Pug eating walls

Not mine, thankfully. Anyway, I got an email from someone with a young pug who is at her wits end. We are hoping to keep them together as she really loves her and is willing to put in the work to train her, but I am afraid this behavior is a new one for me.

They live in a rental, and she said she EATS the walls. I suggested they crate her when they are not home, which they are doing, but she eats the walls any time she can. She LIKES bitter apple spray too. I don't know what else to tell her!

For chewing and general ghastly behaviour with Toddy I do the following:

Wait for bad behaviour.
Say in a matter of fact/slightly cross (i.e. not shouting or irate) "We DON'T like that".
Whilst saying it, pick pug up.
Put pug outside the room on his own for 10 seconds or so. If he scratches door or whines to come in wait longer. If not, 10 secs is enough.
Let pug back in (by opening door at arms length and quickly walking away so he doesn't associate door opening with you doing the opening.)
Pretend nothing has happened.
Repeat as necessary.

Toddy drove my mother (who would not implement these ideas) to such distraction that she exiled him. I came home and did it twice when he ate my trouser legs and he stopped.

Never heard that one either. Maybe teach the pug the "leave it" command or not allow free roam of the home, keep the pug belted to her until she can be trusted.

Exercise, exercise, exercise. If the pug is healthy, have her make sure that the pug is getting plenty of exercise on a regular basis. When the pug is not crated or exercising, make sure there are kongs with treats, interactive toys, etc. And don't turn your back for one second. If the pug attempts to go to said wall, then give them the "echa"!

Leo didn't eat the drywall per say but he did rip and eat the wallpaper off some of my walls. I couldn't leave him out of my sight for one second. Usually a firm NO and a squirt with the water bottle followed by removing him from the situation worked. There were a few times he went right back to it and then I gave him a time out in his crate. I always tried to have the hard nylabones around for him to chew on to work off any nervous energy or chewing needs. It did get me motivated to remove the wallpaper and paint the walls though.

I should add to this day when I leave the house he's crated. I just don't trust him not to destroy something.

Jackson's my drywall eater here. When he was a puppy, I had tried crating him, and it was a disaster, so I decided to try keeping him in the downstairs bathroom behind a baby gate. I went home at lunch to let him out and have a quick playtime. I ran in, let him out of the bathroom, immediately take him out to the (tiny) back yard area, where he sniffs around, pees, and then looks up at me expectantly. Problem: his entire muzzle is white. My heart sinks. Sure enough, he had started out clawing at the wall, and when he had created a small hole, he started chewing the edges of it to make the hole larger. Yes, my 9 pound puppy ate his way all the way through to the studs.

My suggestions: For immediate management, absolutely continue crating when not home, but they must go to better management/supervision when they are home. That might be achieved with baby gates to keep her in the same room. My guys rarely misbehave when in the same room as me, and even when Jackson was a puppy, I could correct/redirect as Bella described. If that's not sufficient, though, then I think an ex pen or tethering to the belt may be needed.

For longer term solutions, however, I think that the answer is more mental stimulation. Plenty of chew toys: frozen filled Kongs, Nylabones, & antlers for when no one is home, bully sticks when family is around. "Brain toys" such as Hide-a-Squirrel, Wiggly Giggly balls, Buster Cubes for feeding. And most definitely, some type of obedience classes!

Thanks everyone! I will pass these along. I will tell her about PA too and maybe she can come on here and give more info.

I am looking around for a trainer that might help too.

I'd take a look at diet, to be honest with you, and possibly consider that this is OCD/Anxiety related. Might be worth a discussion with the vet.

And as for training--I'd have that little devil leashed to me until the habit (if that's what it is) is broken.

And ditto on the exercise. Sounds like she may be incredibly high energy and has no way to channel it so eats walls. I've never had a pug do it, but I have had bigger dogs do it and it is not fun.

northernwitch wrote:I'd take a look at diet, to be honest with you, and possibly consider that this is OCD/Anxiety related. Might be worth a discussion with the vet.

What would you be looking for specifically with diet? Deficiencies of some sort? Too much hunger? With Jackson, I definitely think that there was a component of separation anxiety.

I'd just want to know what she's being fed--if it's something not top quality, this could be diet related. Some dogs with nutritional deficiencies do take up eating weird things. I'd also want to know how often she's fed, how old she is, etc. Maybe she's having some sort of absorption issue that makes the wall eating happen. I don't know this, but it would be something I'd consider. I rule out medical issues before I move to behavioural. Mind you, this could be a bit of both.