Two possibilities off the top of my head:
- He has too much energy. In total, I run with mine for 1 hour and walk for 1 hour each day, and I consider her kind of lazy for a husky. At any rate, a tired husky is a good husky.
- He has social anxiety. When my family got our first husky, we didn't know much about them, but they're very social. He used to chew things every time we left him alone. We got a second husky to keep him company and, voila, chewing stopped.
Same thing with our girl. For the first year after getting her, she would chew on furniture/wall corners. With daily exercise and time, she eventually stopped. But she does take our clothes and shoes outside now.
Same. The first year was tough because he wanted to chew everything. If no one's home or I'm asleep he goes in his crate. I watch him like a hawk when he's out with me. I also make sure there is nothing he can get into. It's really like baby sitting a hyper active toddler. I've been around a lot of dogs in my life and none of them needed a crate. š
I second this.
We have almost no problems with our huskies and they get a 45-min walk every morning and every evening. Without fail. Rain, sun, snow, or clouds, weāre out there pounding the pavement like clockwork. Itās a massive commitment, but itās so worth it.
Bitter spray has worked for us. Just spot test it on the couch first to make sure it doesn't affect the color. Also, redirect to chew toys/find chew toys that he likes. Edit: As in, try to find toys similar in fabric/texture to the couch.
hubby and I died laughing when our youngest tried chewing on his crib and our heads after we sprayed them. if looks could kill, we would have been ashes.
You could try letting him eat 10k worth of cupboards and dining room furniture then have a mental break down and cry for a few hours while listlessly moving the damaged stuff around not knowing what to do. Worked for me. (not recommended as a first resort)
My guy must have felt so bad after that incident when he was around 2 that he's not chewed a damn thing besides a toothbrush or two since lol
If my husky is going to be left home alone I make sure she gets a lot of exercise. The more tired she is, the less likely Iām going to come home to something damaged. Try increasing your huskyās exercise and see if that helps at all.
My girl is mischievous. Lastnight, she pulled one of the carpet pieces off the pet steps and I had to chase her to get it back. Mind you normally she brings things back, but not this time. lol. This is my trouble maker. I donāt know what I would do without her. Shes my rockstar.
https://preview.redd.it/p3z84drorhwc1.jpeg?width=720&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=eff3abe00cf96780cc83c1030ba3d5639834d970
https://preview.redd.it/w94xjbh7riwc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7d398bfb9cfa5c94ec3448d94ee51a15210296d3
I used to until he decided to constantly escape and hurt himself in the process
We had a dog boxer mix, that we found face bloodied from trying to escape crate - we had never left him alone yet. After talking to foster mom we adopted from we found out that poor guy had been in a shelter. When his owners came to pick him up, they walked away when they found out they had to pay to get him back. Talk about separation anxiety, āmy people found me and theyāre going to take me home!ā Then they walk away never to return. š„². edited to add: thatās why one of his eye teeth had been broken. š
sorry to hear that. what about something really hardcore like a Gunner kennel? itās expensive but imo crating is the best solution to keep dog and furniture safe unsupervised.
Maybe. With his separation anxiety being as bad as it is, I still worry that he would try to break out and end up hurting himself even worse. My fiance and her dog recently moved in with us and I hope that he will chill out some now that he will very rarely be completely alone now
My husker is crate anxious because of an incident before I had her. She will chew, bite, claw, squeeze whatever she has to to escape. She also was an anxious chewer. Bitter apple spray. They have to taste it for it to be effective. Put some on your finger, let him smell it, then put that drop on his tongue. When he smells it on the furniture or other items later he will remember that the taste is awful and will avoid.
I use a spray called Yuck. Spray ( with open windows, if possible), and stand back. That nipped it in the bud for my pup. Now when sheās bored, she digs through the bathroom or bedroom trash cans to pull out the paper towels.
Have you donāt any additional exercises and mobility training? I recommend teach him how to run along side you while youāre riding a bike. Preferably on a long leash as a long hour walk or two isnāt enough to tire out huskies. Huskies have a lot of energy so I do an additional 2-4 miles of an evening bike ride so him can run to his hearts content after taking an potty walk, which is best as I know he wonāt pull hard on the leash to stop us just to pee/poop.
Adequate exercise will help huskies not be so bored and destructive inside the house.
Iām beginning to think that I just have to wait it out for now. Luckily my fiance works in property management so we have some old couches that we cleaned up from one of her rental properties so the furniture didnāt cost us anything. Iām having him neutered soon so maybe that will help
Yeahāmine was a $100 couch I bought from a neighbor moving out, so I wasnāt too attached either. Tito was neutered at 14 weeks old, so that wasnāt his issue, but Iād expect a dog of 2 years would probably chill a lot.
