Question for Dog Owners

Jeb Brookshire · **Posted:** Thu Jul 21, 2011 7:27 pm

We adopted an 8month old pit/basset mix and are crate training him. He does great, no accidents. However the last couple of days he has decided to shred the bedding we have put in there. We use old towels and sheets. Is he just getting bored? We put some other toys in there and use a peanut butter filled Kong to occupy him as well. Should we leave him in there sans bedding during the day? I just want him to be comfortable and he is too young and too much of a chewer to maybe gate off a section of the house.

Thoughts and advice welcome and Smokey says thanks too!

RobLupella · **Posted:** Thu Jul 21, 2011 8:17 pm

Our 4yo Pit shreds the sheets we put in the crate too. They are chewers and she gets bored and that is what she chews on when she gets bored of chewing on the metal bars. She is actually now in a plastic airline crate since it was getting expensive to keep welding sheet metal to the crate. :shock:

He may grow out of it.

Rob

Jason Tower · **Joined:** Wed Jun 11, 2008 3:31 pm **Posts:** 1173

could be boredom, could be separation anxiety, could just be puppy-ness. is he using his teeth or claws to shred? if the former a big soup bone may help, i've yet to meet a "chewer" that doesn't like them. if the latter keep his nails trimmed as short as possible, most dogs i see have nails that are way longer than they should/need to be.

Keith Quistorff · **Posted:** Fri Jul 22, 2011 9:48 am

Jeb Brookshire wrote:

We adopted an 8month old pit/basset mix and are crate training him. He does great, no accidents. However the last couple of days he has decided to shred the bedding we have put in there. We use old towels and sheets. Is he just getting bored? We put some other toys in there and use a peanut butter filled Kong to occupy him as well. Should we leave him in there sans bedding during the day? I just want him to be comfortable and he is too young and too much of a chewer to maybe gate off a section of the house.

Thoughts and advice welcome and Smokey says thanks too!

Definitely sounds to me like he's bored. I don't recall what age most puppies peak for teething (I'm thinking younger than 8 mos, but not sure), but that may also be part of it. How long are you leaving him in the crate at a time? If several hours or more, he's surely bored out of his mind, especially considering how much energy most puppies have. I wouldn't worry about going sans bedding - the only dog I had that I crated actually preferred no bedding in the crate, and most dogs prefer a cooler surface to lay on.

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