Chewing Shephard

Question
I have a 7 month old Germanshephard/Huskey cross, she is getting plenty of excercise, we live on an acreage, but she is chewing strange things outside, such as extension cords,, plant pots, metal of any sort, if working on cars etc, she will take screw drivers etc and chew them, when you are not looking,, any advice would be aprreciated greatly,, thank you

Answer
Hi, there!

I have to ask, is your dog kept outside or is she an inside dog?  If she's kept outside, her chewing is probably a sign of boredom.  Dogs like to be with their people and if they're not, they're left to their own devices to keep themselves entertained.

She also needs to have enough appropriate toys of her own.  When she picks up things that are not hers, trade her with a toy of her own.  Over time, you'll be showing her which things are OK for her to chew on and which things are not.

Here are some articles that I hope will be helpful:

http://www.ddfl.org/behavior/Inout-dog.pdf
http://www.ddfl.org/behavior/educated-dog.pdf
http://www.ddfl.org/behavior/dog-toys.pdf
http://www.ddfl.org/behavior/Puppy-chewing.pdf