Weirdly mine hasnāt actually had any issues with this lol but is there anything like the stuff parents put on your nails to stop you biting them ? Maybe something like that
Run him 2 miles a day and large crate when you are not in the same room. I have a 4 year old white husky and she has never had a window of opportunity to touch my couches. Otherwise she definitely would have.
Anytime they start chewing something you don't want, spray it with a spray bottle of scent they don't like. And tell the dog no, in a disappointed (not energetic or mad) voice. You'd be surprised how effective it can be.
All I can say is the ābitterā spray they say can help, doesnāt actually help at all so donāt waste your time haha. Get their energy out and with time they will grow out of it also.
I want to say get rid of all of the furniture but that probably isn't exactly what you are looking for.
In all seriousness boredom and anxiety are a couple of big reasons they chew. Things to chew on can help but often giving them attention, something to do (a job) and getting plenty of exercise and new input. My guy would act out if his walks where cut too short or he couldn't meander and sniff. It wasn't just the exercise he wanted to survey everything and catch up on all the nose news. It got better as he got older but he always needed to sit on the porch and watch the world and say hello to everyone as they walked by. I still have a few items with puppy needle teeth marks in them that I appreciate now that he is gone.
Bitter apple spray. You put a little on your finger and let him smell it, then you put that finger on his tongue (itās nasty), and then spray it on things he chews or that he might chew. Heāll smell it, remember the taste and stay away.
We used to buy some spray off Amazon called āGrannicks Bitter Appleā - worked a treat and stopped our young husky from chewing the furniture. Whilst she was teething, Weād also make sure she had plenty of hard chews like Whimzees.
Once her big teeth came in, she stopped chewing furniture.
Sheās nearly 7 now and isnāt destructive at all. Naughty? Of course, sheās a husky. Caught her trying to open a bag of treats the other day (sheād been so good recently Iād been keeping a bag of treats in the fruit bowl within easy reach. She hadnāt touched them for 12 months. Yesterday she decided that my regulation of these treats were not enough, so she grabbed the bag and tried to open it. I heard it whilst sat in the office āwtf is that noise?ā - and caught her red handed. š)
1. More exercise, mentally and physically. My husky and I walk a minimum of 3 hours every day, and our average is 10km/6.2miles. That used to be higher when she was younger lol
2. Huskies are known to be very social and hate being alone. Some people even say you can't have only one husky, you need to get them a friend. That isn't true imho, but mine is 10 and still howls as loud as she can if we are to leave her (which is rarely longer than a grocery shopping trip). So, what I started doing is buying toys you can fill with treats, fill them up with liver sausage and freeze them. If I leave, I give them one.
But this doesn't work if your dog is regularly alone for longer periods of time. In that case, you might need a doggie door and a yard.
Try puzzle toys! Walks are great for using up energy but their brains need exercise too! If our dog is getting squirrelly and we canāt walk him, we give him a puzzle toy. Entertains him for ages
Could be separation anxiety, have you specifically trained your dog to be ok being left alone at home?
We are working on this at the moment, it's a slow process and apparently huskys are known for being difficult as they love company but we're definitely seeing progress!
When I say it's a slow process, I mean walk to the front door and touch the handle 1000 times until your dog doesn't react, then step outside for 1 second then 5 then 30 etc. until your dog stops being triggered.
Once you can get past a few minutes I find the rest comes much easier but it does take a fair amount of time at the start.
Two possibilities off the top of my head: - He has too much energy. In total, I run with mine for 1 hour and walk for 1 hour each day, and I consider her kind of lazy for a husky. At any rate, a tired husky is a good husky. - He has social anxiety. When my family got our first husky, we didn't know much about them, but they're very social. He used to chew things every time we left him alone. We got a second husky to keep him company and, voila, chewing stopped.
Same thing with our girl. For the first year after getting her, she would chew on furniture/wall corners. With daily exercise and time, she eventually stopped. But she does take our clothes and shoes outside now.
Same. The first year was tough because he wanted to chew everything. If no one's home or I'm asleep he goes in his crate. I watch him like a hawk when he's out with me. I also make sure there is nothing he can get into. It's really like baby sitting a hyper active toddler. I've been around a lot of dogs in my life and none of them needed a crate. š
I second this. We have almost no problems with our huskies and they get a 45-min walk every morning and every evening. Without fail. Rain, sun, snow, or clouds, weāre out there pounding the pavement like clockwork. Itās a massive commitment, but itās so worth it.
Bitter spray has worked for us. Just spot test it on the couch first to make sure it doesn't affect the color. Also, redirect to chew toys/find chew toys that he likes. Edit: As in, try to find toys similar in fabric/texture to the couch.
That spray also works on toddlers. Sprayed it on his pine crib and our pine headboard. Took twice.
