Eating the walls

[speedyjaney]

Hi There
Jessie is just 6 months and and has taken a liking for the wallpaper! She has managed to eat thru some of it and into the plaster behind which has now had to be filled and painted to repair it.  :x
Whats amazing is she is hardly ever without supervision and is crated when no-one is there....but she managed to cause the destruction in a few minutes when left free.
What can I do to put her off? She has loads of toys and stuff to entertain her and I don't really want her crated when I just pop upstairs for a couple of mins but if she keeps eating the house ??
An tips?
Jane (and Jessie) x                    

[Loraine]

You could try something like Bitter Bite.  Spray the area that she's taken a liking to and if and when she tries again she'll be put off by the nasty taste.  Be warned though some puppies like the taste of it or it doesn't bother them but it's worth a try.

Loraine                      

[Gilly]

Buttons went through a phase of doing this...in various places  :roll: I think there must be something in the plaster that they like the taste of  :?:  because i caught her licking bits of the wall and gnawing it  :shock: Luckily i wasn't too bothered as we were planning to redecorate the living room (still not got round to it yet though  :oops: )
It was quite funny, as one night I was sitting at the computer and could here this strange gnawing sound, at first I thought it was the Hamster, when I went to look...Butty was quite happily lying half way up the stairs gnawing at the wall    
The tell tale sign for me was I would come in from work and she would greet me acting all innocent  :wink:  with white plaster all over her nose  :roll:  
Not sure how I managed to stop her doing it....I just think she grew out of it...not much help am I  :wink:  But I suppose it's all part of the fun of having a puppy                      

[Colin]

Misty did this at my Mum's house over New Year. I think it was because there was a little bit of wallpaper already peeling off so she tugged on it to see what would happen, found it good fun so just carried on. :roll:  I just blocked the area off and after a few fruitless attempts to get back to it she seemed to forget about it. She hasn't done it there or anywhere else since but I'm sure if she saw another bit sticking out the temptation would be too much. So maybe if you fix that area, block it off for a while then Jessie might forget too......... they do seem to have long memories though when it comes to potential mischief.                    

[KellyP]

I have to say that Millie is /was a plasterboard chewer aswell.
At first we left her with te roam of the stairs landing and hall when we went to work, and she took to chewing the skirting board at the top of the stairs, the skirting board and plaster board in the corner of the hall, and ripping the wallpaper off the walls on the landing .. her excuse was she saw the cats' doing it ...  :wink:

She seems to have grown out of it though ... touch wood.... we were going to re-decorate, but what with christmas, and now the potential new arrival, we just a) didn't have time and thought better of it!                    

[Pammy]

It's a very common trait as you can see. But just a word of warning -  keep an eye out for if she shows any signs of tummy upset. Some wallpaper pastes have additives that might cause an upset. :wink: at least you'll have some idea of the cause                    

[Snoop Doggie]

The dog wont stop eating the wall - taking new bits of wallpaper and cement out each time. We have tried patching up and using a spray from pet shops to stop her going back for more....and nothing is working - shes destroying the wall corner !!!! Help greatfully wanted                    

[PennyB]

This may sound bizzarre but I have a breeze block (or 2) in my sitting room and Ruby gnawed on that instead of the wall (basically she grinds her teeth on it, which isn't for the feint hearted) when she was a pup/teenager and it stopped her attacking the wall. She did the wall bit for a short while, probably as the previous owner's dog had already started on the wall!

I basically put a breeze block in front of the bit she wanted to gnaw (which also included the gas pipe join :shock: ). It won't work for everyone but weirdly enough it worked for mine. The funny thing was explainin gto the man who serviced my gas fire why I had a breeze block next to the gas pipe join                    

[bluesmum]

Blue also did this :roll:  and i know this might sound mean but what i used to do was use one of the childrens water pistols, and every time Blue felt abit peckish I would gave him a quick squirt!!!!!!!!!!!! :shock:

after a couple of.............soakings!!!!!!!  he soon got fed up.                    

[Colin]

I've never tried the water pistol method myself but it does sound like fun !

I think when using something like this though, the idea is to do it without the dog knowing you are behind the action.... the dog is supposed to think it is it's behaviour that is causing  being squirted. If it realises it's you doing it, then it will still carry on but only when you are not around. You have to be even craftier than Cockers to catch em out.                    

[bluesmum]

hi Colin

 Forgive my lack of info - I'm a newbie

thats exactly what i did, :wink:

 we hid the pistol behind a pillow and unfortunatley for Blue  i'm home all day so i could keep on top of him!!                    

[Shirley]

      We tried the water pistol with Morgan to stop him chewing the house plants - problem was he loved it.  First time we squirted him he came straight over to find out where it was coming from and was scratching away at the pillow it was hidden under - he just kept coming back for more.  I suppose it worked, just not in the way it's intended.  He stopped chewing the plant only because he had something more fun to do.  :?  :wink:                      

[Snoop Doggie]

Weve tried the Bitter Bite spray and its not working...she keeps eating away when our back is turned. The only way to stop it happening is watching her 24 hours a day... :?                    

[Donzer]

One of my cockers actually digs holes in the plaster board in my house.  She didn't chew it which makes it near impossible to stop.  She does it if she is left in the house herself.  We tried bitter bite stuff and that did no good.  We thought she was really bored, so I convinced my hubby to get another puppy (yes he must be gullable) - that worked for a short time - then she started again.

It seems to get worse when she is going into season and she can dig 5 wee holes all round the kitchen walls in a very short space of time.

We were at our witts end - she had eventually managed to get right through the plaster board and left a gaping hole ...

To solve this, we went to Homebase and bought some strips of light white boarding stuff.  We prop this in front of the walls before we go out and chuck in the garage when we get home and it has worked a treat.  She can't get at the wall even if she tries.

Cant believe that I spent money replastering and touching up the damage when a few boards would have solved the problem much sooner                      

[gina]

We used Tabasco (just a small bit dabbed on the walls) when Barkley had the same problem and it seemed to do the trick.

Gina & Barkley