Today we left Poppy (8 month old CKCS) on her own for about an hour and a half while we went out.  We put her in the kitchen as usual with a biscuit, a kong, 3 chew toys and a plush toy.  She had fresh water in her water bowl, and her cushion to sleep on.  She'd been in the garden and done a wee and a poo before we went out - everything was the same routine. 

When we got home, she was as excited to see us as she normally is.  When I went to change her water again, I noticed she'd chewed a small piece out of the skirting board next to where her cushion is. 

Obviously I didn't tell her off because it was too late, she could have done it within 5 minutes of us going out.  But I wonder why she did it.  She's never done anything like it before, and like I said, there was nothing new about the routine of us leaving.

Can anyone suggest any reasons for her chewing the skirting board, especially as she has chew toys.

Boredom

:)

Do you leave the radio on as background noise

Just fancies the skirting board instead of her toys - my puppy often tries to chew other things even with her chew toys right next to her. You could spray the skirting board with something to deter her like bitter apple spray, and buy her a wooden chew toy as well (if that wouldn't cause a danger from splinters!).

I will use the anti chew spray if she appears to do it again.  Don't want to get her a wooden toy as I don't want to encourage her to chew wood, she might end up thinking it's OK to chew the skirting boards, door frames, doors, kitchen units etc because they're wood and she's got a wooden toy. 

My pup has his own wood to chew and never once has he been tempted to chew doors/frames skirting board etc :)

No, we've tried it a few times but she just barks at it. 

She chewed it because it was there, and to her it was no different than one of her toys.

Can't really see the logic in that one, but thanks for your opinion.

Put a few drops of tobasco sauce on your skirting board.  It stopped my boy eating doors, furniture etc.

Neither can your puppy see logic!!

How does it know its not to be chewed? I guess his toys are boring to him now, change the stuffing in the kong, get new toys etc etc use your imagination or get a crate.

HER toys aren't boring her, they get rotated and the stuffing in the kong is not the same twice in a row.  She gets new toys on an almost weekly basis, and obviously owning a puppy we do use our imagination.  I do not want to crate her when we go out, I want her to have room in the kitchen to play - just my own personal preference.

Pups like to investigate their environment, and that means use their teeth.  They have no concept of property to be valued, so if it is there and accesible and they feel inclined then they will chew it. 

Providing toys just gives them easier things to play with, so with luck they will prefer them to the furniture.

Some active discouragement is a good idea.  when I ahve puppies (single or a litter) I spray all the accesible areas like corners and edges of walls units chair legs with a bitter speay before they are likely to chew, as once they get fixed on something They can be hard to disuade.

Thanks Brainless. 

I just couldn't understand why she would start doing it now rather than when she was first left alone. 

I remember being left with a younger brother while parents went shopping. 

I got engrossed in a TV program and the little swine had goen to the larder and emptied out a couple of large bags of flour everywhere :D 

Puppies like kids are curious and like to do lots of different things which we don't approve of.

I would expect as your pup is getting older she is sleeping less, and is getting more inventive.

Puppies often go through a second chewing phase just before a year old when the bottom jaw is still growing and the teeth are setting.

She may have found that wood was the only thing that was strong enough to ease the chewing urge, the kong may have been too bouncy for her.

vicks vapour rub is quite a good deterrant!

Hi,
what I do with our pup is rotate his toys so he doesn't get bored of them, only let him have a couple at a time, then change them over every few days and making sure that really special ones are for when we leave him alone,(overnight, when we are out or just upstairs) then as soon as we return we take that special toy away.
have you tried stuffing the kong? We do a real mixture in ours and it keeps him entertained for ages. We even feed one of his 3 meals a day from his kong, so he has to work for his food to prevent boredom.
Em

Poppy's toys get rotated on a three weekly basis, the toys in the kitchen had only been out for 2 days.  We always stuff the kong with ham, or chicken etc plus either cream cheese or kong paste, along with a few pieces of JWB.  She's also got a treat ball which has JWB in, and that had been almost emptied by the time we go back.

Thanks Tohme.  She has currently got a double canine tooth at the bottom, and I wondered if that was playing her up, but she does usually just stick to her teething keys.  Have sprayed the anti chew spray, if that has no effect, I'll give the Vicks a try.

Reason - because she can and you weren't home to stop her , hahaha!

On another note puppy proof the house , anything you don't want ruined lock away immiedetly! But of course you can't hide the skirting boards :p

Vicks vapour rub worked for us!  Good luck.

>She chewed it because it was there, and to her it was no different than one of her toys.

I can absolutely see the logic in what brainless said! Pups aren't born with an insight that says "hmmmm, nice squeaky ball GOOD, lovely chewy skirting board BAD", to them, everything is just part of the world they need to explore. And of course, the way they explore the world is teeth first!

I don't want to sound like a killjoy but does your pup really need new toys every week? Only a constant supply of stuff (even if rotated) tends to be a tad overwhelming and your pup might have fancied a complete change! I find that my pup has favourite toys which he returns to again and again despite the availability of newer toys. But there's not a toy in the world that can compete with his latest favourite game  of disconnecting the broadband network cable - a job he completed successfully yesterday when "someone else" said he'd keep an eye on him while I had my bath!!

Try the Vicks Vapour rub trick. It's not as painful as forgetting you've painted Tabasco on surfaces and accidentally rubbing your eyes (or anywhere else!)

probably not , my dogs get tons of new toys everytime i restock on kibble and they love it.