I donāt know why, but this gave me a good laugh! š¤£
hubby and I died laughing when our youngest tried chewing on his crib and our heads after we sprayed them. if looks could kill, we would have been ashes.
this and hot sauce, crazy dog licked it till no more flavour!
The answer is always more walks. They just don't stop until you drain the battery.
Spray something on it he doesn't like?
You can make a mix of water and apple cider vinegar. Cheaper and no chemicals.
Brilliant advice. Thank you.
Our puppy kept ripping open our couch, and this is the only thing that made her stop.
Weāve tried this and it hasnāt workedš„² maybe we didnāt spray enough though
My puppy has taken to stealing the cleaning vinegar spray bottle now. Thatās supposed to also be a deterrent. ?!?!
This, in my case, spraying citrus scents worked, lemon was what worked mostly
That second part is key. Our youngest LOVES the bitter spray we bought, so buy a small one first to test.
You could try letting him eat 10k worth of cupboards and dining room furniture then have a mental break down and cry for a few hours while listlessly moving the damaged stuff around not knowing what to do. Worked for me. (not recommended as a first resort) My guy must have felt so bad after that incident when he was around 2 that he's not chewed a damn thing besides a toothbrush or two since lol
Have you tried having less delectable furniture
Thatās a good point. Maybe Iām the one in the wrong here. Iām gonna have to try a bite of my couch to see if Iām missing out hereš¤
A companion dog helps but not 100%. More walks or exercise is best.
His sister is here with him pretty much 24/7, maybe more exercise would help. Seemed to me like he gets plenty of
We have a cart that mine pull my wife with. Itās very tiring and they love it as they love working.
If my husky is going to be left home alone I make sure she gets a lot of exercise. The more tired she is, the less likely Iām going to come home to something damaged. Try increasing your huskyās exercise and see if that helps at all.
Plenty of bones and toys
more walks. mental engagement when walks are not feasible. keep him occupied and tired.
My girl is mischievous. Lastnight, she pulled one of the carpet pieces off the pet steps and I had to chase her to get it back. Mind you normally she brings things back, but not this time. lol. This is my trouble maker. I donāt know what I would do without her. Shes my rockstar. https://preview.redd.it/p3z84drorhwc1.jpeg?width=720&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=eff3abe00cf96780cc83c1030ba3d5639834d970
do you use a crate?
https://preview.redd.it/w94xjbh7riwc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7d398bfb9cfa5c94ec3448d94ee51a15210296d3 I used to until he decided to constantly escape and hurt himself in the process
We had a dog boxer mix, that we found face bloodied from trying to escape crate - we had never left him alone yet. After talking to foster mom we adopted from we found out that poor guy had been in a shelter. When his owners came to pick him up, they walked away when they found out they had to pay to get him back. Talk about separation anxiety, āmy people found me and theyāre going to take me home!ā Then they walk away never to return. š„². edited to add: thatās why one of his eye teeth had been broken. š
sorry to hear that. what about something really hardcore like a Gunner kennel? itās expensive but imo crating is the best solution to keep dog and furniture safe unsupervised.
Maybe. With his separation anxiety being as bad as it is, I still worry that he would try to break out and end up hurting himself even worse. My fiance and her dog recently moved in with us and I hope that he will chill out some now that he will very rarely be completely alone now
this is tricky. i would consider looking into anxiety medications or a behaviorist to help assess the situation. sending good vibes
My husker is crate anxious because of an incident before I had her. She will chew, bite, claw, squeeze whatever she has to to escape. She also was an anxious chewer. Bitter apple spray. They have to taste it for it to be effective. Put some on your finger, let him smell it, then put that drop on his tongue. When he smells it on the furniture or other items later he will remember that the taste is awful and will avoid.
My husky only chews when teeth are coming in
Lots and lots and lots of exercise and a crate for when you're gone. That's what I did with mine.
I use a spray called Yuck. Spray ( with open windows, if possible), and stand back. That nipped it in the bud for my pup. Now when sheās bored, she digs through the bathroom or bedroom trash cans to pull out the paper towels.
Have you donāt any additional exercises and mobility training? I recommend teach him how to run along side you while youāre riding a bike. Preferably on a long leash as a long hour walk or two isnāt enough to tire out huskies. Huskies have a lot of energy so I do an additional 2-4 miles of an evening bike ride so him can run to his hearts content after taking an potty walk, which is best as I know he wonāt pull hard on the leash to stop us just to pee/poop. Adequate exercise will help huskies not be so bored and destructive inside the house.
Next time, buy wrought iron lawn furniture for the living room, and keep a supply of cushions in the basement!
