puppie lacking minerals?

[Littlefox26]

I'm not sure if I'm right and he a due at the vet again soon anyways but I thought I'd throw it out there and see if anyone had ideas. We have a 5-6 month old healer puppie who has for the last month or so been chewing on the floor vent covers that I find annoying and I thought was just a bad behavior unroll I caught him licking and chewing on the thick heavy bass of the drill press sitting in my home office (my husband refuses to move the thing out to the garage)
Could the dog be suffering from simple boredom or is this something I should look into? Anyone have experience with something like this?

 

[Granny Hatchet]

Little pup is teething. Kong teething toys are indestructible and they love them with a treat /peanut butter put in the middle .

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Puppies will chew things up for quite a while, you are no where near done yet, you haven't gotten to the teenage stage, your puppy won't be mature until 12-24 months. They chew when they are teething and they chew just because they have new big teeth. Give your puppy something more appropriate to chew on, I use big rawhides, but others will say not to. There are other products, just provide something and be prepared for it to last a while and maybe escalate for a while. There's a reason so many dogs in the pounds are 6-12 months old.

 

[drumstick diva]

I had a mature female Cocker - one day I noticed her teeth were silver. Then I realized she was chewing off pieces of the galvanized chain link in the kennel run. The wire pieces that held the fence mesh to the posts had been chewed off in several places.

If your dog is actually swallowing any pieces he gets off - I think that is called' pica. 'I believe that is when they ARE lacking some mineral.

You may want to visit the "Jest Another Day In Pair- A- Dice thread started by Tara. She knows a lot about Australian Cattle Dogs .

Since your pup is due at the vet soon - I'm sure he wouldn't mind answering your question on the phone. Cattle dogs have a tremendous amount of energy and they need some activity to wear them out. Long walks, or runs, or getting them to fetch a ball till your arm falls off.

 

[drumstick diva]

BTW my vet used to say NO to rawhide, the pieces that come off can be swallowed and cause intestinal blockage. They are also saturated in salt. A Nylabone is a better choice.

 

[naturalfeddogs]

Yea, rawhide isn't good at all. In fact, they can be dangerous. For our puppies, I use frozen raw pig ears, or pizzles. Both work well, but the pig ears last lots longer if they are frozen.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

See that's the personal choice, I chose rawhides, it's more natural than plastic bones, I chose appropriate sizes, made in America, and supervise there chewing.

 

[torilovessmiles]

BTW my vet used to say NO to rawhide, the pieces that come off can be swallowed and cause intestinal blockage. They are also saturated in salt. A Nylabone is a better choice.

My dogs love Nylabone!
You can also buy actual bones (usually beef or pork ankles) and hooves for them to chew on, but in my experience, the hooves start to stink fast. Just know your dog, and how fast they eat. Make sure not to get a bone small enough that they may try to swallow it whole! When in doubt, take a toy or chew to the vet and ask them if it is safe!
Try playing with the puppy more, too. Get a rope toy and play tug-of-war in your free time. This helps loosen and pull out baby teeth, flosses the teeth, and feels good on teething gums. It will wear the puppy out so that it sleeps more as well, reducing the chewing behavior.
You can also get bitter spray to put on furniture. I've had the misfortune to accidentally get that stuff in my mouth, and it tastes absolutely disgusting!

 

[Chickerdoodle13]

I agree that it sounds like teething.

I'm a huge fan of kongs. They have different ones for really tough chewers, and they have others you can stuff treats into. Our cattle dog was always a chewer. We got him really durable toys and exercised him a LOT.

Rawhides are definitely an issue for many dogs, and I personally don't use them. I also generally warn my clients about using them as well. They can be both a choking hazard and a foreign body hazard, requiring surgery to remove. However, they now have rawhide that is more digestible and some that is actually small pieces pressed together. Some people never have issues and supervised dogs can be fine, but I choose not to use or recommend them because I don't want to take a risk.

Anything can dangerous though. Nylabones can also be a problem. It is very easy for a dog to swallow small pieces, which is why dogs should be supervised with ANY toy or bone. Small pieces and chewed up bones should be removed. This also means no toys left with dogs in crates or when they are home alone (there are exceptions, but I don't trust my three year old dog yet with chew toys while I'm gone).

I also like the hollow bones filled with peanut butter or cheese (they come in lots of flavora) but this is another bone that you cannot leave unsupervised because they can crack off pieces. This will keep my dog entertained for hours though.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I once bought a natural bone, the ones with bits of dried meat inside and out, gave it to the dog, went to see how he was doing and found out it had shattered and he had consumed the shards, tore up his inside and had to be put to sleep. Rawhides requires you know your dogs and their habits, whether they like to swallow big chunks, or not and as I said supervision. I have had my dogs break off pieces of nylabone large enough to choke on and I have had dogs that could do damage to a Kong, all chewing needs supervision.