Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Puppy destructive chewing leads to path of destruction!

Boy, it doesn't take long for me to eat my words! Remember how I said that Jet was such a good puppy? Well, that was before she started annihilating all my toys! It happened so fast, like a remorseless destruction monster took over Jet's body overnight.

Witness "Jet Nasty's" path of destruction...
This was Bernie's octopus. It's so sad that Jet Nasty amputated all the legs one by one. Look at her! She's ready to finish off the other two legs!
Then she hit my Pogo Plush...
and this used to be my pheasant before she ripped the wing off and pulled all the stuffing out...and one of my tug toys...
Oh Polly Piggy, not you too!!

Why, Jet Nasty, why??!!

In my anguish, Jenn reminded me that I went through a phase like this too. Right about the time I turned six months old. All of a sudden, I started ripping things apart, even toys I really liked and seemed to cherish. Hmmm. It's called Secondary Chewing Phase and every puppy goes through it. Now that I remember, it felt really good on my teeth to tear things. My mouth was hurting from all those setting molars and the only relief was using my jaws to tear, rip and destroy things. So, this is just a stage! That's good news. The bad news is that it is going to be a phase that could go on for months and months.

What will we do to survive the wrath of Jet Nasty?? What can you do to keep your puppy from destroying your house during Secondary Chewing Phase??

  1. Be patient. It is a stage and may go on for months, but it is a stage.
  2. Puppy Proof. Anything you don't want in your puppy's mouth needs to be out of reach.
  3. Supervise. Can't be said enough. If you are not watching your puppy, you cannot guide them on what it OK to chew or not. Watch them or put them in their crate.
  4. Channel puppy's destruction and give your puppy lots of things that they can rip apart and chew safely. Jenn gives Jet cardboard boxes to rip apart, Nylabones and stuffed Kongs to work her jaws, and raw meaty femur bones from the butcher to give her something to gnaw on.
  5. Don't spend your money on cheapy plush toys unless you don't mind that they get destroyed in 30 seconds.
Jenn promised to "rehab" some of my toys, especially Polly Piggy. And she'll put away my other favorite soft toys until Jet Nasty is past this stage. Whew!

2 comments:

Niamh said...

Very sorry to hear about the demise of your toys Royal. Ambrose did the same thing and many favorite toys bit the dust including my hedgehog. He is better now, although still a bit destructive and can only have the sturdiest toys.

Your friend,
Niamh

Leeandra Mizzi said...

Hi! I just found your blog. My name is Curtis, I am an aussie to0 and I live in Malta, but originally came from Italy although my parents are American! I thought I was the only Aussie with a blog, then I found yours and think it's really cool.

I so feel for you pal! I have a sister who is now 1 year old but was such a nightmare at 6 months old!

I'm following your blog now. If you want to follow mine, go ahead. It can be found at http://talesofanaussie.blogspot.com
Love Curtis