Just thought I'd share our working cocker, Molly's, catalogue of destruction for the last six weeks.  She is normally a little poppet, but when we go out, there's always a price (and often quite a hefty one) to pay.  In the last few weeks we have come back to: a ripped up rug, a coffee table which has been chewed all around the perimeter; tv table chewed at the corner; two chairs chewed at the legs; various cushions having had their stuffing ripped out and strewn all over the lounge; an ornamental dish pulled off the coffee table and smashed on the floor.   Needless to say, the lounge is looking rather the worse for wear.  We never leave her for more than 3 hours, and it seems that the destruction actually happens in the first half hour anyway as, even when I go to the corner shop, I come back to some disaster.  Worse, yesterday I foolishly thought she had gone to sleep under the desk in the office while I was working on the PC: when the mouse stopped working, I discovered that the little sod had chewed the cable for the cordless keyboard / mouse receiver, as well the card reader for the digital camera.  They cost me £100 to replace, but I am just grateful it was not a mains cable.  Obviously won't be letting her in there again.  Just wondering how much damage other people's dogs did when puppies (and hoping for some reassurance that she will grow out of it - though she is only 7 months at the moment, so I guess there's some way to go, and some more furniture to be replaced, still).  I know I should probably put her in her crate when we go out, but I feel a bit mean putting her in there other than at night. 

Our Aussie was destructive as a pup. She chewed the kitchen to bits even when she was left just for a few minutes :D I always put her in her cage when I went out and she always slept in it at night. She finally stopped chewing at a year and now we have a nice new kitchen :D She didn't do any damage to the rest of the house as she was never let into other rooms until she was controllable and and was not left unsupervised out of the kitchen (still isn't anyway). Don't feel mean about putting her in her cage - it hasn't done ours any harm :) As long as she gets plenty of walks and play with you at other times, she'll be fine.

Daisy

It is not mean to crate your dog if she is at risk of killing herself by chewing through a live electric cable; quite the opposite!

I am coming round to the crate idea - she couldn't electrocute herself as we never leave anything plugged in in the lounge (where she is restricted to when we go out) but I worry about her choking on something that she's chewing when we're out (which is wy I don't leave her any rawhide chews), or pulling something on top of herself (sometimes I feel like a parent that's paranoid about cot death or something!).

1. Carpet on the stairs.
2. Window ledge in the hall.
3. 2 stair rungs.
4. Wooden floor trim.
5. Umpteen barbie dolls.
6. Skirting boards.
Etc, etc, etc.

All these were done while i'd thought she was safe to leave just for 10mins while i nipped to the shop lol.
She's 10 months now and it's thankfully passed apart from the odd slipper. (But i really do wish i'd got a crate at the beginning) :)

Alfie has been crate trained (9 month Rottweiler).  I finished crate training him at 7 months and he's never chewed anything.  Done the same with our past Rotts and they didn't chew anything untoward either - can't be a fluke.

I must be very lucky as Diesel has only chewed 1 pillow and 1 training shoe so far, and the trainer was my fault as I left it lying - so it was fair game :D  He is crated when I go out, although the last week or so I have been leaving him with lots of toys to amuse him and his kong, and I have been nipping out to the shops or something, and leaving him the run of the kitchen, and when I come back, nine out of ten times he's been asleep in his crate. I just suddenly don't want to find that he's too big for his crate and I haven't made an effort to see how he behaves when not crated - but saying that he is only 5 months old.....so lot's of time yet
sharon
XX

Ive got a cocker who is now nearly 8 months old, he has chewed through 2 mouse cables (while Im sat here using the mouse arghh) & a cable for the digi camera. When he was little he did take a liking to nibbling the bottom of the sofas, but a sprinkling of chilli powder soon stopped that lol. He's always been crated when we've gone out the house, & I am now starting to leave him the run of downstairs if we go out. So far he has been brilliant, he just sits looking out the window waiting for us to get back. I did have problems last week though, he goes out the cat flap into the garden, which is secure, but during the high winds we had last week the side gate blew open. My neighbour caught him wandering around the front garden, luckily we're in a very quite cul de sac. From now on I double check the cat flap is closed if we go out!

