Chewing the wall!!!!!

Can someone please recommend something that I can put on my wall to stop Prince eating it!!! He started doing this when we got Lucy, I thought it might have been because he was jealous of her, he hadnt done it in over a year then he started again a few months ago. He seems to do it when we have visitors and I have to put them in the utility room to bed, I have put a baby gate up so I can see them both but he still manages to do it. He keeps licking then scraping his teeth off it, he almost managed to get through the plasterboard, my husband has had to fill it in so many times already!! I have a feeling that Lucy might have joined in on it also but I havent managed to catch her at it. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated

My concern would be more as to what is going on with my dog emotionally when this happens and how I could better understand his stress and anxiety and support him when he is this upset. He does not appear to be handling changes in the home well. There is a great Bach Flower (Walnut) remedy for animals in transistion or experiencing change. I use it whenever I'm going to get a new pet or make a major change in the home. You just put a few drops in their water daily for a week before and after the change. Rescue Remedy would help in this situation also.

But I would also look deeper into this and ask how I could make my dog feel more comfortable and secure with visitors, and have positive introductions where the dog feels safe and supported. Does your dog feel resentful, or left out with the new dog on the scene? There are alot of questions to ask here, but if it were me I'd really try to get to the source of my dogs stress and then do what I can to relieve it.

Agree with above. This is likely boredom, anxiety or both, and/or possibly an obsessive compulsive behaviour, I would think. Management is likely to be your first line of defense -- interesting chews to distract him with, and keeping him to safe areas where he cannot access walls. Also: an active tired dog doesn't tend to be destructive -- does he get at least an hour of brisk walks/obedience work/outdoor play WITH someone (not just running around outside on his own or with another dog)? Has he been through a rewards based obedience class and do you do daily refreshers to work and tire his mind? How about some of the interactive puzzles, agility, and so forth? Most dogs get nowhere near the amount of exercise and activity they need or would like and if you have a smart active dog, they need even more stimulation or can easily revert to destructive activity (eg Jaspar needs lots and lots of activity or gets bored! Always a challenge for me).

Are you maybe accidentally reinforcing the behaviour too by rushing over to scold or redirect his attention -- thus rewarding him every time he does this by extra attention (even if it is to scold as this is reinforcement).

A combination of keeping him active, happy and tired, and managing the situation so he doesn't have the opportunity to chew to start with, would be my approach. Remember with two dogs, BOTh need *equal and separate time every day*. Perhaps as easily happens, with a second dog now he is getting half the time and that is causing some of the anxiety/boredom/search for things to do?

If nothing works then I'd see a well informed vet who understands obsessive compulsive problems. But even then: management is going to be your first line of defense.

I have just realised that my post didnt go through. Thank you both for your replies, I am going to try out a few of your comments and see how it goes. It does seem that he only does it when we have visitors, it was like he was doing it in spite but I know thats not the case. When Prince is brought out for walks he is just so bold, when he sees people or other dogs he goes mad whining and barking, its very embarrassing, hopefully he will stop doing this eventually. Lucy is great when out walking, because she is deaf she just stays by your side, she is a pleasure to walk, where as Prince is a totally different story altogether :lpy: Thanks again for your replies

I never had this with my Cavaliers but I used to own an Alsatian/Doberman X that was a rescue. When she was a puppy my husband used to work from home and he was with her all day, and we lived 5 minutes from the beach so she had plenty of exercise. The minute we left her to go shopping or even just to pick up a take away she started chewing the walls and peeing and pooing everywhere. I thought that it must have been separation anxiety. When we had to move house she was about 18 month old. My husband was out of the house more and I was at work during the day but all of the sudden it stopped. To this day I don’t know why she suddenly stopped the behaviour.