What can I do wih this bad habit??? - Page 1

I have a 2,5 yr old bitch who has always been feisty and a bit of a nutter - I can best describe her as being like the Duracell bunny!!!! She doesn't stop for a moment and does everything at twice the speed/enthusiasm of the other GSDs. I have noticed in the last while she has taken to chewing blankets, socks, dishcloths etc. I can write off the loss but it seems she eats most of what she chews off - sometimes her faeces look like a string of giant beads, with bits of blanket in between the poop!! But this cannot be good for her - she also has a peri-anal fistula which I suspect may be related to this whole habit??! I just don't know what to do with her.  Has anyone else had this problem and success with correcting it?  Thanks very much

This is truly a disaster waiting to happen, hope you have a good balance in your checkbook or a huge limit on your credit card for when the emergency surgery occurs! I'm sure this will only irritate the perianal fistula.. has it occurred to you to PREVENT the behavior by dog proofing for 1 thing and putting her in a crate if you can't watch her and trust her??

Sounds like she's board.

I have a female just like her, lol.  Do you work her?  Excersise her? 

Dogs with excessive drives will create neurotic behaviors if not mentally stimulated enough.

Someone I know stopped doing SchH for a while and his dog started gnawing on her tail.

Regards,

Melanie

Thanks for input!  We live on a 40 ha farm and take the dogs for a run at least once, sometimes 2x day.  When she hears the keys she is like a horse out of the starting block and has the freedom to run. All my dogs have been trained on a regular basis, but the last few months I havent been able to take them to school - cant remember if this ties in with her nonsense.  Putting her in a crate is not an option - they have all been raised in big open spaces, although they are used to being in a trailer for shows etc.  My other bitch chews through thick wire to get out...maybe its owner problems - ha ha ha - the others are all well balanced and give me no hassles, so maybe not!

And I rest my case........ all dogs need to learn to be restrained in a crate or kennel and deal with it. Too much freedom, not enough boundaries... all the stuff she is chewing is YOURS!!

All that aside, it is just not safe to allow her to do this. I have seen many a dog with this type of behavior, I can pretty much guarantee she will end up in an ER with an emergency obstruction surgery and you won't be laughing then! She already has GI problems, you are not helping her....

Denise

Unfortunately Dkiah is right on the money (again LOL)  You need to crate train even if you have the luxury of letting your dogs run.  They may fight it at first but once they get the idea that the crate is their's and feel secure in it they will love having their own "den.".

You need to remove the items such as clothing etc that she eats.

i had a female jump up on a trampaline and eat a beach towel, it hung up and almost killed her, cost me almost a thousand to get the towel removed, had to enter her intestines in 7 different places. so i learned my lesson the hard way.

she just needs to be trained/worked everyday. this is a good thing unless you don't want to work her. just some club as likely she can learn to do almost anything.