My dog chewed 2 TV remotes when adolescent and also my sister's gorgeous, black velvet plush handbag when i thought she was being very quiet and good in the hall while we were in the living room :D LOL.

It was my fault for not paying attention - i am however, thrilled that she has never actually chewed a single thing whilst i have been out of the house :)

Lindsay

Oh yes, I forgot about the two remotes that Molly has got through.  And I got home today to find the frame of the futon had been chewed up....

But what about the damamge that could be done when you go to plug in an item which she's been chewing the lead of while you've been out?

I have just crate trained my 17month boxer (Roxy) It is the best thing that I have ever done. I was fed up with coming home to a wrecked kitchen. Cupboard doors chewed and contents emptied. Fridge emptied and contents consumed. Table and chairs chewed. One day I came home to cereal all over the kitchen and dining room floor, every box had been emptied. These had come from a child locked cupboard or so I thought. Enough was enough so I bought a crate. HEAVEN. Now know she's safe and my house is safe and our relationship has very much improved.

First GSD,
1, kitchen floor
2, living room carpet
3, shoes
4, kids toys
5, post
6, door
7, books.

Needless to say that with my recent GSD now 9 months i have learnt an bought a crate when she was 11 weeks :-D to date she has only got a few bits at night

Cordelia

Chance (now 18 months old) has chewed:

FOUR playstation controllers (my fault for not putting them out of his reach :D )
One TV remote
One Video remote
One Stereo remote
Several library books
Several brand new, unread hard-back books
Umpteen pens, pencils,etc
A few nit combs
Shoes, socks etc
The speaker cable for the computer
The hair-dryer cable
An armchair (this was ready to go to the skip, but was still in the house)
I don't know how many dolls feet and hands

This is getting depressing, I didn't realise just how much he had chewed 'til I put it down in writing. At least he has stopped now (I think ;) )

My JRT who is now 6 months old and still chewing!

THE LIVING ROOM CARPET (WITHIN THE FIRST TWO WEEKS, HAS BEEN REPLACED WITH LAMINATED!)
THE STAIR CARPET
MY DRAWERS IN LIVING ROOM (£179)
TV UNIT
COMPUTER DESK
TWO CHAIRS - WHICH I FOOLISH REPLACED WITH A CHEAP SOFA WHICH NOW ALSO HAS A BIG HOLE IN THE ARM
THE COMPUTER CHAIR
CUSHIONS
THE WALLPAPER IS COMING OFF THE WALL NOW IN THE LIVING ROOM
THE KITCHEN UNITS
THE WOOD ON THE STAIRS, SINCE THERE IS NOT CARPET THERE

My house is open plan downstairs so nowhere to lock him when I am out.... never heard of crating until recently would have used sooner if I knew about it, as it sounds like a good idea!    

Nell has never done any damage as we didn't get her until she was four, however Dicksy has chewed through the wire on the table lamp in the lounge only! Boy, I don't know who got the biggest shock me or him!  No permanent damage done and he certainly stays away from it now but scary nonetheless!  He is crate trained and goes in every time I'm out and every night so can't do anything when I'm not there.

Best part of a door ...wish i could post a pic tis funny..accomplished in about an hour....good effort Roguee ya wee bu@@er!

Our first GSD:

2 'dog' settees
About five cat flaps
2 tops off the litter trays
Various shoes
Various dog beds and water bowls
but the worst was
one day my husband left him in the car for literally 2 minutes when he went to post a letter and...

He destroyed the two front seats!

Our following two pups were crate trained and I can honestly say do not have his long list of destruciton!

My Weimaraner loved to chew wood and destroyed some of my kitchen units, kitchen door and door frame/skirting boards.  She then tore up the lino and moved on to chewing the wall and raking the bin (which had a lock on it).  My 13 week old is now kept in a cage and I know that he is safe and the house also, but I can relax knowing the pup won't get into any harm, which is the main thing.