Dogs and Wood

[BeagleMum]

My dogs (beagles) both have a strange obsession for wood. They both love to eat sticks, rocks, mud, grass, whatever. They have already eaten one of my chairs that I had in the back yard and my lilac tree. They ate the corner off of the shed and then chewed part of the base. They have a ton of chew toys and play toys but are much more interested in eating my things.

We just got a pool about a month ago and put in the deck this weekend. Not 2 hours after the deck was done did Sydney eat the corner of it. Now, every time they go outside, they head for the corner to chew on it.

Last night I put some Vietnamese hot sauce on it and it seems to be keeping Spencer away but Sydney likes the stuff and jest goes over and licks it off. This stuff is so hot that I can barely stand it.

Any suggestions on what to do to save my deck before they eat the whole thing?

[Prin]

Are you out there with them? Maybe they need to play more (with you).

[BeagleMum]

Ya, I can be sitting right there on the deck and they will just chew whatever. I can be playing with then and they will find a scrap piece of wood somewhere (I swear the hid a few pieces for safe keeping) and they will go off somewhere and chew them. I don't get it. I think that maybe they are getting bored with their toys. I will have to start rotating them I guess but I don't have enough toys that are strong ehough for them. They destroy everything. A ball lasted about 34 seconds yesterday. At least I had gotten it cheap.

[Prin]

What about Kongs? Do they like them?

[BeagleMum]

Ya, I have 3 of them. I also have the Orka Jacks, balls, marrow bones, tug toys, you name it. I may get them a coupel more squeaky rubber toys because the squeakers are broken in the ones that they have.

The problem with the kongs is that I am very limited to what I can put into it. Spencer has food allergies and I finally have it under control so there are not too many exciting things that I can put into a kong.

[Prin]

You might not be able to put anything in it, but you can throw it.

[jessi76]

my bf is a furniture maker... works in a furniture shop (duh)... and takes Tucker to work with him. Tucker (although a near perfect angel at home) has chewed some rather expensive, custom, handmade furniture at the shop. Thankfully the owner is a dog lover, and didn't get mad at him... phew!

but my bf's solution to the problem... provide wood FOR chewing. He keeps a few buckets around the shop, filled w/ scraps. the dogs (Tucker & other's that visit) are welcome to take any scraps they want, and mangle them.

as long as they keep scraps available, the nice furniture is untouched.

If you just built a deck, you should have some scraps laying around. just be sure they are clean wood, NOT treated. keep a rubbermaid bin of big sticks & wood chunks - throw them out (or burn them) when they are too small.

Tucker & jack sharing a scrap....

[BeagleMum]

The deck wood was all treated wood which is mainly why I am so concerned about the stash of scraps that I am sure they have hidden somewhere.

Do you think that just any old stick would do? Do they not get slivers in their gums or upset tummies from eating the wood?

[jessi76]

Originally Posted by Grover4

Do you think that just any old stick would do? Do they not get slivers in their gums or upset tummies from eating the wood?

Occassionally Tucker will get a piece wedged in a tooth, but my bf always has a close eye on him, and promptly removes it. for the most part though, he's FINE. Tucker really only likes to chew the corners off the blocks of wood, then moves on to the next one. as for sticks, he chomps them to pieces, spits out all the pieces, and leaves a big mess. he doesn't eat them.

yeah, don't let them chew on treated wood. If I lived near you I'd send over a few buckets of clean scraps for spencer & sydney!

[rainbow]

Grover4, I can sympathize with you. I have a lab and a husky that are the same. The husky never chewed until the lab came along. The lab also showed him how much fun digging holes can be. They have chewed the bark off a tree, destroyed our deck, part of a fence, and the little stand that I use to hang my laundry out on the clothesline.

The deck and stand are also made of treated lumber. My lab's back teeth have turned black in places. We don't know if it's from the treated wood or not. He's been seen by the vet and pics and xrays sent to the dentistry specialist and both don't know if the treated wood could cause something like that. The husky's teeth are fine so one would think that the treated wood didn't cause it.

How old are your beagles? My husky is 19 months and my lab is 13 months. They still like to dig but the wood chewing has noticeably slowed down. Perhaps because all the easy to get at places are already destroyed.

