destructive chewing - Page 1

I have a male that is a terrible chewer.  He has now decided he is going to tear apart his dog house.  Anyone dealt with this and have any advice on how to curb this?  I hate to take the house out of the kennel.  Thanx.

Spray the parts that he is chewing with a mixture of vinegar and water....it worked me my dog.... I about 25% vinegar to 75% water in a spray bottle.. I then sprayed the area my dog was chewing daily...

In older dog chewing is usually a sign of a frustrated, or stressed out  dog. Rarely it is a matter of nutrition.  Remove the frustration and unless the chewing became chronic, then dog will stop. 

thank you jyl.  I am going to try this immediately.  Hans....I know he is frustrated.  He wants to work all day long.  Obviously he is frustrated or he wouldn't eat his dog house.

J,
Over activity can be a symptom of many different issues.

Separation OCD, will cause a dog to become overactive and destructive when alone.
Pain can cause a dog to become frustrated, sometimes nervous, overactive and destructive.
Hyperthyroidism can cause a dog to be overactive and change behaviors.
Boredom will cause some dogs to cause trouble.
Jealousy can also cause a dog to act out due to frustration (I have one like this).
Dominance - dog cannot get at his target, so it eats the dog house instead.

A change in the dog's living quarters can also cause this. If the dog used to be inside in a crate and is not outside in a kennel for instance.

The key is to start removing the possible causes until you find the what the issue is.

I also make sure my one year old has plenty of toys to keep him occupied;  I only buy like the WOLF size nylabones or extra giant size, spent $75.00 on new balls and non destruct toys for him a few months back, when they get smaller I throw away.  Also you can get fresh HUGH BEEF bones, also giant size;  let chew for a while and pick up and rinse off and throw in freezer until next time,  I prefer nylabones as real bones drop on my tile floors and can crack tile.  All toys are non destructible so IF he is alone with them he cannot swallow.  Worked so far.  They also like the "cuz" balls, I get the largest ones, satisfies their gumming things, play tug more to satisfy his pulling/tugging instincts also.  Good luck  Nan

How much exercise is your boy getting.  They need a couple miles per day to satisfy their physical needs;  my first boy took off the molding on the house twice, hubs was not at all happy, just ripped off the outside door casings; so yes they can be destructive.  Redirect and I would remove the dog house.  Definitely.  BOL  Nan

Thanks all.  I know why he is doing what he is doing.  I wanted to know things you guys did for it.  The vinegar idea is great.  He has to have cement water bowl.  After feeding I have to remove his metal bowl right away or he will literally crush it.  His kennel is filled with toys.  He lashes out when I come outside, or show anyone else attention.  He is very bonded to me.  The dog was kenneled for quite a while with minimal interaction when I got him.  He gets plenty of exercise...as he is a up and coming competition dog.  He is ALOT of dog and is going to take a while to work the kinks out...but I do not want him breaking teeth while we settle in together...For the mean time the dog house is gone, and he is crated when not working where I can monitor him.  He goes outside and all the other dogs get put up.  This seems to be working for now.  Thank you all for your help.

Vinegar will not work. It will just shift the unwanted behavior to something else.  You can not eliminate such behavior by treating symptoms. You must take care of the cause. There may not be simple solution or any solution possible. Super high drive dogs for top competition are  sometimes such dogs. 

 These question which may help   to arrive to the possible answer/solution are these. How long is this since he started to do it. next is What happened at the time when he started. If you can figure that out then you need to put him into situation before he started to do this.....if possible and feasible and that may solve the problem. 

I have had once dog like that and I solved it by putting him in the kennel with another dog of opposite sex. Problem stopped instantly.