CHEWING

[OwnedByChaucer]

Alright, my little Mr. Chaucer must be going through second teething (he is just about a week past 7 months now) and I swear I'm gonna go nuts. The good news, is has has NO interest in chewing anything hard--like furniture, or molding or any of that. He has has no interest in the upholstery.....but he's RIPPING he heck outta his blankie and last night he shredded the foam (covered) pad that he's had in his cage for months. [That started when he and little sister discovered playing tug of war with it, and the cover started to rip....]Don't think he doesn't have other stuff to chew on--nylabones, kongs, rhinos, balls...you name it, he's got it--he just loves to chew on towels, and that sort of thing. I think the problem may be that he's got a baby tooth that won't come out--and the adult tooth is already in, but the vet wants to wait a bit longer before giving it the old yank. It seems like it may be bothering him, since he chews on that side alot.

The only "cuddly" thing he doesn't seem to chew on is my husband's wool army blanket--but that won't fit in his kennel, plus I don't want him eating my army blanket. I'm really more concerned with him injesting the material [he EATS towels] than it getting chewed up...

Right now, I've had to take away all his cozy stuff in his kennel, but that does not make for a very nice doggie habitat...but I don't really want to be dealing with an intestinal blockage because he ate too much towel/foam.

I'm I being paranoid about the intestinal blockage?

[Penny's Aunt]

I am luckier than you: my pup is a chew/spitter, but you've got a chew/swallower. I saw a thing in the bottom of a crate at a dog show once that made me wonder if the terrier inside was a chewer. They had taken a piece of plywood & cut it just a little smaller than the bottom of the crate, then put some padding over it, then laid some indoor/outdoor carpeting over THAT, then (I am assuming, since I couldn't see it) turned the whole thing over, pulled the carpeting tight, & stapled all around the bottom. With the carpeting on tight, it looked like it would be hard for the dog to get hold of anything to grab. Of course, this WAS a terrier, not a dachsie!

Maybe something like this would work for you. And spray it with Bitter Apple too, for good measure?

[Oscar's Mom]

We had one of Oscar's baby tooth pulled because the adult one had come in and the baby had not fallen out. If its not loose I'd just have it pulled, sounds like it may be bothering him.
Your right to be concerned about blockage. Is he pooping all this stuff out?

[OwnedByChaucer]

Thus far, he has not injested such large quantities of things (and he doesn't seem to injest EVERYTHING, just pieces..) that it has caused any problems, I'm just not happy with the risk since I know he injests some stuff.

I like the indoor /outdoor carpet idea. Chaucer is pretty feisty--but I think that would fix his chewing little bum.

[Roxane]

This may not be the problem, therefore the solution might not work. When any of ours are going through the teething stage, they really find comfort in soft things to chew. In the past I have taken my husbands discarded long cotten blend socks, knotted them over and over down the entire length. It takes the pups quite some time to get them to a point where they would be able to ingest any of the material, even with our larger dogs. At that time I start them on a new sock. When I haven't had socks I would buy the rope pull toys, cut off the tassels and use them as their teething rings. At first you have to watch them carefully. When they get into something else, I take it away with a soft "no" and give them the sock or rope. I look at it as just another part of their training.
It takes patience but the rewards are soul satisfying!http://dachsie.org/ubb/smilies/happy.gif
Roxane

[Mrs.F]

I hate to be the voice of doom, but it doesn't take a LOT of fabric or foam to cause a blockage - if a small scrap ends up in just the right place Chaucer is in trouble. Penny's blockage last spring was caused by a small scrap of fabric with a piece of carpet/button type thread attached to it. I believe she must have gotten it from a stuffed toy that I gave her. The vet told us that he's treated small dogs with blockages from paper, fabric, Barbie shoes, rocks and pieces of sticks.
No more stuffed toys for our dogs now. We have acrylic "lambswool" in the bottom of the crates but neither has ever chewed that up.
Several of my dog loving friends believe that I am overly cautious, but Penny was one sick little dog, and I still shudder as I remember the vet telling me that he wasn't sure "if she would make it". I'd rather have a pup sleep on the plastic floor of his/her crate until the chewing craze passes than risk going through the discomfort, surgery and recuperation period of an intestinal blockage. <IMG SRC="http://dachsie.org/ubb/cwmsmilies/cwm43.gif" border=0>