[technodoll]

on the other hand... not all dogs can make the distinction between "wood they are allowed to chew on" and "forbidden wood" some can be trained to learn, others not... it's like giving your dog an old shoe to chew on and then acting surprised to come home and find all the good shoes have been sampled, LOL!

i sure wish you luck & hope you find a solution! do they like to chew on big raw tasty knucklebones as a past-time?

[BeagleMum]

I have never given them a RMB but with Spencer's allergies, I need to take things like that pretty slow. I know that he is fine with his chicken strips so I will try beef next.

Spencer is 21 months old and Sydney is 13 months.

[Prin]

I'm just curious- how much time a day do you spend playing with them? I don't mean them playing with each other; I mean real human-dog interactive playing..

[BeagleMum]

I get up at 5:30 in the morning and take them for a walk before work. The walk is usually about 30 minutes then we spend time in the house playing and getting ready for the day. I leave by about 7:15. Then from 4:30 to 10:00 they are either out for a walk with me, playing in the back yard or running in the house. I do training with them, we have tug sessions, play fetch, have cuddle time and then come to bed with me when I decide it is time to turn in.

[Angies Man]

When I was growing up in Western Michigan, there was this weed tree called Ironwood. Incrediblyhard stuff. Is there any ironwood around Ottawa? I'd go cut some chunks for the boys. Or buy some hardwood chunks (oak or maple?) for them. It would be nice to wean them off of eating the porch, shed, your home, etc.

I rolled on the floor about the dog who licks the Vietnamese hot sauce off the deck. When I was in show biz, it was how the magicians (Sigfried & Roy look alikes/wannabees) would teach the baby tiger not to bite them. Have you tried HORSERADISH?

[lauriet]

Hi there,
I'm new here, and getting to know a new pup (9 week old lab/poodle). He loves to chew just about everything, and really enjoys a taste of our old house's wood trim (baseboards, doorways...). He's happy to be diverted with a chew toy or bone or just about anything, but in the few seconds it takes us to get to him, he can leave some real scrapes.
Any suggestions of what to rub on the wood so he won't like it so much?
(A former neighbour did the hot pepper-thing, but I wonder about that for a puppy...?)
thanks,
Laurie

[LynLyn]

Personally I wouldn't let the dogs chew on wood (personally of course) and only because my cousin's dog chewed on the corner of his couch and had bloody stool, may have been a one time thing (he was never allowed to chew on wood after that) but it scarred me for life.

[Prin]

There's "bitter apple" too that you can spray on stuff...

[Odieandmaggiesd]

Odie and Maggie are HUGEwood chewers...I re-did the floors in laminate, and when I was doing the trim, I would cut a piece, place it in hit's spot and go getanother peice ready...come back na dno more piece...go up in Maggie's room...and sure enough...there's a mangled piece of trim on the floor

it was frustrating...but I went to my sister's place, grabbed some of her firewood nad tossed a couple logs in teh yard...since then...that's their main toy outside...I open the door to go out with them...they both run for a log, one grabs itand they play keep away :P


Of course both Odie and Maggie are not eaters...they just chew stuff up and spit it out...even carrots :P

[hazelrunpack]

It'll look like crap, but to keep your dogs from chewing on your deck, you could staple chicken wire to it--provided they don't take a liking to the chicken wire. We use it around the base of the fence to keep our dogs from excavating out the mole tunnels that run under the fence and also have used it on the landscaping ties to deter them from chewing. They don't seem to have a taste for chicken wire, so we've had good luck with the technique. Worth a try, anyway...chicken wire is pretty cheap...

[JanM]

I'm sure glad others have the wood-chewing problem! Bobby won't bother with wood but Amber - whew - she chews any wood she can find - living or not. A couple of weeks ago she chewed my "Harry Lauder Walking Stick" - it is now about half the size it was. (It's a tree that grows all gnarled and twisty). She was very sick and I didn't realize that she had chewed it until several days after - weather didn't promote outdoors time and she was always good about staying out of the garden. When I noticed it, I knew that was what had made her sick - what's left of the tree is now in the care of a garden club member! I too now provide wood she can chew - it works both ways - she makes kindling for my outdoor fire pit... Amber has toys - balls, stuffies, tug toys, bones - but she insists on chewing wood. I wondered if it could be a diet-related problem - something lacking??? In case that's it, I'm going to try adding some of the dehydrated NRG food to her Go Natural to see if it makes any difference.