8MO pup started chewing out of no where

Somewhere around the teenage months (when depends on breed, between five months and ten months usually), there will be a period that in some dogs makes puppy teething look like kindergarten. It has to do with the jaw lengthening to its adult conformation. It seems to create an urge to chew that turns the older pup into an elemental destructive force of nature! This is the stage when we in BC rescue get young adults turned in because they "ate the hot tub" or whatever.

Just as it seems you have to repeat many puppyhood lessons during adolescence, you'll have to repeat the no-chew lessons too. Don't leave your dog unsupervised. Don't assume that because your dog has never chewed it, it's safe. And offer lots and lots of really great chew toys - my guys get whole critters, frozen, during this time (my young BC has reached this stage and he gets whole chickens and chunks of goat and sheep).

Chewing isn't just something he does out of boredom during this time - he has a real need to exercise those new muscles and stretch growing tendons. So it's imperative to remember to give him what he needs, besides acting to protect your stuff (not to mention his safety).

Thanks for the quick reply Brookcove - and that makes sperfect sense seeing as her underbite is becoming MUCH more promonent.
 
We named her Presley because every once in a while her jowls would get caught on a toothand cause an Elvis-like lip curl thing (and that her bday is 1/7 - Elvis is 1/ but now her jowls get caught and her entire bottom teeth stickout - we call it her smile (and try not to snicker too much but it's just so cute). In anycase this has started to happen more often so I assume that  the bottom jaw is growing and as you said she wants/needs to excersise it.
 
I had planned on getting her the beef knuckles she loves so much tonight anyway, I'll just stock up I guess...
 
thanks again!

The solution is waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay simple than you think, your puppy has A LOT of energy acumulated, if you dont want him to be chewing while you are gone then you have to exercise him before you leave, chewing is also a way to drain that eneergy that he has, if you were 24/7 indside the house you will also be chewing shoes []

Excercise is the answer, he will be tired when you leave and he wont have as much energy to be chewing things, walk him a lot and you wont have to hide anything in your house, if you dont want to excercise him then save some money to buy new furniture []

It's not when I leave - she is in her crate when she is home and we're not around. Plus she doesnt; do ti at night when she has roam of the room and seh doesd wake upa nd play with her toys -I've heard her.
 
As I mnetinoed, this morning it was while I was in the shower. She has never done it in the 5 months we have had her (with the few exceptions I mentioned - it's easily been 4 months since she has) 
 
She get's a 30 minute walk in the morning, a 20-30 minute walk durring lunch, and no less then 30 minutes usually closer to an hour at night. On Wed and Friday she is at day-care playing with other dogs all day - I picked her up an hour ago and she is already snoaring at my feet as I write this.
 
Sorry gonna have to stick with brookcove on this one
 
 

yeah, you're just in the "adolescent destructo dog" phase. Need to go back to more supervision/confinement/ re-puppy proof the house. It will pass. Be patient.

if after u corrected her, she still like to chew on your shoes. then set her up, tie a shake can up to the shoes, when she pulls the shoes, then shake can will drop or make big sound. most of the dogs hate shake can, u can try this way.

one more point, do some obedience trainig and extreme exercise

At this point, the adult teeth are setting into the jaw and he NEEDS to chew.  Rather than set him up to fail with the shake can and shoe trap, PUT THE SHOES AWAY....put everything away that you don't want chewed on and get him some raw marrow or knuckle bones for a good workout.

Thanks Glenmar - I agree with you and brookcove. Her bottom jaw is starting to protrude more and more as each day goes by.

We now close the door of the closet and make sure everything is off the floor before we go to bed. Just good housekeeping really - if nothting else, my dog will 'train" me to keep my house neater! LOL

I also got her a few new toys for her to play with as well as bunch of knuckles to chew on - she LOVES them! I got her one of those femur bones filled w/ eanut butter stuff and put it buy her bed at night - I read the ones you get at the store are bleached and not as good but I wanted her to have something for when she woke up in the night and the nuckels are not allowed up stairs, or anywhere with carpet.

Which is another thing -  if I could just teach her to keep the nuckles in the kitchen I would be doing better. She just wants to chew her bone while laying at my feet and that is sweet and all, but when the cold, wet, nasty strings of cartiledeg or what ever that is touch's my toes I want to barf, not to mention the staining the carpet thing.

When I catch her walking out of the kitchen with it, I say no (not yelling but in a deep sturn voice), and as she turns around I say "kitchen" and when she gets in there a praise and scratch her (makes no sense to give her a treat right?) but now she has started to just bolt up the stairs. So I go up there, say "no", grab her bone, bring it down stairs, say kitchen, and put the bone in there - Once she walks in I say good "kicthen" and scratch her

Am I doing the right thing? Any suggestions?

ORIGINAL: mudpuppy

yeah, you're just in the "adolescent destructo dog" phase. Need to go back to more supervision/confinement/ re-puppy proof the house. It will pass. Be patient.

 
Yes, this is the conclusion that I came to, as well, from the other thread about chewing problems... it's probably the best advice.  But since bones came up in this thread, and the other thread seems to have gotten dropped, I'll ask a question I had again... when it comes to bones, are some really safer than others?  I've heard people say bones have to be cooked, others say they have to be raw.  Some say only give beef bones, other people say ham and lamb are equally acceptable.  Some say not to buy bones from the pet store because they're sometimes processed with strange chemicals. 
 
