[Bryansgirl]

I left Bella in my room for a few minutes since the home health nurse and my cousin came in and she growls at the nurse I have to keep her in a separate room, I came back to my room to find out she has chewed tons of the wood around the door off and it looks horrible. If I am in my room and I have her locked in here with me she still chews on the door to get out I constantly have to make her stop. She chews on the edges of the couch, chairs everything. Now we have a really bad place on our door that we can't replace since it's hard to find any that color anymore.

 

[Dawnben]

A crate is a good idea if you can't keep your eyes on her.

 

[Shandula]

It sounds like maybe she could be bored. Chewing is entertaining and self-reinforcing. What kind of toys/chews have you tried giving her?

I know you are working on being able to take her for walks, but how much mental stimulation is she getting?

 

[Gnostic Dog]

Bored? It sounds a bit more than boredom, besides boredom is a human state of mind and is anthropomorphizing thoughts into the canine consciousness.

I can't see how a different/better chews or toys can address this kind of anxiety and owner addiction. This dog, IMO, is well over their emotional threshold and needs a complete reset.

 

[Red]

I think it's probably anxiety, given how anxious Bella is in general.

However when my dogs are bored and have nothing else to do, they will try find other ways to entertain themselves...this often involves trying to get things off tables / shelves to chew or if paper to shred. Raiden (4 months old) will stop in his tracks and chew 'naughty' things (footstool, blankets etc) if we aren't watching him closely or keeping him busy and entertained. When that happens we redirect to a toy. We supervise our dogs (it's rare they're ever loose in the house without us watching for more than a few minutes, even if we're just in the room next door), we keep them stimulated and, when we can't watch them, they go in their crates with Kongs and Nylabones

Our three love antlers, half a dozen different Nylabones, frozen Kongs etc etc. And in times of stress, chewing really helps them wind down.

 

[Bryansgirl]

Bella has all kind's of toys squeek toys, ropes, balls, I can be in the bedroom with her and she will still tear the wood from around the door off so it's not always just to get to me. She does okay in the crate but I can't keep her in the crate the whole time i'm in my room I will have her in here with me and have the door shut so she cannot get out and she still tries to chew out of the room

 

[PoppyKenna]

If you open the door and let her out, what does she do?

It may be that she is hyper aware of what is going on and wants to be able to see the action that is going on in other parts of the house.

 

[Bryansgirl]

she runs out jumps around and irritates our older dog. My mom gets tired of watching her because she has to take something out of her mouth every 5 minutes she manages to find anything to chew on no matter where it's at. She gets stuff off my bedside table, my dresser and manages to find stuff on the floor that we didn't even know was there. Thats why she is in my room with me most of the time so I can watch her.

 

[PoppyKenna]

Sounds like a typical, playful, bored puppy.

I know she's not able to get much exercise, but how much one on one time does she get daily? Training sessions? How often do you just sit down and play with her?

 

[Bryansgirl]

not many actual training sessions, but a-lot of play time.

 

[UnShackledpit]

It seems that Bella could be suffering from a form of separation anxiety. This could also be many other things, it could come down to the simple fact they she needs better training. Which 90% of the time is the case. I would start off crate training her, see how she does with that. Alot of times if its separation anxiety they will do horrible in a create and drool everywhere. I would then slowly ween her off the create then allow her to stay in a room by herself. Make her think you are leaving and then listen once you hear her starting to tear into something simply correct her, do NOT yell at her or hit. You need to teach her some basic commands like No, or leave it This will insure that she understand that you wish for her not to be ripping apart your things. You can find addition information over at American Pit Bull Terrier Training If you seek further training all resources are provided. Hope this helps and good luck with the little one.

 

[Bryansgirl]

She does fine in the crate, she does whine and bark when I first put her in there but she gets quiet and falls asleep. She doesn't seem stressed when in the crate.

 

[Bryansgirl]

also she isn't a pit bull so would that website still be good to look at she is a small/medium terrier mix Her mom was a poodle/terrier and dad is unknown