Piranha with 4 legs and curly tail!


  • Hello everyone,

    I want to ask some advice on how to get Ayo, my 8 month old to stop chewing up all his blankets and swallowing them. He chews them up, tears them and swallows them, then he poops the pieces!!! I am worried about his health… so far he seems undisturbed by this but..... This can't be good. H?e gets tons of exercise, 1 hour in morning and 1 1/2 hour evening every day! and he is never alone, goes with me everywhere I go, so I don't think he is bored or has separation anxiety. What should I do? Should I remove the blankets?
    Thanks
    Dmey


  • @dmey:

    Hello everyone,

    I want to ask some advice on how to get Ayo, my 8 month old to stop chewing up all his blankets and swallowing them. He chews them up, tears them and swallows them, then he poops the pieces!!! I am worried about his health… so far he seems undisturbed by this but..... This can't be good. H?e gets tons of exercise, 1 hour in morning and 1 1/2 hour evening every day! and he is never alone, goes with me everywhere I go, so I don't think he is bored or has separation anxiety. What should I do? Should I remove the blankets?
    Thanks
    Dmey

    Yes, remove the blankets… I would be way more worried about a blockage then his teeth... while you are seeing him poop some, you never know what is left behind and didn't not make it through the digestive system... If he continues to shread... put nothing in there.... or you could try newspaper...

    I would have to ask, what kind of exercise? 1hr in the morning and 1 1/2 in the afternoon is really not all that much if all he is doing is walking... And do you do any mind games with him... works as well as excerise to wear them down using their "way to smart minds"....


  • Pat is right, this can kill a dog. Make sure he has no blankets, and give him some uncooked bones to chew on.
    a breeder friend of mine gives the dogs a roll of papertowels, for their crates the dogs tear it up, its in little pieces, and they have a soft nest.


  • Thanks, no more blankets. Wouldn't he swallow the pieces of paper towel or newspaper?


  • We do brisk walks, no running, but I work up quite a sweat and he looks pretty tired after an hour, he comes home and lays down.


  • He might, but they aren't made with string, so the small bits sould'nt bind up in his gut.
    I wouldn't use newpapers because of the ink and chemicals in them.
    Get a papertowel wet and see, its pretty easy to get into small pieces.


  • I went through a stack of old sheets before I remembered the old saying that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and still expecting different results. Both dogs sleep with sheepskins in their bedtime crates and are just fine - no shredding. But if I put anything in or within reaching distance of the crate they are left in when I go out to run errands, it becomes a thousand little pieces. I come back to find the shreds and two defiant looking basenjis. Little brats!


  • Jajajaja.. You are so right!!! by that definition I am definitely going insane! all my old sheets now have huge circular dented holes in them!!!! Sheepskin??? I wonder. It just seems really un comfortable to leave the crate bare. also we sleep in air conditioning and I probable shouldn't worry about 18 degrees celcius but I feel cold without a blanket!


  • Which is better? Being uncomfortable leaving the crate bare or loosing your dog to an impaction of material caught in his gut?

    Paper will not bind in the gut like blanket material… and even worse are sheets and towels that will produce strings of material...


  • Try the paper towels..what do you have to lose?? The dog will have something to "tear" up and it will also have a nest of small pieces of papertowel to lay on.
    Lose the fabric items…its just a vet visit waiting to happen.


  • I agree, definitely no more blankets or sheets, will try with the paper towels…
    Thanks a lot
    D


  • I don't put the sheepskin in their daytime crate. They would destroy it!!!! Only at night time when I know they don't chew because they know we are in the same room.


  • @BasenjiDiva:

    I don't put the sheepskin in their daytime crate. They would destroy it!!!! Only at night time when I know they don't chew because they know we are in the same room.

    We do something similar with Malaika. We are lucky that she doesn't chew her vet bed when put in the crate when we are out, but the minute we return and let her out she dashes into the crate, hauls the bedding out and attepmts to chew it. Consequently we keep the crate shut when not in use.
    Also watch your bathroom towels, we have to keep the door closed because she chews the towels.


  • Hello,
    I tried the paper towels, he tore the roll up in seconds. But today I caught him chewing the pieces and swallowing them. What should I do, in the meantime I removed them, I know it's not string material like you said but still….


  • Just a word of caution.. I had a ROTTWEILER bloat on paper towels. If they ingest enough, it can cause a problem.

    Sheepskin is wonderful, but I have also had 2 dogs able to shred it. Only 2 in all these years but most won't. Certainly worth a try.

    You can also try crate flooring: http://primopads.com/

    They guarantee them and a rottie rescue friend swears by them.

    I have had 2 dogs… Arwen and my first Rottie, Tasha, who never quit shredding. Fortunately Tasha didn't have to be crated. Arwen only shreds certain materials and doesn't eat them so she has some options.


  • How about using cardboard as bedding - rather warmer than paper and when shredded it is quite comfortable.

    Two of my current Basenjis (Spring and her daughter Gbala) eat their bedding regularly and I've never had blockages so I'm always surprised to read on this forum about serious problems some people have had. I never allow them to eat anything which chew up with stringy bits as I feel that the lengths might be too long and so cause problems.

    I think we keep my dog bedding supplier in business!!


  • I'm pretty sure Simon would shred anything. It's his second favorite hobby after eating. Or maybe third after harassing the cat.

    I had heard that fleece was better because it didn't come off in strings? No?

    Also, one night we heard him methodically ripping the towels – the way a quilter rips strips. Loooong rip sound. He was very pleased with himself, especially when it meant we got up out of bed and took him outside and cleared all the bits out of his crate in the middle of the night. PARTY!


  • Patty, just because you have lucked out without blockage doesn't mean you won't. Having seen a dog die from blockage and having to deal with my own dog's bloat… I can only ask is it worth the risk? Dogs cannot digest material. Period. And in dogs this small, blockage is a serious life-threatening possibility.


  • @DebraDownSouth:

    Arwen only shreds certain materials and
    doesn't eat them so she has some options.

    HEY! I only eat the good stuff.


  • yeah, i,m not sure what to do. in the meantime ive kept some newspaper, which although i agree e chemicals arent good it seems to be the only thing he doesnt eat, I am going to order the primopad for his crate, see if that works…..

Suggested Topics

  • 5
  • 14
  • 9
  • 18
  • 17
  • 10