1 year Leanidous, has been rather destructive these past few months and we are running out of options. We can't seem to find a crate that is large enough to keep her, she slept in a crate as a puppy and did fine with in. However, as she has grown considerably larger in size, we have naturally transitioned to giving her more freedom in the home while we are out. She has done well with this transition until more recently. She has access to a doggy door, never goes to the bathroom in the house. While at an apartment, and left alone for a few hours, she managed to destroy an entire couch.. by ripping and gnawing on the leather and wood. ANd now… she has started to gnaw on the 4k couches she has grown up with and has never bothered with before, we are down 2 logitech universal remotes, and 2 pairs of eyeglasses. She is the sweetest most gentle dog, however, this recent behavior has us at a loss. Our other dog is older and a friendly companion always playing with Leanidous and their shared toys.

HELP we don't know what else to do!

Oh- and we try the bitter spray - but it doesn't seem to have lasting effects

 

[musicdeb]

Sounds like separation anxiety. This behavior takes time, LOTS of patience and consistency in training.

Separation Anxiety in Dogs - Page 1

 

[Smart_Family]

How big is she? My girl is small for a mastiff and has a ginormous crate that I could fit two of her in. I'd imagine it'd be cheaper to buy a crate than keep replacing stuff.

 

[Smokeycat]

I have one dog that LOVES bitter apple spray, he will lick the spray nozzle. What I found works with him is a spray of a diluted Tabasco sauce. It does stain light colored surfaces however.

 

[ruthcatrin]

Return to crating her, someone'll post a link to the ginormous crate you'll need, read the info on seperation anxiety.

Also, how much exercise does she get?

For the record, Apollo loves habaneros.....

 

[ruthcatrin]

Heres the ginormous crate link: Amazon.com: Best Pet Black 55(h): Pet Supplies

 

[Smokeycat]

For the record, Apollo loves habaneros.....

So does Kryten, Jiggers hates all veggies so I don't know if that's why he doesn't eat them or he doesn't like the heat. I think it's the aerosolized spray that irritates his nose enough that he doesn't want to put his face there.

 

[ruthcatrin]

Could be!

 

[Jess&Kris303]

Thanks for all the help!

I really appreciate the feedback ,its nice to know that other people out there understand that these loveable creatures can be quite destructive unintentionally, but how frustrating it can be as the owner!

 

[Cur]

I feel your pain, our 1 1/2 yo bullmastiff just destroyed a $200 universal remote because we didn't pay attention to him for 10 minutes. He's usually very good, but I'm guessing it's just a boredom thing. More exercise and keep a better eye on them while they are young-ish. They will hopefully grow out of it.

 

[DennasMom]

We always make sure to leave Denna with a tasty filled toy, too. Either a busy buddy or kong variety. Peanut butter on the inside keeps her occupied for quite a while.

We gave Denna run of the bedroom (baby gated in) when she was about 6 or 8 months old... it went well until I went away on an overnight business trip... then she started de-stuffing the pillows on our bed. We now have the 54" crate (we found one at PetSmart, in stock) - it takes up half the living room, but the other half is still intact. Which is a good thing!

Not that she's 18 months, we've started leaving her with run of the house... but only when we're gone for a short time (<2 hours)... so far so good. We'll see what happens when I have another business trip.

 

[CorsoCorso]

We had to move our $4k couches into the attic and garage so Gio couldn't scratch them up - so I feel your pain! We recently bought the ginormous crate listed above and he fits very comfortably in there (he's 7 months old and 80ish pounds as of night now, so plenty of room to grow). We also found a simple squirt gun works wonders....a few squirts to the face when he was chewing the coffee table drove the point home. Now if he sees the gun he just stops whatever he was doing. The bitter apple spray did nothing for him but I have heard white vinegar and water also works well. Best of luck!