Okay... I'm super stumped on this one and I'm now at my wits end and need help.

Since we got Hailey, she's had this weird affinity for fabric. Clothes, towels, blankets, even papers... you name it, she eats a hole in it. However, I've NEVER caught her doing it. It MIGHT be an SA issue, but honestly, she's done it when we are home too even though she mostly does it when we are out. Perhaps I could step up the exercise a notch, but Koda is always right there to play with her and she does this year round (ie- when she's getting a TON in the cooler months and less in the summer months). I THOUGHT it was food related-- that she was hungry-- because she seemed to be doing it more when we had to cut her food back to drop her weight. And I still might try putting water in her kibble to fill her tummy up more, but I'm honestly not convinced it's that either because we've fed her MORE in the last couple of weeks because she's finally at ideal weight and today she ate our wedding blanket

I just wanted to know if anyone has dealt with something similar? How have you stopped or managed the issue?

And further-- any suggestions for punishment or training when I am NEVER catching her in the act? I've caught her stealing the clothes/towels maybe TWICE in the two years we've had her and I'm not kidding when I say there isn't a single in tact blanket in the house and I've got more "dog towels" than I do people towels at this point in time.

I'm open to suggestions because I've seriously had it. It's to the point where I am seriously starting to resent her because it's NOT just when we're gone (so it's not like I should just be crating her). They do GREAT loose in the house otherwise. This is the only thing

Kody has an obsession with our bedding (comforter, sheets, pillow cases, etc). Since we've had him we've had to purchase 4 new sets and as you know they're not cheap I stopped letting him go into our bedroom unattended until recently that I've given it another shot and it's been OK so far. He would even eat it while hubby was sleeping on the bed! Crazy dog!

I really don't know how to solve it. How about putting away all blankets and making sure there's no clothes, socks, towels, etc accessible to her? I know it sucks, but maybe if you do it for a while she'll get over it?

Really sucks about your wedding blanket!!!

We normally do. When the house is 100% dog proofed, they are angels when left loose. John left the blanket on the couch and I forgot to move it

But that's exactly why I don't think it's SA or something like that... if it were, when those things weren't around, I think she'd find something else to destroy, but she doesn't.. she JUST goes for those things when they are available.

*sigh*

I found the blanket online that our grandma bought... it's only $40 which isn't so bad to replace. I can't afford it right now, but maybe in the future.

Tori, im sorry at least its not much to replace. sucks Hailey likes fabric, sounds like its one of those things that you just need to be obsessive over making sure its not out. im not sure how to fix it. we deal with the same issue with Sierra, she LOVES newspapers, paper towels, and limbs on stuffed toys, regardless if were home or not she will eat it if its left out for her to reach, recycling bin over flowing she will dig into the cardboard, were upstairs for some reason together she eats the news paper left on the coffee table, new toy with dangles eats them off. and she does it when were home and not able to catch her, sometimes we catch her with paper in her mouth or head in the bin looking for paper and we say no and take it away but it has not stopped her from doing it again, the only thing that works is US removing it so she cant get it. these dogs!!!!

Thor has manage to eat 4 blankets 3 mattress pads a mattress cover and a cushion on the loveseat. I have caught him only a couple times to correct him but it didn't seem to work. So whenever I am home I always know where and what he is doing. But when my husband has to watch him he might as well be alone... Thor ate a blanket and a mattress pad all the while my husband sat in a computer chair arms length away from him. Reading cartoon strips and never even knew Thor was even there.
So with all that being said, the best thing I found that works for me is close doors and make sure Thor is always in my sights. Yea he is under my feet all the time but I am not replaces blankets and pads every week.

Im so glad river hasnt destroyed to much in the house but if anything is left in his crate it will be in pieces by the time i come home

Frosti chews on her beds, so if we don't see her in the house - we say "Hmmm...a quiet husky is a naughty husky!" and go find her! If I catch her - I put her chewie bone in her mouth. Other than that, it's pretty easy to keep track of them in 800 sq ft. Does she have any other chewie toys? Rope toy?

hollywoodhuskies wrote:

Does she have any other chewie toys? Rope toy?

You know... she does have other things to chew, but come to think of it, they ARE all tough (bones). I didn't even think of that until you said "rope toy"... maybe finding her a rope toy or a softer toy to chew might help?

My other fear is that ingesting this stuff isn't good for her and could cause a blockage. I would RATHER she not new, but maybe that's the better course? Accept that she's going to and find something safe to chew?

Any suggestions from others on a good rope/softer chew toy that is safe?

That sucks about your wedding blanket. My only suggestion would be along the same lines as Sam's - does she have a soft toy that she can chew on if she likes the feel of something soft in her mouth? I wonder if she had a specific thing that she could chew, would she choose that and leave other stuff alone? I don't really know though. Good luck finding a solution.

I used to have a cat that liked to chew on knitwear. If I was wearing it and he came up to nibble, then obviously I could move him away, but if I left a sweater out by mistake I would come back to find him kneading it and chewing on it. It was a comfort thing for him, but I've no idea if that works the same way for dogs!

