Chewing on fabric

[Momily]

Lyle likes to chew little holes in our bedding, and other fabric items. He'll disappear in the house and come back in holding a t-shirt or a pair of underwear from the dirty laundry in his mouth.

The book I have says to "trade" the item for something acceptable to chew and then praise him when he chews the right thing. Lyle however is a particularly smart dog and I swear he's figured out that if he can't find his beloved monkey he can tell us to bring it to him by bringing us a t-shirt to trade.

He also likes to chew in the middle of the night. He's been sleeping in DS's bed, and likes to wake up in the night and make little holes. He did this one night in my bed and now there are feathers everywhere from the duvet.

Suggestions?

[lilyka]

i don't know butt myu dog obsessively chews fabric things. she walks around with the tail of her toy squirel. its all thats left and she probably eats more undies than kibble . . . . and she has got teeth from hell so we have only found a couple of toys she hasn't managed to completely destrow so there wouldn't really be anything to trade her for except a big hard bone.

[Sailor]

How old is he? Is it teething? Or is he past that stage?

What type of chew toys does he have? Some dogs prefer cloth ones to rubber. So, it could be just a matter of giving him more cloth chew toys.

Have you taught the "drop" command? I would work on teaching the "drop" command. Once he knows it, and you see him with something inappropriate in his mouth, you say "no" in a very firm, very "alpha" type of voice. Then ask him to drop it. And give him one of his chew toys. Then praise.

I wouldn't give treats at this point, as you're absolutely right. A smart dog will figure out that you're giving him treats each time he brings you a cloth object.

Use the exchange method with treats to teach "drop it", but don't use it for when he does something inappropriate. Once he knows "drop it", use that instead.

The other thing you can teach is "leave it" if he's chewing holes in covers. Though, "drop it" can work just fine.

The best way to teach good inside dog behavior is to leash him to you during the day. Correct when he goes after the wrong object. Praise when he uses a chew toy. You can crate at night, if he gets into trouble then.

[Momily]

He's somewhere between 15 and 18 months, at least that's what the vet thinks -- so that's past teething right?

All his toys are either rope or fabric, because that's what he likes. I think he'd like something like a marrow bone, but at the times when he's chewing he's usually lying in DS's bed -- I don't want him eating meat in the bed.

We're working on "out" (same as drop it, I guess), mostly during fetch/tug of war. We tug for a while (which he loves) and then I get totally calm and when he stops playing a moment later I put my hand under his chin and say "out". Once it's out I tell him good dog and then throw the toy. I think the chance to fetch is a better reinforcer for him than food which he's kind of "meh" about. It's working because today he got a plastic spoon and I called him to me said "out" and he dropped it in my hand.

I really don't want to crate him at night. I know it would solve the problem entirely because that's really the only time it's a problem. For some strange reason he never does it when I'm at work and he's in DS's bedroom, and he's slow about it, and follows us from room to room so any other time we notice and stop him before he makes any holes, but in the middle of the night he wakes up and starts chewing.

I do make sure to give him a fabric toy at bedtime and make a big fuss when he starts chewing it -- that mostly works but this morning there was a hole in DS's nice quilt.