My dog keeps eating our sofas

Okay, so I got my bulldog puppy right around last June and it's been really hard to keep her alone in the living room or bedroom or anywhere with furniture and we hate to kennel her.

She's ate so far three couches that were all demolished, none were fixable and they weren't just ripped either you could tell that she went mental and just destroyed them. Her blood was all over the place too, I guess from her mouth from pulling and ripping so hard. Well yesterday we get home after leaving her alone for only 4 hours and yet again a brand new couch that my mother just bought has been ruined, my mom is a single mother so this is really hard on us to keep having to re-buy new sofas like this. Luckily it was just a sofa and not the entire living room set or my moms mattress because she forgot her door open.

We hardly ever leave her alone. she's always with someone and if we do leave all together she's usually put in the basement or left outside if it's nice out and if we'd be back in an hour or so. We can't keep her in the basement anymore because she started eating the stairs and we can't keep her outside anymore because she started eating the deck.

At this point I'm really frustrated with her, have no idea what to do, we even tried spraying the sofa with vinegar and water and that just makes everything smell. Giving her up isn't an option, she's apart of the family and she'll always be welcome here but I'm just curious if anyone else has this problem and what you do to fix it or make it better. I tried kenneling her but she pees inside her kennel and usually has diarrhea and the whole kennel is just a mess and takes forever to clean.

 

Feed her more so she's full?

 

pictures pl0x.

and she's still a puppy, thats how most puppies are.

 

Put her into training classes, many people are cheap about it but trust me it helps reinforce good behavior.

or try getting her a durable bone/ toy which she can take her chewing aggression on. I recommend Kong toys if you get them where you live.

 

@ My dog smokes,

I'll post pictures as soon as I can, just not right at this moment cause my mom will be asking me a thousand questions on why I'm taking photos of the sofa. I also guess so, I just hope she grows out of this behavior.

@ Punjabi,

training classes might be a good idea, but I'll have to look for one because I live in the country. She's really spoiled, I get her new toys and bones all the time. I can't give her any stuffed animals anymore though because she just goes for the kill and stuffing is everywhere.

@ Imagine,
I don't think she eats the sofa because she's hungry, but I'll take that into consideration.


Thanks for all the good answers everyone.

 

Of your dog not your sofa, lol. I can guess what your sofa looks like.

 

I'd guess it's mostly for attention. She probably wants someone to pay attention more and this is the acting out bit

 

hahaha

 

Punish her if you see her doing it.
She'll learn not to do it.

 

You need to walk your dog more often. Dogs like pitbulls need exercise. You'll probably need to play with her, exercise her for around 30-60 minutes a day. That alone will stop or lessen that bad habit exponentially.

Also, you could always hit the dog when you see her chewing up the sofa. I'd just play/exercise it for an hour a day. Bet you anything the Dog will stop chewing up household items.

 

Hitting her wont get anywhere, I'm pretty sure if there's such thing as dog ADHD she'd have it, she's a retard but in a loving way. She's just really high strong and can run around for hours upon hours which is really weird because most bull dogs are really fat and lazy, she can just keep going.

 

Why don't a dog live at outside and feed her more food as well.

 

How do you think most pets are trained? Operant conditioning.

Also, bulldogs are active dogs. You need to exercise your dog, it's a common problem for dogs of this nature to destroy household items by chewing them, simply because their owners don't give them the required attention.

 

A few solutions:
1. Train her better. Tell her NO! very often when she's doing something bad. But don't always just punish her. You need to give her treats when she does good things.
2. Give her more attention. She might just be chewing the couch because she gets attention that way. Even if it's negative, it's still attention. Don't just show her attention when she chews the couch, because she will associate the chewing with attention.
3. Get her toys... Try Kongs or Nylabones to chew on.
4. Use a spray like Bitter Apple. These products have a very bitter taste and your dog will not want to chew or lick where you spray it.

"I tried kenneling her but she pees inside her kennel and usually has diarrhea and the whole kennel is just a mess and takes forever to clean."
You're doing it wrong. If she is not crate trained then do not leave her in there all day or she will relieve herself in there. The crate you got should have come with a divider to make it smaller, so use that and make sure she only has enough room to lay down and don't leave a bunch of extra room. I suggest you leave her in the crate for 30mins to start with while you are in the same room, let her out to play then try it again going up in time each attempt. You never just want to throw her in there for the day unless she's trained for it and you never want to use the crate as a time-out place. They are supposed to feel safe in their crate, not as if they are being punished. When she goes in the crate I suggest giving her a small treat to help her learn. Do NOT leave water in the crate until she is very well trained for it. That will make her have to pee.

I work in a pet retail store and get asked these questions all of the time. Hope this helped.


Sidenote: Why the fuck would you let your dog ruin 3 sofas? Use some common sense and crate train it... Jesus...

 

Thanks for all the help guys.

 

Np hope you actually read what I typed and this wasn't a bad troll. <3

 

I didn't just "let" her ruin three sofas, each time it happened it was an accident on my part and the dog. I knew that she can't be trusted but after awhile she shows growth and maturity as an animal. Anyways I've left her alone for a few weeks without being kenneled or anything at all just letting her roam the house like she should be able to. She's never alone for more then an hour, at most five hours but nothing like all day everyday.

She just does this at random times, each time that it happened was either her knocking down her baby gate or being left out because she didn't seem like she'd be a problem that day. Like I said, it was my fault on some occasions but I just didn't let her ruin anything on purpose. I'll try your kenneling suggestion though. Before when she was a baby we couldn't kennel her at all because she'd make so much noise and at the time we lived in an apartment and we'd get complaints basically all the time.

 

i noticed you said you give your dog treats and toys all the time thats the problem she;s not being diciplined propperly and if she does wrong you should hit her (not punch ) shout at her and take her toys away for the day and try and arrange sumwere in the house you can lock her as a punishment

 

DO NOT HIT YOUR DOG, you asshole. Did your parents hit you as a child?

 

if you really want it to stop. sell it on sythe lol