I see you thought of it already while I was typing, but just to add, our dogs have a toy that is like a stuffed fish - a lot like a teddy bear but designed for dogs. Ghost ignores it but our other dog loves to carry it around in his mouth. It does have a squeaker in it but they never make it squeak, just seem to like it being soft.

Bob loves to eat socks , towels (rips them to shreds first) and wash cloths. I have to sort the clothes behind closed doors so he won't sneak any away with any. Last month he ate two large socks I panic and called the vet gave him the peroxide and he upchucked both of them. Last sunday I asked wheres bob found him munching on a kitchen towel a third of it. He passed that yesterday. So yes I have to keep an eye on him. right now he seems to be in love with the Moose antler I bought him.

They have some super tough fabric toys - but watch her the first few days. Chili ending up EATING one at day care and throwing up part of it, pooping out the rest. He did it with something like this http://www.amazon.com/Tuffys-Ultimate-Ring-Dog-Paws/dp/B0006VB3ZE/ref=pd_sim_petsupplies_1

With the rope toy, it has smaller threads so I supervise her to make sure she doesn't swallow them - I got it at Target for $2. We also got her an "unstuffie" toy with no stuffing or squeaker - also from Target. She also has Kong Wubba she likes to chew on. http://www.wag.com/dog/p/kong-wubba-105615

Other than that, we keep the bedroom doors closed and keep the dogs in the main living area to watch them. This is the only toy I leave out for her unsupervised: http://www.wag.com/dog/p/west-paw-design-hurley-111389 (got it on sale at Home Goods/TJ Maxx).

Petsmart has those stuff toys with out the stuffing I do not know what they are called. But she can chew on them without eating the stuffing.

Ghost wrote:

but if I left a sweater out by mistake I would come back to find him kneading it and chewing on it. It was a comfort thing for him, but I've no idea if that works the same way for dogs!

You know... a LONG time ago, I think the first time I caught her, it very much seemed like a comfort thing. Like she was just sucking/chewing on it while lying down. But I don't know... it was a long time ago and it was only once.

ETA: Hailey ingests almost everything that she chews on. That's my biggest concern.

Koda wrote:

ETA: Hailey ingests almost everything that she chews on. That's my biggest concern.

thats sierra with the paper and limbs..... thank god she has passed all of it or up chucked it a few days later! I would say start with a good rope toy maybe....or the wubbas?

The trainer we had for class told us a story about her lab.

He poop a bread wrapper with slices of bread still in it..

Zoey does the same thing I don't know what to do with it. I mainly just make sure nothing like that stuff is laying around. She won't chew on the blankets if someone is using it, but if its laying around alone it's a great toy for her, NOT!

Mylo use to chew holes in my sweat pants when I was wearing them. The first few times it made me think WTF did I do to wear a hole in these. Then I thought maybe it happen in the washing machine. Then finally one evening he started chewing and I watched him chew another hole. Plus he would only do it when I was wearing them, and it took me a lot of holes before I realized it was him.
Never knew why he did it but after a couple years he finally stopped.

Thanks for the responses everyone. Not gonna lie... I'm a little depressed that the general consensus is that there's no way to stop it, only ways to prevent it... but que sera!

If anyone has anything else to add in ways of suggestions, I'm all ears!

I'm not any help but I just read through this now for the first time. We had a big problem with our Dakota chewing stuff in the first year we had him. He had a thing for chewing his beds back then and it wasn't SA because we'd already worked that issue out AND it was happening when we were home but in a different room. Well, what finally stopped it with our boy was when hubby caught him in the act. Now I'm not a fan of negative reinforcement/punishment but hubby came after Dakota yelling and gave him a pretty good swat. Hubby has a way about him and an air of authority that dogs don't seem to even want to challenge...probably like Eddy. lol I felt bad for Dakota at the time, he ran away and hid somewhere in the house and I just let him go (didn't want to coddle him when he'd obviously done wrong). But that was all it took to cure our boy of his desire to chew on non-dog items in the house...seriously.

He's never touched another thing since then and that was years ago. Since then I also try to leave a dog chew laying around the house when we're not home and a plethora of toys scattered about in case he ever gets tempted. But he has never touched anything he wasn't supposed to since that incident when hubby caught him whether he has toys or chews available or not. I'll admit hubby's actions worked but it's not something that I personally could ever recommend or do myself.

Huskyluv wrote:

Now I'm not a fan of negative reinforcement/punishment but hubby came after Dakota yelling and gave him a pretty good swat. Hubby has a way about him and an air of authority that dogs don't seem to even want to challenge...probably like Eddy. lol

you know i was kind of thinking to say this, since "nice" is not working. but if Tori cant catch her it might be a bit hard to pull off.

now ken has tried the loud voice on sierra (never hit) but that still does not do it on the paper eating and he also tries it if she is growing at him, all i have to say is sierra be nice and she stops, with the growling. at her age i just don't want to be swatting her, and we just try to keep the house paper free.