'Destroyer'

[sue15]

My 6 and a half month is quite destructive at the moment. No soft toys are allowed because he just takes out all the stuffing and now he has moved on to his bed and likes to pull out the stuffing. I have sewed it up twice as I can't risk putting a new bed down. Will he grow out of the habit ? 

[Redked]

  Sorry but I had to laugh - look at Bonnie's photo on the left..."destoyer" was her name lol.

Bonnie never quite grew out of destroying toys    but she grew out of destroying the garden, the post and other things very quickly, around a year old. We don't mind the toys, they are hers after all,  and she still has one for her Christmas present. She never plays with them, just loves to rip them to pieces lol. I'm sure your boy will grow out of this as it's just his way of playing. Lots of us on here gave our pups cardboard boxes, tubes or just paper to let them destroy  (if you don't mind clearing up the mess after). This seems to be a hugely popular game for our little pups and may (not promising) satisfy his need to shred without destroying the things you don't want him to shred.

[Markr64]

Have to agree with Redked, they never really grow out of it and I also give a cardboard box of an old plastic bottle which our boy loves to destroy. beds and toys get killed in a matter of minutes.

The only bed that has lasted is a vet bed which has now made about a year without too much damage.

[Blueberry]

Blue will still quickly destroy soft toys, cardboard boxes, and the post, if he manages to get hold of it before us.  But he has stopped chewing his bed, rugs, furniture etc.     
Instead, he has turned into a 'digger', and spends hours trying to dig holes in the floor or his bed to bury his bones!
He's almost 10 months old, by the way.

[Mari]

Laurië ripped to pieces 4 beds in her first two years And pulling the stuffing out of soft toys is one of her favourite things in the world.

They usually grow out of destroying our things. That's why it is good to puppysafe the house and not have any shoes, decorative pillows, rugs etc around the first year at least. Because when they don't have the opportunity to make a habit out of destroying things in their "teens", they generally leave our things alone as adults.

But if they love destroying stuffed animals, my experience is that they will keep doing that. I only buy the cheap rats from ikea for Laurië, they last longer than other soft toys for some reason and it's not a big deal when she destroys them. She currently has two ikea mice, both without stuffing 

For her bed I had to put it away if she was very hyper, it was when she got overly excited that she chewed her bed. I also made sure to stop her if she chewed on it and gave her a chew toy instead. Eventually she left it alone. So I always recommend people buy a cheap first bed until they know what type of puppy they have.

She is 10 years old now and she stopped destroying things 8 years ago. But if we have company and she gets very hyper she will sometimes try and chew her blankets, never our things though. So if I see her getting the Zoomies and start pulling her blankets out of her bed I usually put them away until she calms down 

Cardoard boxes are the best things ever! She loves shredding them! I usually let her, they take less space in the recycling bins as confetti anyway.

[sue15]

Thanks for your advice I will try the cardboard box, he already loves plastic bottles but I worry about him swallowing pieces of plastic. Still it usually comes out the other end.

[Archie bean]

Archie was exactly the same. He destroyed his soft bed in seconds. I'd love to be able to agree that they grow out of it but he never has. He's 5. If it's not nailed down he will destroy it. He has no access to anything soft - that includes towels hanging on rails, sofa cushions (I no longer use them), bedding (he has a hard plastic bed and vet bedding plus a throw - that he chews) my bedding (absolutely no access to my room unless I'm in there too!) and all my clothes. I have to be particularly careful where I dry knitted things but he will often try to chew a jumper even if I'm wearing it! I live in a bungalow so it's not easy to keep things safe. I've learned to manage it but it's VERY difficult to take him anywhere.

Sorry!! 

