Dutch Shepherd Forum

Hello,

I was wondering if anyone has experienced such a thing. Several months back my 3 year old DS female ate a good portion of a fleece blanket. She was never a chewer as a puppy or an adult. After several surgeries, $10,000 surgical expense and her almost dying, I am happy to say she is fully recovered today.
Looking back, I thought maybe some peanut butter oil from her Kong dripped on the blanket thus causing her to eat it.

The other day , I left her while taking the children to school, when I returned I noticed she had eating some of the pine needles from the Christmas tree which later she threw up.

I work from home so I am with her a majority of the time. She does have to be left for soccer games etc . I am very concerned now when I leave her she will find something else to eat. I am guessing perhaps this might be some separation anxiety???

I have a large cage I can pen her in but now I don't even know what I should use for bedding so she is not on a hard plastic bottom...Anyone ever experience anything like this and have any suggestions?

Many thanks....

Well...........Sadie chews everything, but dosnt eat it. I have no idea why she eats it, could be separation anxiety. Sadie just has the plastic bottom on her crate, she isnt allowed beds in there because she shreds them. I would put her up when you go, Id rather have them on a plastic bottom than dead.

Thanks for the reply. I agree she needs to be in her cage with nothing.....definitely better that than dead!

Thanks again

Odin's doesn't normally destroy anything but goes on an anxious rampage every once in a while with all of his toys. He's usually good with a black kong, but there are days when he wakes up and I can tell by the way he's chewing that pieces are going to end up in his stomach.

After the first couple times, I learned how to watch him and tell when he's chewing more anxiously than normal and everything gets taken away and I try to do some sort of new activity or agility obstacle sequence to change things up. The only things he's allowed to chew on when we're gone are deer antlers now.

For the bedding, just the plastic tray should be fine, especially since you're not gone too long. You could also try to experiment with carpeting remnants. A good thick piece of carpeting, or one attached to a sheet of plywood might seem enough like flooring for her to leave it alone. You could also focus on giving her edible things to chew that won't cause obstructions like frozen meat chunks or frozen blocks of low-sodium broth.

Is it a wire crate or hard plastic?

I had a rescue that absolutely destroyed one of the plastic pans in a wire crate. Plus, Cino wore grooves into his canines while he was in a wire crate. No problems when I moved the dogs to a hard plastic crate with a metal door.

No padding or anything "soft" in the crate with them.

Thanks everyone for your helpful responses. In the house she has a wire crate with a plastic tray. I removed all the blankets. In the car she has a hard plastic crate with a wire door.

icvanstra wrote:Is it a wire crate or hard plastic?
I had a rescue that absolutely destroyed one of the plastic pans in a wire crate. Plus, Cino wore grooves into his canines while he was in a wire crate. No problems when I moved the dogs to a hard plastic crate with a metal door.
No padding or anything "soft" in the crate with them.

I agree that hard plastic crates are usually better containment than the wire ones. BUT. I have one DS (Cino relative, Eric) who is very crafty and even managed to eat out the side of her hard plastic crate. It was a sturdy old crate (they used to be a lot less flimsy than they are now) and she positively chewed through the side. Just because she was agitated (bite work going on, and her wanting part of the action) and because she felt the need to prove -I guess- that she could get out of she wanted to. She made her point. And lost a canine.
(Moral of story. Never trust a willful DS)

So very true - never trust a willful DS. I have learned that lesson quickly....this breed is just way to smart for their own good!

The only things my girls have are deer antlers like Stephanie mentioned. I get them from Elkusa.com. That may be something you can leave in the crate while you are gone so she has something to do. Peanut butter in a Kong is good too. Just so she has some outlet for her anxiety wile crated.

Thanks for the continued suggestions. She loved the deer antlers as a puppy but not so much now but she would love the peanut butter kong. I will definitely try that!

GMorris. I overlooked the fact that you overlooked the introduction in the new member section
Would you mind hopping over there and cooking up a short intro there? You can also create a signature via yoru control panel, left top of the page, so we know 'who' you are? Thanks in advance.

Surely will......thanks

Thanks!

Yep, dealt with numerous destroyed blankets, 7 chewed leashes, and now two crates (metal and plastic)... Not to mention other stuff he got ahold of once he busted out.

Now he freeroams my bedroom with his crate open and he's completely fine. If he does have an accident he does it in his old crate then just lays on my bed else wise.

gmorris,

I don't know if you'll be back to this thread, but if you return, and you're still interested in something for the floor of your crate space, you can get stall mats. They're very heavy duty rubber and provice nice cushioning.

Wow ! That sounds great I will look into it !

Thanks so much