# Scratching at VetBed



## emdiesse (Jul 30, 2014)

Hi,

A couple of weeks ago we bought a vetbed for our puppy to sleep on, she is in the crate whilst I am working from home (and I take her out to toilet every hour) and most of the time she is simply sleeping since she has a good 2 hour play in the morning before she starts to fall asleep and in the evening she, again get's a long play until she really wants nothing more than to simply curl up in a ball and sleep.

When she goes in her crate I chuck in 3 separate stuffed kongs, cream cheese, kibble, marmite, peas, carrots, etc and she jumped into her crate because she is starting to learn where I put them. She then starts licking and playing with the kongs and I can close the door and walk away and leave her to it.

Later I walk in and she seems to have left the kongs (in most cases, still mostly full), turned the vetbed upside down and with her nails scratches the rubber coating on the bottom - she has done this several times now and I have caught her in the act once but didn't really know what to do apart from ignore the behaviour. She doesn't scratch the bottom of the crate and chew the wires to get out, just seems she is only intent on being destructive towards the vet bed.

Any thoughts?

Cheers,
Matt


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## emdiesse (Jul 30, 2014)

I have removed it, it feels harsh leaving her with a cold hard bare crate tray but it seems that's the best advice I have managed to find (from Dunbars 'After You Get Your Puppy')- I tried stitching loops of webbing to the bottom so it could be looped under the tray so she can't pull it up - this had a worse affect, she just started pulling chunks out of it with her teeth.

I may get a rope and tie it to a block behind the crate so she can't remove it from the crate but can tug on that if she's bored of kong toys and wants something destructive to do instead


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## Leam1307 (Feb 12, 2010)

Perhaps some toys and chewys in her crate would be better for her than taking her bedding out. You want to make it as nice as possible so she likes going in it, not cold and slippy with the metal flooring of a crate. And digging up bedding is just pretty much what puppies do, they are inquisitive like children and will want to explore the material etc. also the rubber smells rrrrreeeaaallly good to dogs. 

Perhaps just a few normal blankets or towels on the bottom would be best.

tbh having read that book/leaflet myself, the first thing i did was throw it in the bin. It was written 14 years ago and alot of the info and training methods are out of date and now frowned upon.


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## Rott lover (Jan 2, 2015)

I agree with leam1307 on this one.I know all of our pups destroyed their beds/blankets/towels untill they settled in with what was there.Oliver did this until he was almost a year old


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## emdiesse (Jul 30, 2014)

Hi, there is, whenever she is in there there is always at least 3 fully stuffed kongs - stuffed with all sorts: cream cheese, cheddar cheese, carrot, apple, peas, kibble, marmite (No peanut butter due to girlfriends allergy)

She has no apprehension to going in her crate, sometimes when I have a treat she hops into her crate for it.

She tends to leave the toys after a few minutes and channel her energy into destroying the bedding instead.

Exercise wise she has a 2 hour play in the morning 6:30-8:30, 1 hour at lunch in the garden and at least 2 in the evening.

In the end of the sessions all she really wants to do is curl up and sleep and so into the crate she goes, often by choice - but seems to perk up again within 30 minutes and ignore all the kongs and go for the bedding.

Food-wise, vet's happy with her size & weight although we were concerned she wasn't eating enough since she seems to only eat 20grams of moistened kibble for breakfast (7), lunch (11:30), dinner (4:30) and tea (7) if we do her any more she always leaves it (I guess the training and the kongs are making up the rest) - she does go for the kongs but most of the time destroying her bedding seems much more fun to her.

Interesting to hear that those books are considered frowned upon as from what I remember from them it was all about rewarding positive behaviour and ignoring the bad, which doesn't seem to be any different from any of the other advice I have seen in more modern books or online - removing the bedding was not as a punishment (and no fuss of removing the bedding was made) but to remove a distraction so she would instead focus on her toys instead - which she does seem to be doing today.... whenever I have gone in there she has polished of at least half of one of the kongs and is otherwise resting (I often hear her dreaming )

To be honest, it seems to be the same story everywhere - when she's in the garden rocks, sticks, stones, trees, plants, grass, plastic seem to be way more fun to her that her ball, frisbee, bounzer.

