Never had any experience of a dog that chews, (pups teething not withstanding) a neighbour tonight was standing outside her house crying - sobbing she has a Stafford X who is about 4 years old and he chews, chews everything and anything; the shed outside, fence panels, doors (holes straight through) kitchen cupboards, flooring (carpets, lino, laminate) clothes, books, CD's, sofas everything she took me inside (the lounge he had ripped to shreds, 3 x cushions and the rug she had only answered the phone in the kitchen and he ripped them up while she was in the next room.
He is crated when they are out and night but any random moment he chews. Is there a cure?
He is not "bored" he is walked, off lead and on, new places new things to smell has access to the garden most of the day and his toys, he does have a "tyre attached to an old tree outside.
He doesn't chew when they are in the room but oce they step outside he thinks he has cart blanch to chew anything and everything.
They have tried, ignoring him, telling him off catching him in the act, gievn him toys, expelled him from the room, even a pepper substance "chilli" I think smeared on the door and skirting board (he just chewed round it)
Any thought of help I can pass on?
Karen

Hi

Your comment about chewing round the chilli paste made me smile :D I can understand why the owner is so upset though.

You say hes not bored but how do you really know? Some dogs need more stimulation than others and while 1 or 2 walks a day might be ok for one dog for another that might not be enough and they cant tell us can they? :) With my own Staffie I am finding that as much as he loves his good old runs in the park he needs less physical excercise now. Instead he enjoys lots of brain work and it can wear him out much quicker than a walk does. Staffies are a very sociable breed and although mine has a huge crate of toys, more often than not he wont really play with them unless someone plays with him (many dogs are the same). Does your neighbours dog have Kongs and treat balls? These can be a great challenge and can keep them occupied for a while. I also give my boy a clear plastic bottle with some treats inside and this can occupy him for up to an hour or so at a time (this definately needs to be supervised, especially with a chewer). The length and frequency of  walks can be a factor too. My boy has about half an hour in the morning of good old running around and then anything up to an hour later in the day of walking.

Im sure there is a 'cure' which will be training based but im not really sure the best way to go about this. Im sure someone more helpful will be along soon. No doubt your neighbour has tried and does all of my suggestions above but if not then I hope they are of some help.

Wish her luck x

PS, Does she give him raw bones? Again, they do need to be supervised but it will give her a little time to put her feet up and he will love the bone. Certain bones take them a while to get through and can be quite challenging for them. Sox always needs a power nap after!!

have they check his mouth and teeth it may be a health problem to the mouth and not beening bored

Has your neighbour had him from a pup or is he a rescue? 4 years is a long time for him to have got into a habit of chewing when left alone and won't be "cured" overnight.

It is possible that as a pup he was taught not to chew when his owners are in sight instead of not to chew these items: sofa, books, tables, carpet, add everything in the house to the list. A lot of people concentrate on training their pups not to chew (which they can't enforce when they are not around) when they should train them what they can chew.

Added to that a lot of owners leave their dogs in peace while they are chewing their toys but leap into action the instant the dog picks up something it shouldn't have, for dogs who are bored or need the attention the owners reaction is rewarding, which leads onto...

Does the dog have separation anxiety? Staffies are surprisingly sensitive and love company which sounds good but can cause problems when not handled properly.

You might have already considered the above but this is what my plan would be in dealing with this (I know they've tried some of this but they need to be incredibly consistent):

First look into the possibility of seperation or health problems, these will need fixing first as well as re-training the chewing.

Then go back to puppy basics, continue to crate him when he can't be supervised every second and look at anything else that can be done to make it possible (cordless phone, taking him with them if they need to answer the door quickly, putting the crate somewhere easy to get to for him to go in if they are in a rush to answer the door/phone, stop dinner from burning, etc).

Put away shoes, clothes, anything that doesn't need to be left lying around - this is a bonus, an extra tidy house!

Put away the millions of toys that he has and let him have just a few available at any time, they can be swapped occassionally so that the novelty is there. Find out what his favourite chewing toy is (my dog has 10 suitable chewing toys but he only likes to chew one of them) it should be a toy he wants to use without his owners encouraging him to do it.

When he is chewing or playing with a toy occassionally reward him with gentle praise and/or stroking, just enough for him to be pleased with himself but not enough to make him forget the toy.

It doesn't seem like he does this but if he chews something he shouldn't in their presence they should use a sharp noise or word that means "that was wrong, we're not happy" and ask him to come away from it.

They should be making it impossible for him to chew their things in their absense but if he does they should act as normal, that means no dirty looks at the dog. They need to think where they went wrong in that situation and avoid it happening again.

You're sure he isn't bored and someone else mentioned brain-work if he is, but all dogs should have some training time, even the non-bored ones. It builds up the dog-owner relationship, looks good to other people (its quite important in all this anti-dog feeling) and is generally useful.

If they teach him a reliable sit/down stay they could gradually do out-of-sight while they check on dinner, answer the door/phone, nip to the toilet without having to put him in the crate. I might not need to say it but obviously they should build up to this slowly and not use it when they are going out shopping for a few hours.

Hope this gives you some more ideas.

Karen

First thanks for the replies, I should have said they got him about 13 months ago he was "a latch key dog" so to speak, he was left wandering the streets where my neighbours husband - was working, but he "the dog" was petrified of fireworks, and his so called owners would not let him in the house. My neighbour took pity on him and when the job finished the dog came home with him. But he is a chewer, they now think maybe the reason his other owners wouldn't let him in the house.
They have tried crating him but he is petrified they believe "with good reason" he was locked in a "cupboard" approx 20" x 24 x 20  in the porch for hours if not days on end so they although have a crate he won't go near it for love or money.
I will mention the "working theory" they have done an excellent job with housetraining and getting his confidence - but the chewing is "the big issue now" it could well be seperation anxiety or just plain nerves it took 4 months plus to get him used to the idea they weren't going to punish him when he "toilets" poor old lad. Yet he is so loving.

I wasn't aware of the "locking away" until today when I mentioned crating.

Poor boy, they're doing a good job with him considering the damage his first owners did.

I don't think they can fix the chewing unless they find a way of confining him to a safe area so they will need to work on crate training first.

If he has learnt that their crate is an unhappy place to be they might need to move it to a different area, ideally somewhere that they spend a lot of time and leave the door open all the time.

Make all the good things in his life happen in the crate, meals, treats, toys, stuffed kongs, juicy bones, extra fuss. Perhaps part of his "working" could be finding single treats hidden in the room (not too hidden, he doesn't need encouraging to chew through cushions to find treats) but all the best treats will be found in his crate. If he understands a down stay they can train him to do it in the crate and occassionally drop treats in.

They mustn't close the crate door until he willingly goes in to lay down by his own free will. When they do close it it should only be for a minute with them stood/sat right by it. They shouldn't make a big deal of him being let out, if they praise him he could see it as better to be out than in. They should gradually increase the time he is left in the crate and builid up to being able to leave the room for 10 seconds, 30 seconds, a minute, 5 minutes, and so on.

It might be worth them finding a good, kind trainer who is experienced in dealing with this kind of thing to give them some real support.

Karen