Dog Owners Battling Destructive Chewing
Many dog owners are struggling with their puppies and dogs exhibiting destructive chewing behaviors, including eating inappropriate items like toilet paper, leaves, hair, and trash. Common strategies like crating, 'drop it' commands, and door closures aren't always effective, leaving owners frustrated and seeking solutions.
SOURCES (60)
“My dog is one and a half years old, she’s a smaller breed dog, half chihuahua. She will not stop eating her poop to move it to the bed when I’m gone. We have a studio. I cover it and she still will manage. I…”
“Our nine week old lab loved to chew on everything, even when he has a nice pliant bone accessible. He especially loves to chew on hard stuff like the side of his crate or xpen. I feel like we’ve removed what we can. We’re teaching leave it. If your puppy liked the hard stuff … did anything help? I know it’s really bad for his teeth. submitted by /u/howzaboutthis [link] [comments]”
Does your dog turn his head when he hears an odd noise? Does your dog bury their food with your pants? This is the thread to ask why. Please keep this thread…
“Hi, my dog is a cross breed 1.5 year old who is chewing everything she can find. We got her in Dec 2025 and she’s currently in her teenage phase and has gone back to chewing things. This time she is chewing shoes, blankets and beds… pretty much anything. We’ve had to remove all blankets from her crate and separate her from her bonded pair as he’s a skinny dog and needs a bed to sleep on, otherwise he cries and shakes. She’s destroyed so many toys, beds and household things which we have removed.”
Does your dog turn his head when he hears an odd noise? Does your dog bury their food with your pants? This is the thread to ask why. Please keep this thread…
“So our puppy (almost 6 months old, Toller retriever, female), loves to steal socks and other things. We’ve been trying to react calmly but sometimes she picks up plastic from the street or things that could be dangerous. This morning she stole my socks and my partner tried to take it from her (gently). She then proceeded to growl and bite him. This has never happened before, she just likes to run away and she seems to find it amusing. We’re quite shocked that she actually bit and we don’t know w”
“Hi. people. I have to buy a new leash for my Aussie every 3 or 4 weeks because when he gets really excited, he turns and chews at it, which is no match for his teeth. Does anybody have a brand suggestion that is heavy duty, preferably 30'? Thank you. submitted by /u/Shitbagsewerpickle [link] [comments]”
“What are some quirks your dog has? Please make me laugh. I am post partum and I’m so sad / weepy about my baby growing up. I’ll go first. My coton de tulear HATES bath mats. She will rip them up, fold them over, pee on them, wreak havoc on them. Extra thank you for videos!!!! Sorry I just need the smiles rn hahaha submitted by /u/AdTime2271 [link] [comments]”
“She's a 6 month old Golden Retriever. Everything she sees, she grabs. I understand she is a puppy and that's how they explore the world, so people say she will eventually stop doing it (at least that frequently) as she gets older, but right now it is exhausting. We can literally ask her to drop something every three to five steps we take. Sometimes she'll do it, sometimes she won't, and we have to get it out of her mouth with our hands, which she accepts with no problem, but it w”
Does your dog turn his head when he hears an odd noise? Does your dog bury their food with your pants? This is the thread to ask why. Please keep this thread…
Does your dog turn his head when he hears an odd noise? Does your dog bury their food with your pants? This is the thread to ask why. Please keep this thread…
“Hello, for context I am currently a master’s student living alone with my dog who’s a 1 1/2 yr old Carolina/shepherd mix weighing ~80lbs. Due to my schedule I’m often gone for upwards of 8 hours a day with some days allowing for occasional breaks for me to come back home and check on him. When I first got him I had crate-trained him (although he wasn’t a big fan of it) and once he got to a point where he could be left out I would leave him while I ran small errands. As of recently however, he’s”
“I have a 2 year old GSD who, for the last year, will not stop chewing on her leg. It is to the point that its is constantly raw and bleeding. We have done multiple rounds of antibiotics, allergy meds, gabapentine, even fancy red light therapy. We have made it to the point where it was fully healed twice, then a week later I wake up to blood everywhere and a hole in her leg. We are on our 3rd leg compression sling which is soon to be our 4th because she won't stop chewing them, dont even get”
Does your dog turn his head when he hears an odd noise? Does your dog bury their food with your pants? This is the thread to ask why. Please keep this thread…
