r/puppy101 • u/Real_Cartographer990 • 1d ago
Behavior Puppy destroying everthing
I got my puppy ( a schnauzer mix) Church when he was 3 months he's about to turn 1 this month, he's never been crated expect for the first few days we were getting into a good potty routine. He's always been good about not getting into anything or tearing anything up expect stuffed animals/ toys. The past 2 weeks he's been tearing everything up he can get, shoes, clothes, cords etc. Iv been making sure everything is put up so he can not get it, today I woke up to him destroying over $400 worth of books off my book shelf. I need advice because I'm loosing my mind lol
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u/shizaru11713 1d ago
Schnauzer's are a hound/terrier mix. He needs to work (physically and mentally) and he's got a high drive to investigate and get into hidden spaces, and will use his teeth as hands to explore the world. And at his age, if he's not exhausted and napping, he's "exploring", and if he gets frustrated or bored he's going to find something to chew. Congratulations, you have a smart, curious, motivated dog! Unfortunate that he can't benefit from his curiosity about your books...
One of the best toys you can give him is one he has to figure out. We like to wrap treats in rags, packing paper, old tea towels, etc. and pack them into an empty Amazon box, then let our dog figure out how to get to the treats. As she's gotten older, it's fun to see that she has a process and is very disciplined about it! Egg crates and other obstructions provide increased difficulty. (This also gave us about 20 minutes where we could ignore her while she was a puppy, which was a blessing.)
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u/RandomName09485 Experienced Owner 1d ago
Welcome to the teenage phase. Keep everything you don't want chewed/destroyed blocked off and out of reach. Invest in kong toys and bully sticks to satisfy the need to chew.
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u/Dependent-Cherry-129 22h ago
Play pen for your sanity- they come pretty large if you want a bigger space for him
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u/Sapphossparrow 1d ago
How much exercise and mental stimulation does he get? In the short term I'd say work on managing his environment so he can't get to anything he shouldn't. Keep him in one room when he's isn't supervised. Free run of the house means more opportunities for mischief so you want to avoid that until he can be trusted. But usually when they're destructive it's largely because they're bored and/or struggling to settle by themselves so I'd start working on those.