My 45lb mixed breed dog eats and chews anything.

Question
Hi Teri,

I have a 45lb mixed breed dog female named Newby she's 1 year old, I saved her at 2 days old from her mother who killed all her other puppies. But she will chew anything she gets her paws on shoes, socks, coffee table,forks,spoons,paper anything and she just got a hold of my vaseline a 7.5oz jar,do you think this could hurt her? I've been told it will give her the poops for a couple of days. I get her her dental toys to chew on and still she chews up everything flyswater,anything with wood on it,cups, plates. I've had dogs all my life but nothing like this, I would never get rid of her, we raised her by hand every 2 hours we fed her fresh Goats Milk at at $10.00 a gallon. Shes had all of her shots and is the love of our lives, but this chewing is bad, How do we STOP IT..

         Thank-You
         Naomi

Answer
I can certainly sympathize with you. My dog was a year old when I got him, and he had 3 owners prior to me that couldn't put up with his extreme chewing habits. Thankfully it only lasted another 6 months or so, but it initially took a lot of management to keep him (and our household products and furniture) safe. You need to keep a few things in mind.

1. This behavior, while unacceptable, is a normal part of a dog's developmental process. Like young children, they like to explore different textures. Unfortunately, they don't have hands so they use their mouths to explore. Everything is a new fascinating world for them. They stage typically is the worst between 9 months - 1.5 years old, and starts to slowly get better after that. In many cases the chewing is well managed by the tike the dog is around 2 years old.

2. Giving them appropriate things to put in their mouth that they favor over unnapropriate things is VITAL. You can give her all the dental toys in the pet store, but she still will have an urge to explore novel objects. Overcome this by introducing toys with a wide variety of textures and flavors. Toys that are blue and/or yellow are preferable to other colors too, because they stand out in a dogs color-vision spectrum much better than other colors. Look for toys in the ORKA brand, they're usually a blue rubbery texture that dogs love.

3. "Stuffing" toys, such as the original Kong toys, are great as well. Check out www.kongcompany.com. If you don't have one, definitely give one a try. A Kong toy filled with peanut butter or cheese is going to be more appetizing than say, a cup. Therefore, the dog should choose the Kong over the cup. While she's chewing on his Kong, his is (A) NOT chewing on the cup and (B) fulfilling her urge to chew, therefore reducing the chances of her chewing on a cup or other innapropriate items later. For an extra challenge, freeze the Kong before serving. Not only does it add extra challenge, it also effectively works like a baby teether to soothe sore gums. When I first got my dog, I kept 1 Kong out for him and 2 ready in the freezer at all times. It really helps.

4. Supervision and management. I can't stress this enough. To stop her from chewing on things that are off limits, they must be unobtainable. This means not leaving remote controls, shoes, flyswatters, kids toys, purses, or any other such items where she can access them. If you can't keep things out of her reach, keep her away. Tether her on leash in the living room where she only has a small area to play and has good toys in that area. Close off other areas of the house when you aren't around to supervise. If she's crate trained, kennel her when you're gone or doing something where you can't supervise her.

5. Give her a job. Most dogs who are heavy chewers like to engage their minds. They're thinkers and problem solvers. Enroll her in a basic obedience class or get a training book (I recommend "101 Dog Tricks" by Kyra Sundance) and teach her some cool tricks. Besides for the cute tricks and her learning to listen to you, this type of interaction with your dog is extremely important. It's also important that you do it daily. It gives your dog something to do with her brain every day, and helps curtail many behavioral issues. You may not care if your dig knows how to roll over on command, but if training her to do so helps reduce behavioral problems it seems it'd be worthwhile to me. Just make sure any training you use is reward based, essentially meaning you give rewards for good behavior and don't reward bad behavior.

I wouldn't worry too much about vasoline ingestion. They're right...if anything, most dogs may just get a little runny stool for a couple days. Ask your vet though if you're unsure or anything seems abnormal. I hope I was able to help you a little. Hang in there, the dogs with the hardest puppy stages usually make some of the most intelligent adult dogs. Good luck!