Tearing Up Bedding

[brody_smom]

I have yet to buy Brody a proper dog bed for his crate. I have been using old blankets and quilts, but he has shredded and eaten every one. I have tried putting chew toys in the crate with him, but he prefers to chew on the corners of the blankets and pull out the stuffing of the quilts. When I catch him at it, I take it away immediately, but I hate the idea of him spending the cold nights lying on a bare plastic crate bottom. He doesn't seem to mind, though.

 

[southerngirl]

I use 2 bed sheets for Piper, because it doesn't have any stuffing in it. If he also tears those up just don't get him any more beds or sheets. He's 14 months right? Try giving him bedding again in a few months or until he's two.

 

[brody_smom]

I use 2 bed sheets for Piper, because it doesn't have any stuffing in it. If he also tears those up just don't get him any more beds or sheets. He's 14 months right? Try giving him bedding again in a few months or until he's two.

I had started him out with an old quilt in February. He ripped it up and was eating the filling, so I took it away and gave him a fleece blanket. He ate little bits of that too (showed up nice and colorful in his poop!) He spent most of the summer with just a bare floor, but I thought I would try again with another old quilt. He started chewing on a corner as soon as I put him in last night, so I whipped it out of there. He won't be 2 until July, so it'll be a long cold winter for him with no cozy blankies!

 

[648117]

Holly will rip open and remove any beds with stuffing that we put in her crate (sometimes she will leave it for a week but then always eventually destroys it) so we have given up on putting a dog bed or pillow in there.
Her crate was like this for a while:


but she ripped open the pillow and took it out after a couple of weeks (we thought she was old enough to have a pillow so we gave it a try).

So we ended up getting a mink-feel blanket (for a single bed), we fold it up to fit in the crate so it is basically as thick as the pillow anyway. This way she can dig around in it to make a nest (she likes to do that), there is no stuffing, it's nice and warm, not too expensive (got it on special for about $12 so not too expensive if it hadn't worked out), easy to clean. She hasn't rejected it yet. So if Brody doesn't rip up blankets you could try that.
Here's a picture from the other day (with Lewis is it), she also has her little polar fleece blanket in there:

 

[southerngirl]

I don't think he'll be cold with his long fur and being in the house. Missy didn't have a blanket for the longest time when she was a puppy she slept in my bathroom on the linoleum floor. She was like Brody and would chew her blankets, so I just didn't give her any. When she got older she stopped.(not sure what age this was.

 

[Amateur]

I took away all bedding ... better than chancing them eating something.

If you look at most dogs they spend an awful lot of time sleeping on the floor anyways.

 

[brody_smom]

So far he has ripped up and eaten pieces out of every kind of blanket I have tried. I guess it's more for my comfort than his. I can hear his knees and elbows thumping around inside it when he changes position throughout the night. Maybe I just need to move his crate further from my bed so I can't hear it!

 

[648117]

I took away all bedding ... better than chancing them eating something.

If you look at most dogs they spend an awful lot of time sleeping on the floor anyways.

Holly never sleeps on the floor.
She will sometimes lie on the floor (carpet) for short periods of time (the exception is she will lie on the carpet on her side in a sun patch) but never sleeps on it in the evening or anything. She also feels the cold so has to have some sort of bedding in her crate (and she curls up in a ball).

Lewis on the otherhand spends equal time on the floor as in dog beds/on furniture. He gets hot and gets up to lie on his side on the floor (he has a lot of fur so it's understandable that he gets hot easier).

So I guess it does depend on the individual dog. If Brody doesn't mind a bare crate than just leave it like that.

 

[Dlilly]

Try a mat, like one for outside or the bathroom. That's what I use for Rory.

He might chew on blankets because he likes the texture. I know that sounds strange, but I've noticed some dogs like chewing on cloth and they usually aren't the destructive type.

 

[brody_smom]

Try a mat, like one for outside or the bathroom. That's what I use for Rory.

He might chew on blankets because he likes the texture. I know that sounds strange, but I've noticed some dogs like chewing on cloth and they usually aren't the destructive type.

He does love to chew fabric. He likes to carry cloth things around (i.e. steal) like cloth napkins, placemats, socks, hand towels. With his bedding, he shreds it into tiny little pieces and eats it, but he also loves to chew on stuffed toys, particularly any little bit that sticks up, like ears or tails, even the labels. Other than that, he's only ever attempted to chew the leg of the coffee table one time, and I quickly replaced it with a bone.

I thought I might try a mat with a non-slip backing on it. I'll just have to be on the alert if he starts to chew it and take it away.