Hi all,  My 10 month old goldie occasionally has spells of pulling out hair - either his own or from my other goldie - and then chews it for ages!  There seems to be no logic to this, ie it isn't when he is left alone or bored.  Has anyone else experienced this and can give me some hints as to why he might be doing this?  He also sometimes does the same with his fleece blanket.

My dog has done this with blankets especially the ones with filling inside and i always assumed it was because he enjoyed it, we also give him egg cartons and so on to rip to pieces. Not sure about the pulling out fur though, i think there may be a similar thread going about this somewhere else.

i think there may be a similar thread going about this somewhere else. - oh really Louise?  I haven't seen it and I just did a search and it didn't throw up any other threads.  I wouldn't be surprised if it is just fun to him - he is a right nutter :D

my Tyko bites the eyes of all soft toys or bites holes in any quilted bedding, frantically pulls out all the stuffing &  then ...thats it never to be played with again, or slept on again..... thank heavens for charity shops & 20p teddies !!! :)

My dog destroys his soft toys as well, but it's more the fact that he pulls out and eats his hair that I was puzzled about.

I agree about the charity shops :) although I always feel a bit sad when I have to chuck the battered remains into the dustbin :(.

is he pulling at hair that is knotty / starting to matt .? maybe its his way of grooming

No, not at all - he gets brushed almost every day :)  Think he is just a nutcase :D

I am sure there was a similar thread, maybe i am losing my marbles it could have been under a different kind of heading. Tyler used to do the same with soft toys rip out all the fluff and shake it from side to side. I read somewhere that was to do with prey instinct, but not sure i agree.

hey stranger! glad you see you back x

cant help you with the hair pulling. one of my cats suckles a wooly cushion, and occasionally pulls out bits of it- she makes a strange sucking sound! thats a behaviour replicating suckling off the queen- and she suffers with it as she was weened too young. dont know if this is similar to your young boy???

mags x

Hi Mags and thank you.  Good to see that Flo is doing well.  Hope the job hunt is the same.

I think it is the chewing of the hair that Angus enjoys, strangely enough it doesn't seem to hurt him or Oscar when he pulls hair out!  No brains, no feelings :D

Better the soft toys than the soft furnishings :)

Yes one of my Cavaliers used to do this. It's known as barbering and is seen in many animals but particularly guinea pigs and rats. In the case of g.pigs they often do it if they are short of hay -they need something to chew on all the time. In my Cavalier's case it was similar, he chewed my other cavaleir and one of my Goldens until they were nearly bald, looked awful. He started it when I took him off the raw diet he was on -turned out he was unhappy at not having to spend so much time any more chewing his food. Have you tried giving extra chew toys? As for blankets -well I've not been able to have any bedding for my dogs for over 10 years now due to the Goldens eating their bedding.

my pup, also 10 months, sometimes chases his tail & when he catches it pulls out a chunk of hair & eats it. He does this when he's feeling a bit frisky if you know what I mean as if frustrated.

Mine doesn't chase his tail to do it, he just takes a laid back, lying down approach :D  Doesn't only take hair from his tail though, it is just easier to get hold of I suppose.  My other goldie has a much longer coat and my youngster will take chunks of that from any part of his body.  There are long periods when he doesn't chew hair though.

Thanks Goldmali, that is interesting.  My dogs are on raw so he can't be missing the chewing but I will try getting him more chew toys to see if that helps.  Had to laugh about the bedding - I always thought goldies would try to eat virtually everything! :D

Hi Annie

I think the other thread mentioned was mine but I only got one reply, that the little girl might be bored or stressed (thank you very much for your input on that).  Sadly she pulls her coat out when she lives with her other mummy so I don't know why and under what circumstances she is doing it but I will find out if she is eating it.

Hi echo and thanks for putting me out of my misery as to what the other thread might have been :)

If your girl only does that in the other home, I would think it must be down to the conditions there, or maybe she doesn't like being moved about, unsettles her?  Is she inclined to be nervous?

Not a bit nervous she is very laid back.  She loves coming over to us even for a visit and always  gets into the car to go to her other home readily without a backward glance.  I thought she may be picking up on pheromones from the resident bitch as she, the other dog may be pregnant, and this could encourage her to pull her fur out but I have not experienced it myself. 

It could be stress or boredom related but I don't think so as she has the other dog and children to play with.  Sadly I am at a loss and wont be showing her in the near future because once again she is without coat.

Thanks for the input.

Sometimes I think these things become habit forming - may have been done for a reason initially but then the dog just carries on out of habit, bit like biting your nails :(.  

I am not losing my marbles thankgoodness!! i knew there was another post similar!!:).