Drywall terror...

[femke]

puppy eats the walls...

Hello!

I'm just new here but I have a big problem that I seriously can use ANY bit of advice with!

We have a 5 month old sheltie and got her when she was 8 weeks old. Her name is Penny, She's just a dream of a dog, I love her so much and she is housetrained and listens pretty good and everything none of that is a problem.

The problem is she is destroying our walls. We just bought a brand new house before we got her and it already looks like people have been living in it for ten years. Penny seems to have a huge liking for drywall. She actually scrapes her teeth along the walls in certain spots which results in huge holes. She doesn't get quite through the drywall but she gets right in the middle of it. We haven't attempted to fix any of it yet out of fear she's just gonna do it all over again coz she hasn't stopped yet. after she's done with a certain spot she just starts again. She usually does it when we're not here but also tries when we are here and we do punish her when we catch her do it.

I dont want to lock her up in her crate if we are gone for a long period of time coz she does not destroy anything else. She has a LOT of chewtoys, I have a KONG for her stuffed and everything. I have tried pigs ears and whatever other chewstuff is offered. I have also tried bitter apple spray but it's impossible (and I cannot afford it) to spray all my walls every single day.

Please help!! Is she going to grow out of this? I love her so much but this is driving us insane!

 

[Raika's Mom]

I have never heard of a dog biting drywall! I don't really know what to tell you. She may need to stay in the crate during the day just for that reason...or is there a puppy safe room you could put her in?

 

[Dreeza]

i was looking up ways to stop a dog from scratching doors...there are clear plastic door covers that extend up as high as you need them...maybe you can find something similar for your walls?

i dont know if it will only solve the problem if the plastic is up...i cant imagine it will look all that great, but its probably better than holes! lol

 

[loren Kristunas]

Our Golden retriever ate huge holes into the drywall when she was that age! I've never heard of another dog to do that. She also ate holes in our carpet. She finally outgrew it in a just few months. It helped to spray cayenne pepper mixed with water on the walls, it may stain but it sounds like you are going to have to re-paint anyway. I like the idea of the plastic over the walls, maybe something like that will work. With our golden it was anxiety I think, she is a fantastic dog but has always been an anxious little thing.

 

[bridey_01]

Wow, I've only ever read of this problem! It might become an obsessive compulsive thing so you will have to work on it closely. Don't correct her when you see her doing it, she may consider it a form of attention, just lead her away and get her interested in something else. Also, as soon as she starts a hole, cover the floor beneath the hole in aluminium foil, or anything else that is loud and unsettling on the feet.
Also, you could try keeping her in a puppy pen whilst you are out. Shelties are very intelligent dogs, and your one might not have enough stimulation in her life. Try upping the excitement and take her on long, interesting outings. Teach her a new thing every week and keep her training up to date.

 

[Barb04]

Our pup did the same thing. First scratching the walls, tearing the paper, and going into the drywall. I just kept repairing and repainting right away. I also put more toys in the kitchen with her. So far if she is not bored, no problems. If I repair right away, the temptation is gone to keep making the hole bigger. I repaired walls 3 times, and knock on wood, haven't had to do it again.

 

[femke]

Thank you so much for all the advice I'm definately gonna try the things that you guys said! So far we haven't bothered to fix any of the holes coz we figures she'll just start again but you might be right about the temptation to make it bigger etc. She has done most of the holes in our front entry and only one in the kitchen area, We have thought about blocking the front entry off but are afraid she'll do more damage to the kitchen.

I do think you might be right about the being bored thing. She is soooo active! We take her on long walks and I usually take my bike out and just let her run and run next to it to tire her out lol. Maybe I should buy her even more toys and not keep them all available but leave the best ones for when we're gone.

Puppy pen... Oh my god I cannot believe my own stupidity for not ever having thought about that LOL. I always just thought about the babygates we use (we used to just block off the kitchen for her to be in) but that still leaves enough walls for her to chew. And I didn't want to put her in her crate because I felt bad for locking her up in a small space.

water and peper, gonna try that for sure!! (you're right, we do have to re-paint lol)

Thanks again so much! I really feel like I've got something to work with now and like the situation is not totally desperate!

 

[femke]

Just so you can see what damage this little darling can do LOL

 

[bogolove]

Brady's dog friend Jenny used to do that too. She eventually grew out of it. I would confine her to one area, so that you don't have so many places to patch. Or you could crate train her, which I know you don't want to do, but I found it very useful during those puppy stages.

You could even buy a pen and place it directly in the middle of a bigger room with chew toys in it for her, and then she can't get near a wall, but she still has space to move about.

 

[Martine]

Femke, thanks for directing me to this thread as I have the same problem and there is some good advice here.

 

[AbbyandWhinny]

Wow, I had the same problems with my dog, except she did it one night when I was sleeping with her and she chewed right beside my bed (it's against the wall) I just had her sleep in her crate again for probably a month now she's fine, I didn't punish her as I was sleeping and didn't wake up to her doing it, she just stopped. That was probably 2 months ago, she's 10 months old now so about when she was 8 months old...

 

[Whitedobelover]

Omg... my dobe is doing that... i covered the walls in biter apple and vinegar.. they stopped that.. but he still tries when im not watching ... so i didnt know any other dogs did that either... that is wierd...