Our Great Dane Princeton looked guilty when we came home and discovered that he had chewed up some door knobs while we were away. He totally destroyed the door knob to the closet!
The guys at the hardware store thought it was hysterical when we took it in to find a replacement. They had never seen anything like it!
Princeton watched us replace it with a doleful look that seemed to say, "Sorry, I didn't know these door knobs were hard to fix."
Why did he do it? And how can we stop our dog from chewing the door knobs in the future?
We used to keep Princeton in the crate or the backyard when we were out. But he got a pressure sore on his elbow from lying on hard surfaces, so we started leaving him in the house. Note: If we put a pillow or blankets with him in the crate, he shreds them.
Keeping him indoors where it’s carpeted seemed to work at first. Then we started noticing a few tooth marks on the door knobs. It seemed like a small price to pay. He had his favorite NylaBone chew toys with him, but he chomped on door knobs anyway.
Suddenly one day when we were gone longer than usual and he got less exercise than usual, Princeton escalated to full-scale war on door knobs!
The only solution we found so far is to keep him in the crate or the backyard again when he is home alone. (Thankfully the sore on his elbow has healed.) Any other ideas?
The good news is that Princeton had his sixth birthday today (April 24, 2014). Happy birthday, big boy!
Princeton is still looking great on his sixth birthday, April 24, 2014
Princeton on his sixth birthday, April 24, 2014
3 comments:
What happened? Did you ever find a way to make him stop?
We never left him alone with access to doorknobs again. He stays in the crate, the backyard, or we take him to a kennel.
It's interesting that you ask now because we are actually considering leaving him alone with access to the doorknobs again for the first time. He is 9 years old now and has serious health problems that greatly reduced his energy level. But he still gets into occasional mischief, so we'll probably stick with the back yard.
i just crossed your post - my Australian shepherd/boarder collie does the same thing, but only when she hears someone out front! we've had to replace the front knob 3 times now i think in the last 8 years. we dont know how to make her stop because she's obviously "protecting" the house as she only does it when the FedEx/UPS guy is here. and she's older (13?) so crating isnt an option.
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