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My little baby Athena is almost 2 years old and we have a huge problem with chewing. She loves to sink her teeth into anything and everything. I have lost many shoes, shirts, pillows, etc to her excessive chewing.
She got a little better the more she matured with age but it still happens. I can’t even buy her toys that she does not demolish by the end of the day. A few people have told me the Kong treat toy is a good one that last but I dunno. I’ve tried large rubber tennis balls and they don’t last more than a day.
Usually I buy stuffed animals at yard sales and let her have at them but I know I need to get the chewing stopped before she chews me out of house and home. And there is no way she is going outside because she is literally like my child. So that is not an option.
Help! 🙂
I’ll preface this by saying that I don’t own my own pit bull (yet!), but I’ve helped raise/train several of my friend’s dogs, and have been doing a lot of research to prepare myself.
With that said:
Is crate training an option? It’s a good way to keep her away from things she shouldn’t be chewing when you’re not at home to keep an eye on her.
Kongs are as amazing as people claim. My friend has a rowdy English Bulldog who can (and does) destroy every toy he’s given, and the super strong Kongs have outlasted his teeth.
If you catch her chewing on something she SHOULD be chewing on, make sure you lay on the praise. If she goes after something she shouldn’t, take it away and replace with an appropriate toy. Praise accordingly when she takes to the new one.
I don’t know if your new to pits but they are extreme chewers. My female Kira is my crazy chewer so I feel your pain. You sound like my mom when it comes to toys. She says that’s crazy to spend almost$ 20 on a toy. But if you add up the money you have to keep spending then it actually isn’t so bad to by the extreme chew toys. I understand you buy stuffed toys at garage sales but you can’t tell me it’s not a pain to have to constantly pick up the messes. I know first had it sucks. So I buy no stuffing animals only when they are on sale. One piece of advice from experience with the kong is my male Ace is 60bls and he destroyed the large size kong but does great with the xl one. Kira is 50lbs and she does great with the large one. Another great durable toy is the black nyla bone or the one that’s green in the middle and mint flavored. You can get those at Meijer for 12 bucks. If I can help anymore you can email me I’d be glad to help.
Ambermy only advise is get a kong chew toy and put some smooth peanut butter in it i had read on the forum about kong toys and it was the best buy iv ever done it keeps bailey quite and has helped with her chewing .
Athena is my second Pit Bull but my first, Ares, was killed by a hit and run vehicle. He had a completely different personality from Athena though. It was like night and day. He was so cool calm and collected… wheras Athena sometimes looks as if she needs some Ritalin. ha
But I have tried crate training. We started that when she was a puppy and I had to leave her home while I was at work. It went ok until the day she learned how to unlatched her door and escape. She is my little Houdini.
But I will definitely try the Kong. I am not going to be cheap either and pay the big bucks and pray it last more than a few days! Hopefully she’ll like the fact that it will have some of her favorite treats hidden inside of it. Thanks for the great advice!
I forgot one thing to tell you and this might happen if Athena hasn’t had a kong before. My male Ace had never had one either and I got him the larg size first and put treats in it and treats in Kira’s. Put them in their crates and went back to work. Well Ace had no Idea what to do with it and how the treats would come out so being the smart ass he is he ripped it unitl the hole got bigger and then the treats came out.LOL So I thought well maybe the bigger size will be better. I got the XL and it works better. Also the Black Kongs are more durable than the Red and they just started making these blue ones too that actually show up on x-rays if the dog eats it. She will love them trust me. Kira is so intense of a chewer no joke at all. I keep nyla bones in their crates while I’m at work all day. I let them out on my lunch hour and then when I get home in the evenings they go out, eat, then she grabs her bone and chews for hours. But her teeth are the cleanest teeth I have ever seen in a dog. You doesn’t have a speck of tartar.
Amber
Raisin has chewed holes in our outdoor siding and walls in our house. We use the Kong filled with peanut butter as well as once a day he gets a soup bone from the butcher shop (but I always watch while he chews on them). He loves them and will chew for hours. Some people worry about should he crack a tooth but at this point I have decided I will have to address that if it occurs. My siding, my walls, and my floor boards were tired of being his objects of “affection”. Once he cleans out the Kong he is bored and the worst part he seems to be bored if he has a toy he can not destroy. Almost like he isn’t getting the satisfaction of destroying something so he just finds something else.