It's funny, it seems that all we are ever doing is redirecting her onto other things.

If there is one thing I am very pleased of however is that generally, unless a major detraction she does come over to me when I crouch down and call to her - obviously because she knows she gets tasty chicken...

I guess these are all just the joys of living with a puppy.


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## Rott lover (Jan 2, 2015)

Yes,The joys of a puppy lol.Honestly nothing sounds out of the ordinary.As a pup you have to spend every waking moment running ,cleaning and redirecting them.here is a funny puppy poem.

*A puppy Poem*

Don't smell crotches,
Don't eat plants.
Don't steal food or underpants.

Don't eat my socks,
Don't grab my hair...
DON'T RIP THE STUFFING FROM THAT CHAIR!

Don't eat those peas!
Don't touch that bush!
Don't chew my shoes...
What IS that mush?

Eat your cookie,
Drink your drink,
Outta the toilet!
Outta the sink!

AWAY FROM THE CAT BOX,
IT'S FOR THE CAT!
(And MUST you kiss me after that???)

Yes, raising a puppy,
Is not for the lazy!
Though puppies are funny,
They're also crazy.
But don't despair,
Though toil and strife.
After 3 years, you'll get back your life!

So, let's go for "walkies",
You can "do your thing"
(And perhaps I'll get back my DIAMOND RING!)


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## emdiesse (Jul 30, 2014)

That's great, that about sums it up!

It's funny, the whole process of training a puppy seems to be slowely but surely completely overriding their natural behaviour with a set of actions deemed acceptable to society - heck, it feels like the story of my life too - truely, I want to do nothing more than run around jumping in muddy puddles and chasing wild animals through the woods...

She's had her second vaccinations now, and by mid-week next week she'll be free to explore the big wide world by foot - We can't wait to take her out.

Have freed up the next months worth of weekends for a few trips planned - to the town center (with big scary crowds), to the park (dogs everywhere), to the countryside, into the woods, to a campsite, to a farm (with big scary machinery), to the sea side (with big scary gulls and scarily bad tasting water), maybe a riverside walk...

This is all dependant on us finally getting her used to the lead, I think that is now the next weeks worth of evening training sessions planned - lead training


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## Rott lover (Jan 2, 2015)

start lead training in the house.Put it on and let her get used to it just being on her.Then start leading her around the house with it and then when that goes well then you can take that experience to the back yard.


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## emdiesse (Jul 30, 2014)

Cheers, I'll try that this evening - treats at the ready.

It's crazy how many videos you can watch online and how quickly their dogs seem to get the idea of things and then there is us and our dog - she'll get there, I feel bad for her, her trainers are complete amateurs!

I am trying to find classes around my area, I have faith she'll come on tenfold when we start to take her along to a few classes - mainly so the trainers there, can train us - I'm sure the dog has no faults whatsoever (I can already tell just how intelligent she is)!


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## Rott lover (Jan 2, 2015)

lol I like to think our dogs train us as much as we train them.I am kind of like tom hanks in turner and hooch.I have simple rules in my house and as long as those are followed i am all good.This is the living room.......This is not your room lol.Then the dog tears the place apart.


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## Leam1307 (Feb 12, 2010)

Having just read your post that shes just had her vaccinations that is a hell of alot of excersice for a pup that age. The rule of thumb is 5 mins for every months of age. Too much and they can turn into an overtired toddler and basically throw tantrums because they are too physically tired but mentally still going. it can also cause her to have sore legs and you will know yourself its nearly impossible to sleep if your sore. she may not be limping etc but it will still hurt.

Also kongs with food in them are not toys... they are treats.. try some soft toys that she is allowed to chew.

Also in the garden... well she is a puppy learning new things, new smells, new textures etc. where a toddler would pick things up in their hand to feel things and then probably try to eat it... pups dont have hands to feel so they just chew everything. also her puppy teeth will still be coming through completely and she will need something to chew. Kongs are more made for licking, not chewing on with back teeth etc.


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