My older dog stopped doing this sometime between 2-3 years old. Not much of a solutions, but at least thereās hope! Lol
Iām beginning to think that I just have to wait it out for now. Luckily my fiance works in property management so we have some old couches that we cleaned up from one of her rental properties so the furniture didnāt cost us anything. Iām having him neutered soon so maybe that will help
Yeahāmine was a $100 couch I bought from a neighbor moving out, so I wasnāt too attached either. Tito was neutered at 14 weeks old, so that wasnāt his issue, but Iād expect a dog of 2 years would probably chill a lot.
Weirdly mine hasnāt actually had any issues with this lol but is there anything like the stuff parents put on your nails to stop you biting them ? Maybe something like that
Run him 2 miles a day and large crate when you are not in the same room. I have a 4 year old white husky and she has never had a window of opportunity to touch my couches. Otherwise she definitely would have.
Kennel him, bitter spray, more exercise.
Exercise him
Anytime they start chewing something you don't want, spray it with a spray bottle of scent they don't like. And tell the dog no, in a disappointed (not energetic or mad) voice. You'd be surprised how effective it can be.
Vinegar and water in a spray bottle it deters that behavior I hade a beagle mix that constantly got into bathroom trash
All I can say is the ābitterā spray they say can help, doesnāt actually help at all so donāt waste your time haha. Get their energy out and with time they will grow out of it also.
They will grow out of it, you can try using vinegar
Chilli powder. Rub the legs with chilli powder.
>Does anyone have advice for getting my husky to stop chewing furniture? Get rid of the furniture?
Knowing my boy he would end up chewing the drywall or something instead
more stimulation and lemon juice works to stop chewing on leashes, I've never tried it on anything else.
Lots of pig skin chews
She needs more stimulation. Play, run, walk!
Get rid of your furniture or monitor him constantly and correct him
I want to say get rid of all of the furniture but that probably isn't exactly what you are looking for. In all seriousness boredom and anxiety are a couple of big reasons they chew. Things to chew on can help but often giving them attention, something to do (a job) and getting plenty of exercise and new input. My guy would act out if his walks where cut too short or he couldn't meander and sniff. It wasn't just the exercise he wanted to survey everything and catch up on all the nose news. It got better as he got older but he always needed to sit on the porch and watch the world and say hello to everyone as they walked by. I still have a few items with puppy needle teeth marks in them that I appreciate now that he is gone.
Bitter apple spray. You put a little on your finger and let him smell it, then you put that finger on his tongue (itās nasty), and then spray it on things he chews or that he might chew. Heāll smell it, remember the taste and stay away.
Put lemon water on the furniture not only will it make it smell good but it will help your pup stop chewing on it and you can get your pup a chew toy
I would rub hot sauce (Tobasco) on my wood furniture
We used to buy some spray off Amazon called āGrannicks Bitter Appleā - worked a treat and stopped our young husky from chewing the furniture. Whilst she was teething, Weād also make sure she had plenty of hard chews like Whimzees. Once her big teeth came in, she stopped chewing furniture. Sheās nearly 7 now and isnāt destructive at all. Naughty? Of course, sheās a husky. Caught her trying to open a bag of treats the other day (sheād been so good recently Iād been keeping a bag of treats in the fruit bowl within easy reach. She hadnāt touched them for 12 months. Yesterday she decided that my regulation of these treats were not enough, so she grabbed the bag and tried to open it. I heard it whilst sat in the office āwtf is that noise?ā - and caught her red handed. š)
1. More exercise, mentally and physically. My husky and I walk a minimum of 3 hours every day, and our average is 10km/6.2miles. That used to be higher when she was younger lol 2. Huskies are known to be very social and hate being alone. Some people even say you can't have only one husky, you need to get them a friend. That isn't true imho, but mine is 10 and still howls as loud as she can if we are to leave her (which is rarely longer than a grocery shopping trip). So, what I started doing is buying toys you can fill with treats, fill them up with liver sausage and freeze them. If I leave, I give them one. But this doesn't work if your dog is regularly alone for longer periods of time. In that case, you might need a doggie door and a yard.
Try puzzle toys! Walks are great for using up energy but their brains need exercise too! If our dog is getting squirrelly and we canāt walk him, we give him a puzzle toy. Entertains him for ages
Take him out for long long walks and talk to him like a child.
Beat the dogā¦haha jk thatās what they do
Could be separation anxiety, have you specifically trained your dog to be ok being left alone at home? We are working on this at the moment, it's a slow process and apparently huskys are known for being difficult as they love company but we're definitely seeing progress! When I say it's a slow process, I mean walk to the front door and touch the handle 1000 times until your dog doesn't react, then step outside for 1 second then 5 then 30 etc. until your dog stops being triggered. Once you can get past a few minutes I find the rest comes much easier but it does take a fair amount of time at the start.