I'm currently giving Scout a smoked hip-joint bone with marrow and dried meat on it (kitchen only) and a bleached knuckle bone for in the kitchen, both of which I ordered from Merrick.  I had been told that bleached bones are more likely to crack and splinter, but it seems that its more durable than the smoked bone (or maybe she just chews on the smoked one more voraciously?).  I just want to make sure she's getting something safe. 
 
Also, are ANY types of bones OK to leave with dogs unsupervised, and is regular chewing on bones really OK for the teeth of an 8-mo old puppy?
 
Thanks!!

It looks like we have done the same research alisia. I think it is kind of like crate training to a certain point - i.e. varying opinions. In any case, what I have decided (not a vet, just a conclusion I came to based of my research) is that soup bones (i.e. - femur and knuckle) bought at the grocery store are the best as they are the most natural. You just have to make sure there not small enough for the dog to try and swallow - not a problem for me as the average knuckle bone is the size of my dogs head.

Anyway, as for the ones you get at a pet store, first, you'll notice they are VERY white - that's cause they have been bleached and god knows what else. I did get one of these for my dog stuffed with peanut butter tho - I just found one that said natural, blah blah blah. Probably more to make me happy then the dog but what ever. In short, I will try to stay away from them but for this time that she is chewing anything and everything, since I wont let her have the knuckle in our room (carpet) it's either this or the crate at night. I will limit how many and often she gets them and once the stuff is gone inside, I will get all natural peanut butter at the store and stuff it myself.

As for Chicken vs. pork vs. lamb vs. what ever - chicken wings, drums, etc are going to be more fragile - there smaller, that simple. Because of this I wont give mine Chicken bones - some do and as I posted previously I read dogs can digest them easily enough - I'm more worried about them choking. I believe it was Glenmar who posted she feeds hers chicken bones and seems (to me anyway) to be pretty on the ball so hopefully she will be back to share her wisdom. []

As for raw vs. cooked - I think this was the one thing I found that FAR out weighed the other - raw is not only better, but cooked is dangerous. How ever, I do know people that boil them for about 2-3 minutes to "kill the germs". I personally don't feel this is necessary as the dogs digestive system is much stronger then ours (much higher level of acids and what not - hence being able to brake down bone) so I think they are really just making themselves feel better but I also don't think it is making the bones brittle since it's souch a short time either so, if it makes them feel good, so be it.

As for unsupervised - well this again, is very much opinion - TO A POINT. Take my dog (please! no J/K - bad Rodney Daingerfield reference) for instance, I give her a knuckle bone. Now that bone is roughly the same size as her head, and I think there is about as much chance of her braking off a piece of it and choking as there is of George Michael doing a come back tour - but I don't leave her in the crate with it alone either. I'll be the first to admit I'm probably overly cautious as some may be able to tell from my post's, but again, rather err on the side of caution.
I do how ever let her be in the kitchen alone with it - I'm 15 feet away and even though I can't see her, if she started choking I would hear it so...

Well that's my 2 cents - actually from the length of the post it's probably more like ten, if it were worth anything! [] Anyway, hope it helps...

The pet store bones ARE a big no-no.  They are in some way sterilized, either with heat or chemicals so are either dangerous as in a choking hazard, or laden with nasty chemicals.
 
Boiling a bone for any length of time is also dangerous.....it doesn't kill the germs so much as it alters the chemical compostion of the bone and makes it more brittle, more likely to splinter.
 
Yep, my german shepherds LOVE their chicken thighs or leg quarters.  The also LOVE pork hocks or pork necks when I can get some that have been properly cut and aren't real sharp.  Occassionally SavALot will have the 10 pound boxes of pork ribs..the breast bones, and they LOVE those as well.
 
However, I leave NO bone, even the big fat knuckles around for unsupervised chewing.  You might want to look into some of the edible nylabones for that.
 
My dogs, since I have several, get their bones in their crates.  Always.  The "used" ones aren't an issue, but I'd rather not tempt fate by putting FRESH ones down on the floor!  If you're having problems with her not respecting the boundaries you could try that, or, you can teach her to only chew her bone on a towel or rug....and you can move that around at will.

Thanks, guys!  Does anyone know about Merrick Pet Care, and the quality of their bones?  They claim to be all-natural, high quality, etc, so that is why I got my bones there (plus, it's actually cheaper than the pet store), but any company can claim to be high-quality...  Guess the best thing to do, though, would be to find a butcher in my area where I can get bones directly.
 
Oh, yeah, and what about smoked bones, like the beef jerky bone I got her?  Does the smoking process actually get the bone hot enough to make it brittle?  She REALLY likes that jerky bone, so I'd like to get her more.

To be brutally honest, I wouldn't trust Merrick for anything.  They have had FAR too many QC issues, and contamination of food and treats, and it wasn't all that long ago that metal bindings were found in their cans of chicken wings.  The BEST bones for dogs are the raw ones anyway and even the supermarket will usually have at the least soup bones.