“Hello! I wanted to share a tip for teething puppies (this is completely unsponsored lol). Get yourself some No Hide Stix (the smallest size) and soak them in some water for a bit and then freeze them . I personally used the Earth Animal brand cause that’s what we sold in the pet store I worked at (I can’t figure out how to attach a picture of the product). Do NOT give your dogs actual rawhide, puppies or adult dogs. Real rawhide is very dangerous for dogs. I’ve raised two puppies using this tric”
“My 13 year old lab has been tipping over my garbage can to get to the bag and rips it apart to eat out of it. Obviously, this is super inconvenient for everyone. Does anyone have any budget bin suggestions (under 75$)? This is my current bin submitted by /u/_AsterOleander_ [link] [comments]”
“My fiance and I have a 10 month old Huskie Brittany Spaniel mix who is a ball of joy and energy. We adopted her about 8 months ago and are still getting her trained on certain things but we are having a difficult time with her chewing on random objects. For example, we have gotten her multiple dog beds since we adopted her but they have not lasted longer than 2 days since she tends to chew them up and completely destroy them within that time. She's also chewed through multiple different thin”
Does your dog turn his head when he hears an odd noise? Does your dog bury their food with your pants? This is the thread to ask why. Please keep this thread…
“My 16 week old standard poodle puppy tries to eat stuff outside constantly. Well this morning she was chewing on a stick and got a piece of it stuck across the roof of her mouth. She started thrashing her head around but luckily I was able to force her mouth open and pull it out. There was a little bit of her blood on my hand but fortunately I don’t think it’s too bad. I’m still shaken up and would love advice on how you guys trained your pups to not pick up everything. submitted by”
Does your dog turn his head when he hears an odd noise? Does your dog bury their food with your pants? This is the thread to ask why. Please keep this thread…
“My 5-month-old husky/lab mix loves socks! He never used to swallow them until recently! I now have hidden all socks, and he just swallowed one, and I wasn’t even going to go near him to grab it; I was trying to distract him so he could drop it, and he just straight up swallowed it anyway. He throws them up, and the first two he threw up, he allowed me to pick up and throw out. Now he just throws them up and swallows them. How do I approach him throwing up so I can grab the sock before he swallow”
“Any tips to train a puppy to stop putting everything in his mouth? I’m exhausted watching him everywhere he goes 😵💫 (3 month labradoodle) submitted by /u/Sufficient_Item4271 [link] [comments]”
Does your dog turn his head when he hears an odd noise? Does your dog bury their food with your pants? This is the thread to ask why. Please keep this thread…
Does your dog turn his head when he hears an odd noise? Does your dog bury their food with your pants? This is the thread to ask why. Please keep this thread…
“My pomeranian really likes chewing on cardboard. Is there a dog safe alternative I can give her to chew on instead? submitted by /u/HeftyCollection9615 [link] [comments]”
“I've seen destruction boxes and foraging boxes, but unfortunately at the moment my girl will chew and actually swallow anything not meant for consumption at this stage. Paper, cardboard, etc, are all confiscated within minutes. She's very food orientated/motivated and not long occupied by toys before she's moving on to furniture and other things she shouldn't be chewing or tearing. I often get creative with hiding kibble in a box full of her toys, but I am looking for enrichment”
“Hello! My doxie (Male, 1 yr 8 months) is due to go to the vet tomorrow for a pre op assessment (getting snipped) and I'm wondering if I should bring up paw chewing while I'm there? It's not necessarily excessive and he doesn't seem to be in pain or anything but I've never had any other dogs that do it. We'll be sitting on the couch and he chews on one of his hind paws / just shoves the whole foot in his mouth. Should I bring this up or is it just a weird quirk? Thanks in”
“My dog is still chewing everything, shoes, clothes, walls, etc. I’ve tried training but doesn’t seem to work. Any advice? submitted by /u/AlinaTheWaldenU [link] [comments]”
“my puppy is a male intact 10 month old pitbull x rottweiler (a bad combo, i know) i hate taking him outside, because he always tries to eat something. every single time. i look away for one second and he’s eating something. he knows he’s not supposed to eat things, when he sees something he wants he’ll eat it as fast as he can because he knows i’m going to take it out his mouth and he hates knowing i’m upset with him. today, that backfired. i noticed him eating something when we were walking on”
“I understand it could be allergies - but it's just one paw in particular... she started it a few months ago, on and off. Her paw pads are rough, so I'm wondering if she is "filing it down"? Species: Dog Age:4.5 Sex/Neuter status: female, fixed Breed: Mutt Body weight: 50 lbs submitted by /u/UpstateSoCa [link] [comments]”