[bizzylizzy]

O'h at last! What joy,  I can be smug!!! Humphrey's still won't walk nicely on the lead, he doesn't know his squeaky pig from his blue ball (will just bring what's nearest!), still jumps up at people and won't drop his ball when he's supposed to. He loves cardboard, paper or anything else he can retrieve out the paper bin, has chewed my gloves, hat and socks BUT his original bed is still totally intact as are his blankets (if you disregard the corners! ) Gosh, I must have done SOMETHING right!!  (or maybe he just respects his own stuff more than mine? 🤔)

[Londongirl]

Oh yes, Humphrey and Henry are DEFINITELY cut from the same cloth. Henry still can't fetch a toy by name and gives up on hide-and-seek after three goes, and that's after me having to help him each time. It's taken him three months to get the hang of the simplest puzzle ball imaginable. Daft as a brush. But, he HAS stopped destroying things. While not all grow out of it, I think most do. Henry will now carry shoes, socks, hats, etc all around the house, but doesn't chew them at all. The only thing I have to be careful of now is patent leather as he seems to have a bit of a fetish for it!

We went through several beds when he was little until I finally cracked open my wallet and bought him a Tuffies bed. He's had it maybe a year now. Still as good as the day it arrived. Cardboard boxes were the best toys for him when he was at his most destructive, along with bully sticks which were really calming for him. 

[bizzylizzy]

Oh yes, Humphrey and Henry are DEFINITELY cut from the same cloth. Henry still can't fetch a toy by name and gives up on hide-and-seek after three goes, and that's after me having to help him each time. It's taken him three months to get the hang of the simplest puzzle ball imaginable. Daft as a brush. But, he HAS stopped destroying things. While not all grow out of it, I think most do. Henry will now carry shoes, socks, hats, etc all around the house, but doesn't chew them at all. The only thing I have to be careful of now is patent leather as he seems to have a bit of a fetish for it!

We went through several beds when he was little until I finally cracked open my wallet and bought him a Tuffies bed. He's had it maybe a year now. Still as good as the day it arrived. Cardboard boxes were the best toys for him when he was at his most destructive, along with bully sticks which were really calming for him.

Just reading a book about all the myths surrounding dog training - apparently its the intelligent dogs which are harder to train because they use all the little errors we make in our training to their own advantage!! SO I think Henry and Humphrey are actually canine Einsteins, all the good ones are just dumb!! 

[Londongirl]

Oh yes, Humphrey and Henry are DEFINITELY cut from the same cloth. Henry still can't fetch a toy by name and gives up on hide-and-seek after three goes, and that's after me having to help him each time. It's taken him three months to get the hang of the simplest puzzle ball imaginable. Daft as a brush. But, he HAS stopped destroying things. While not all grow out of it, I think most do. Henry will now carry shoes, socks, hats, etc all around the house, but doesn't chew them at all. The only thing I have to be careful of now is patent leather as he seems to have a bit of a fetish for it!

We went through several beds when he was little until I finally cracked open my wallet and bought him a Tuffies bed. He's had it maybe a year now. Still as good as the day it arrived. Cardboard boxes were the best toys for him when he was at his most destructive, along with bully sticks which were really calming for him.

Just reading a book about all the myths surrounding dog training - apparently its the intelligent dogs which are harder to train because they use all the little errors we make in our training to their own advantage!! SO I think Henry and Humphrey are actually canine Einsteins, all the good ones are just dumb!! 

I'm going to chose to believe that...

[minimoo]

I call Bailey,  Baba the destroyer  ;)he will be 7 in may (cant believe its gone so fast ) he is worse since my husband retired, now if we leave them we come back to dead teddies and the stuffing pulled out of his bed 

[Geordietyke]

My first two cockers destroyed every cuddly and soft bed I bought them    I invested in a raised bed with a thin mattress and I'm still using this now with my 3rd cocker, Monty!  It's funny how they can be so different, Monty loves to rag his Custard (think of the pink cat from Roobarb and Custard  ) but hasn't destroyed him at all.  He also kept his first puppy bed intact but give him cardboard or a bottle and he becomes "the destroyer" too 

[Theo961]

Reese hasn't had a soft toy for months, they just lasted seconds. I have no throw left on the sofa and all cushions have been put away in the hope he will grow out of it! Lol He has other toys such as his orbee ball which has lasted but I do keep him busy with games, shredding the junk mail and boxes etc He has this evening destroyed a bed that has stood up pretty well to him so far, so now just leaving the tuffies bed intact!