Due to pick up our new pup in 3 weeks. She is 3/4 german shepherd and 1/4 rottie. Has any one tryed insect repellent to stop dogs chewing things.  i have a corner in the kitchen  and am really concerned that she will chew this. any other cubboard could be replaced but this is too awkward. someone told me spray the furniture with insect repellent and she won't chew it. also olbas oil and vapour rub! Has anyone tryed any of these with sucess.
Thanks Aly x

Insect repellent is nasty stuff I would be worried that if they didn't have the sense to leave it alone that they would be seriously poisoned.  I find the best way to combat chewing is prevent it happening in the first place.  Assuming you will not be leaving the puppy for more than an hour or two at most, securing in an appropiately sized crate with something they can chew on when you are not able to watch them and tell them no works best I think.  I have never had any damage at all to my house or furniture using this method just the very occasional stolen item such as a shoe or purse.

Yep i'm home all day, and only leaving her alone when i go shopping or the occasional day out in the 6 wks holiday. when i say "day" i mean probably 5 hrs max! Oh and at night time. Just was't sure about keeping a large dog in a cage. with her being a cross not sure how big she will get?
Thanks Aly x

Large dog....large crate :)  They make some whoppers you know.
I think 5 hours is pushing it beyond the limits for this summer though, assuming she is is only 5 weeks or so now. I think you would need to have someone sit in with her for that sort of length of time, I certainly would not have her in a crate that long that would be cruel I think and then you are right back in the situation of boredom damage.  Personally I would just forego the days out this year as hopefully you have years and years ahead of you with a more mature and settled dog giving you that sort of freedom.

if you want to try a replent spray then get a chew repelant that is designed for dogs/cats, they won't like it (hopefully) but it won't do them any harm.  You can get them from pet stores like Pets at Home.

Thanks, We don't really go out much any way so, he could go out with the kids or if we go to formby squirral woods the pup can come too! Just trying in my mind to make the right choices before something gets chewed that can't be replaced! Fully aware of the damage dogs left to there own devices can do, i used to foster dogs for 2 local charities, OMG!
Ta Aly xx

I tried vapour rub in the one sitting room where we've got furniture that doesn't look as if we stole it out of a skip and after a liberal application of it, the place smelt like an isolation hospital!  The pup, however, was completely unbothered and wandered in later that day eager for a chew-fest!  I'm afraid I'm very doubtful about the efficiency of any chew repellants since I know several people who've tried them out without any success and rather suspect they are little more than a nice little earner for the manufacturers! So if you can't keep your eye on the pup then it's probably best to put some sort of barrier between him and anything you definitely don't want chewed!

You can also buy some kind of hard plastic furniture protector thing which you attach to the furniture and it's too hard for them to chew - I'm not sure if they sell them over here but they definitely to in the US.

you can try a bit of mustard or chilli paste on furniture and my dogs don't even go near :)

Mine love chilli

I've used a crate before with great sucess. I have a space in the kitchen by the back door (like a run) that i could use. thinking of buying a babydan baby den. this would corden off the rest of the kitchen, but give a run effect area where no damage could be done. Has any one used this method as apposed to a crate? would the dog "prefer" a crate for security? possibly thinking of putting a dog door on so the dog will be able to go outside when she's older!
Thanks again Aly x

I have never used crates for large dogs -just don't like it. I do use them for little dogs, but my cavalier and papillon sleep in a St Bernard sized one. :D

I always instead put a gate on my kitchen door and make sure there is nothing in there that can get ruined.  I did have 2 pups that were terrible (and I am at home all the time) and ripped up the flooring, the wallpapers, ate the shelves, the skirting boards etc, but I found the answer for that period of their lives (they grew out of it) simply was to leave them plenty of things they were ALLOWED to chew if they had to be left for a  while during the day (at night they just slept) -such as cardbard boxes or newspapers.  Didn't really have any problems with the newest couple of pups I've had, just kept them in the kitchen and everything out of reach. :) Oh and not have carpets or lino or wallpaper, much easier to keep clean then anyway. :)