“Hi all! My puppy is 8 months old, Australian/golden mix, and we’ve had him about 4 months. The dude is OBSESSED with eating chunks of mowed up grass almost any time he goes outside or on walks. I read online that it could be issues with his gut or fiber intake, but his poops seem normal and regular. Is he exploring the world or do we need to make a vet trip? Thanks soooo much! submitted by /u/Quiet-Armadillo-2808 [link] [comments]”
“A few days ago on Saturday my 13 yr old beagle went around like crazy and started eating all the hair in the apartment. We have two dogs so there was quite a bit of fur on the floor that he went out of his way to eat. Then he went into the bathroom to start eating all the human hair he could find and eventually vomited. He had never gone out of his way to eat so much hair in one go before. Thought it was a one time thing but when I came home today I found more hair puke. I don't understand w”
“He is an almost 4 months old Westie, not sure if it is due to his teeth bothering him but he LOVES to chew on random stuff. One of the many things that he knows is not allowed to chew on but does anyway when he gets the chance are cords, with hands and feet a close second. I have been trying to keep stuff out of his reach but it's like he has an innate talent to find dangerous stuff to chew on or try to eat. Out of those, I feel like the most urgent one are the cords, so far we have been kee”
Does your dog turn his head when he hears an odd noise? Does your dog bury their food with your pants? This is the thread to ask why. Please keep this thread…
“Why is she always eating her poop she eats her poop just to poop it out again like whut the fuck she’s 3 months old submitted by /u/HRUSoDumb [link] [comments]”
“My dog picked a new behaviour recently whereby she holds things in her mouth without necessarily chewing them. She's very playful but whenever she's calm or just resting, I know she has something in her mouth and this goes on for hours sometimes submitted by /u/corleyte [link] [comments]”
“My rescue (he joined us 3 years ago at around age 18 months, if you believe Embark he's a Pyr/Pittie/Husky + cross) is obsessed with eating long grass in the summer. He will pull it up by the roots and swallow it whole, and unchecked he'll eat a belly full and (hopefully) puke it up, but there's enough I worry about an impaction. He doesn't bother with short great or cut grass.. it has to be alive and long. So far my mitigation has been avoidance. However this is not a fabulous l”
“My dog is 16 months old and has recently regressed with chewing. For a long while after teething, he would only chew things like his collagen sticks. The last couple weeks, though, he's chewing on bookshelves, baby gates, the couch, etc. He'll be exhausted from playing and he'll still slink over to the corner of the couch and chew on it. I was wondering if there was something non-consumable that I could give him to chew on? Or any recommendations to help here? submitted by  ”
“Just curious. Lately mine will just gently nibble on my finger tips while licking my hand. Almost like I’m a human chew toy. submitted by /u/Kurupt_Introvert [link] [comments]”
Does your dog turn his head when he hears an odd noise? Does your dog bury their food with your pants? This is the thread to ask why. Please keep this thread…
“Can someone explain to me why my puppy likes to chew on glass? He is six months old great Pyrenees German Shepherd mix. This started about a month ago when me and my fiancé caught him chewing on a glass drinking cup. He has since broken several dishes and caught chewing on them and frequently finds glass in the backyard and chews on it (we bought the property from a previous hoarder so there’s decades of trash buried in dirt in the backyard). We’ve tried our best to pick up everything we can fin”
“my pup is about to be 4 months old and is only now starting to go on walks on the actual ground and he is trying to eat literally everything 🤦🏻♀️ leafs, pebbles, sticks, bugs ect literally everything on the ground and I live in a pretty forested area so there is no avoiding it on the floor and I'm worried he'll quickly swallow something without me having time to get it out his mouth 😬 is there any way to train him to not do this or any tips on how to avoid this? ( sorry for the reall”
“Hi I have a lab who’s about a year and a half old and I’ve tried training him by trying to trade him treats whenever he picks something up he shouldn’t he seems to do somewhat better when I’m around but he is awful when I don’t watch him he chews anything he can reach I want to be able to leave him out when I’m at work I don’t like I have to keep him in a crate all day submitted by /u/mike98235 [link] [comments]”
“New puppy. She is a biter. What i dont get, is she is ignoring chew toys for the furniture or our hands. Like I try to redirect. She completely ignores and right back for the furniture or my hand. I got so many different kinds of chew toys and textures. Mostly useless. The flavored stuff does nothing. But the corner of the coffee table? Or the side of the couch? Thats the best. I am trying to engage and play with her...but nope. Its like ecstasy or something. I tried even similar texture things.”