Good luck. = )
my 6 month old chews almost all day. Raisin’ hasn’t destroyed anything yet that he wasn’t meant to, only because he is monitored every minute & he has many many acceptable chew toys. he has a kong, but doesn’t seem to love it. He loves his rope with huge knots and he has a bottle that has a rope coming out of it that when he swings it around treats fall out.. he chews on a nyla-bone with a rubber ball in the middle of it. and we had to buy those rubber chuck it balls because the regular tennis balls don’t last an hour… he has a nyla-bone that I have to sometimes boil in poultry seasoned water to make him interested in it.. and he gets the marrow bones that I get from the supermarket & I boil it in beef bullions… I never leave all his toys out at the same time, but alternate his toys every so often so he stays interested in them. whenever he gets something he is not supposed to, I’ve learned not to chase him to get it away, that’s too much fun for him. I get down to the ground and call him over excitedly and trade him for an appropriate toy or treat. I keep my closet door closed at all times, but I know it’s only a matter of time before there is a serious high heel casualty.. I hear they are still puppies at 3 years… it’s going to be a long couple of years! I sometimes call my husband at work and beg him to come home so I can take a shower!!
my boys have chewed a hole in the middle of my bed, a hole in the wall, and my couch… i found that toys,bone,cow nuckles did little.
but i did find that a thick canves, (like military tents are made of). wrapped around a rope or tire hung from anything high. tree branch ect…. this gave them a challange and plenty of durabilaty and the chewing stopped. worked for me maybe you too. ps get them interested in the wrap by rubbing with treats.I have found that nyla bones are great and last a very long time. I just look for anything that is suppose to be for extreme chewers. Even if the toy is more expensive if it lasts long than the others it is definitely worth it. I would much rather have my puppy chewing on a toy that she is suppose to than on other things around the house.
My Nina used to chew on and DRAG a panel of wooden fence around our backyard for HOURS…we were worried about her chewing a hole in the fence itself so we tryed a Kong and it has helped a TON…we break her dog treats into 1/4’s and then put the peices along with peanut butter in the kong and it keeps her busy for quite a while 🙂
i like the real beef bones from the butcher in the grocery store the best, u take them home and cook them to get all the meat and marrow, and then u can fill them with whatever, but lillie has had hers for a year, and it is still going strong. and as all of us well know, pits can chew thru anything! lol. especially daddy’s shoes and wallets(all leather…)
I buy the beef bones as well but I just throw them in the freezer and give them to my dog each night after his dinner feeding.
I second the nylabones – I haven’t had my girl for very long but a nylabone is the only toy she hasn’t destroyed completely in under 24 hours.
Another vote for Nylabones! My dog loves his, and they last for months. Whenever I catch him chewing on something he shouldn’t, I distract him (usually moving quickly and loudly to another room so he’s interested to follow me) and interest him in his bone instead. Then I praise and pet him for chewing his bone.
If your dog really likes to destroy stuff, you could also try giving her stuff to destroy – I give mine paper egg cartons with a bit of peanut butter smeared inside, paper towel rolls, etc., and he loves tearing them apart. I also – and this is such a cheap option – give him sticks. He loved chewing on my wood furniture, so I started giving him dead sticks from outside; he loves them and will work to get them (I make him sit, down, wait, whatever) and then he’ll chew them to bits. Those options make a mess, but it really helps him get his destructive energy out.
Also, totally get yourself a black Kong or two. My favourite trick right now is to use it to give him part of his dinner – so I feed him most of his dinner in his bowl, but the other half a cup or so goes in his Kong along with something wet and especially tasty – pumpkin or canned dog food or a bit of peanut butter – mixed in and on either end. I push and push with my thumb until the Kong’s as full as can be. Then I freeze the whole thing for a few hours. The frozen Kong lets him work out his chews and also gives him some mental stimulation as he figures out how to get the food out. This generally takes him an hour or more – and gives me a nice break!
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