“I love my dog dearly but I’m coming to my wits end with this. She has her own toys in which she won’t destroy, but almost anything else relatively small she will. My partner and I try not to leave stuff out for this reason but mistakes happen, and she’s quick with it. I have fish tanks and often collect pieces of wood for them, she pulled them off the counter and chewed them all up. Gave one of my cats a splinter which resulted in an expensive vet trip. Just now I was sanding the walls to prep f”
“New here. I have a 13 pound 16 month old toy Aussie (or American shepherd however you classify them) who's a very VERY aggressive chewer. He's always loved benebones and hard chews similar to those they are a major comfort item for him. However, he recently got a slab fracture on one of his largest back molars from them and had to have it removed 2 days ago so it's goodbye to his comfort items. I have kongs and other rubber type chews that he plays with but doesn't chew on. I'”
“Hi! We think my golden has pica. He will eat anything but has some kind of lust/compulsion for textiles. It is so bad we have to restrict him to two rooms of the house, and he has to be in face jail (basket muzzle) if we can't watch him directly, following a series of life-threatening incidents. That is imperfect because husband and kids all have ADHD and forget the muzzle, so our home is a very controlled environment, and we had to remove dog beds and rugs. However, we have hard flooring be”
“Ok so my now 13 month old pup was a bit of a naughty chewer when she was younger. Bitter apple spray did absolutely nothing. She particularly liked the corners of the dining room table, and our rug. I would use my body to block her or lead her away with the lead until she got bored and she eventually stopped doing it. It seemed to work and she stopped a few months ago. Then a couple of weeks ago I left her alone for an hour or so (she had been walked just before with plenty of stimulation) and s”
Does your dog turn his head when he hears an odd noise? Does your dog bury their food with your pants? This is the thread to ask why. Please keep this thread…
“My puppy is 12 weeks, a Jack Russell yorkie cross, and I’ve had her a week. She has the last two days been ignoring her food and different texture toys to chew and I hope not swallow cardboard and plastic. If I take her into the garden she tries to eat rocks. I take things out of her mouth whenever I see her do it. My house looks insane because I can’t have anything on the floor so every surface has random things on it. I hoover and sweep as much as I can because she is conSTANTLY eating crumbs”
“I'm at a loss for what to do about my Golden Retriever. She is 2.5 years old and has a history of eating things she should not eat. She has gotten SO much better about not eating random objects but I cannot get her to stop pulling out her fur and eating it. Typically she passes the fur but today she is going into surgery for the second time because it got stuck. She is on anti-anxiety meds because it definitely seems to be an anxiety issue. Both times she has needed surgery it was right afte”
“I actually have the sweetest puppy in the world she’s great (4.5 month old papillon) but she keeps trying to chew the carpet 😭 she’s has a million toys, we keep trying to block the spots she likes to chew but she just moves to a new one, I play with her a ton, admittedly she gets very few walks right now due to the heat so maybe that could contribute but she’s not any better when she gets them. Most of the advice I see online suggests bitter apple spray, but one of the people I live with is all”
“my dog is 3.5 years old. she’s never chewed anything up besides toys before. and when she does chew up toys or sticks, she never swallows anything. she always has spit the little bits out. so last night during the night, she grabbed one of her jackets and chewed it up, ate the fabric, and threw it up. it’s so unlike her !! but otherwise she’s acting normal. i had a busy weekend and didn’t take her outside as much as usual. maybe she’s just bored/understimulated ? i just hope it was a random one-”
“Hello, in the past week or so my 11 y/o Ridgeback has been digging at the carpet, specifically the corners. She also was chewing on the fringe. Is this a sign of cognitive decline? She’s also had her first accidents with holding in her pee these past couple months. She will see the vet soon and I will bring this up. :( my dog submitted by /u/gizmomaestro [link] [comments]”
Does your dog turn his head when he hears an odd noise? Does your dog bury their food with your pants? This is the thread to ask why. Please keep this thread…
“She just bloody loves it. I've somewhat managed to get her to stop attacking other stuff, but I can't get her to stop. It seems the more I say no, the more she does it, which is hard to ignore sometimes because she gets rocks in her mouth. Some say to ignore her, not easy when she's chewing on throat size gravel... Please any advice would be appreciated greatly. She's pooing out worms and I believe it's from eating soil as she's just been dewormed by the vet. Don't wo”
“Hi everyone! Looking for some chew toy / enrichment recommendations for my 7.5-month-old Miniature Poodle. He’s entering his teenage chewing phase and has started targeting furniture legs in the living room and even bed fittings/frame corners at night while winding down on the bed. Here is our current situation: No soft/plush toys: He rips them open and tries to swallow fabric/threads. No Nylabones / hard plastic chews: I prefer to avoid hard nylon/plastics over concerns about teeth damage or mi”
Does your dog turn his head when he hears an odd noise? Does your dog bury their food with your pants? This is the thread to ask why. Please keep this thread…
“I doubt mine’s the only one, but tissues are a favourite of hers to snack and shred, probably the only thing we still have to hide away. Lol. If ever you take one out she almost goes into hunt mode, but recent she went into season i been using wet wipes to help her stay clean, owing to the tissue situation i have zero expectations of a nappy surviving. Initially it was as usual; she’d try and grab it from my hand, but she very quickly realised what I was doing and she like I imagine most female”
“I’m at the end of my rope. I have an 10 year old Australian shepherd. About 3 years ago he started getting into the trash. It has been an arms race ever since. He never gets into the trash when anyone is around or when he thinks people are home. Today he got into the trash again and ate 4 corn cobs. I can’t take this anymore. What I’ve tried: -Dog proof simple human trash can with a physical latch. He learned if he knocks it over and lays on the can, the latch will disengage. -Multiple child loc”