10 month old retriever chewing and eating cotton.

[WalkingMinutes]

my pup does a lot of things that drive me insane, his constant whinning, jumping, his inability to walk on a leash for me, and the fact that he is a "chewer". All things I know cant be dealt with when I get a trainer.

however he loves to destroy stuffed toys and ingest the cotton stuffing. everytime he has managed to do so he has either passed the cotton or has gotten sick and puked up a large amount (3-4" long and 1" in diameter)

he has never had a proplem with consitpation, urinating. He eats like a champ and still very much active.

I know the easiest solution is to not allow him to have stuffed toys anymore (which I will do), but I am more curious as to why he does this and if there is a way to stop it.

[clm]

I'd keep the stuffed toys away from him for now.

yep a 10 month old retriever is a real handful. Training and time is what it takes with these pups. High activity dogs that take a lot of walking and training for sure. They ususally start to settle down at about 3, up until then though, they'll give you a real workout.

clm

[Bailey_]

For one thing, he's a puppy. Chewing comes naturally to them, especially when there is a lack of mental stimulation happening - or they are teething.

Can you purchase more indesctructable toys without cotton for him in the meantime?

[tenderfoot]

When they tear up a toy and inviserate it - it is like tearing into the rabbit to eat it. Ever notice how a dog goes straight for the sqeaker in a toy and kills it?

I would replace these toys with a stuffed Kong. You can stuff it with canned food, frozen canned pumpkin, anything safe for him to eat.

If you want to give him soft toys then you can empty them in advance so he only has the shell to toss around. There is actually a company who has already figured this out and sells the empty toy shells - you can get them at Petsmart.

[BenMax]

Also, I stear away from anything plush while they are pups. They cannot distinguish their toy from a gorgeous throw pillow on your couch. It has the same texture and to them if it is ok to tear away at a plush toy, then why not the pillows or even couch?

Kongs and nylon bones are great alternatives.

[WalkingMinutes]

tenderfoot

its interesting to me that you mentioned the stuffingless toys because i was thinking about de-stuffing his current toys so that he can still toss it around but not ingest it. which also means i dont have to take away the toys from my other does who loves them but doesnt eat them..

thanks for that

[Melinda]

puppy is also a bit bored, as suggested a kong is a godsend, so is walking and wearing him out, a tired puppy is a good puppy, just like children they have to be stimulated

[Dee-O-Gee]

Just make them there stuffies into skineez!

http://www.pets.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=65788

[coppperbelle]

You can probably expect him to destuff his toys for the next 5 or 10 years if he is a Golden. After that it should be safe to have stuffed toys in the house. Seriously though I only buy those toys that are sold with no stuffing in them and as mentioned a good puppy is a tired puppy. Goldens need to stretch their legs so a run every day is a must. Walks are great but they need to run.
You can also tire them out by teaching him tricks and giving him a job to do.
Remember that a 10 month old is like a teenager and will probably forget everything he has learned as a young pup but it will come back to him.
I have a 10 week old Golden pup right now and keep asking myself "what was I thinking". LOL

[Lyrical44]

Go for the Kong!! It seems to have helped my Bennie to stop chewing random items. I advocate the kong, but whatever you put into it, look at the nutritional facts so you can alter your dogs diet, so he doesnt become a fattie puppers lolz

[bendyfoot]

all our pups will gut stuffies if given the chance...so we rarely give them the chance. Maybe once or twice a year we'll get some stuffies with the full expectation that they'll be destroyed in seconds, supervise the play, and take away the toys once it becomes carnage. We did discover ONE stuffy that lasted quite a long time in our house, months actually, even with one very determined, chewy puppy. They're super-heavy-duty but they cost a pretty penny unless you can find one on sale like we did. Here's my initial review...http://www.pets.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=55635

And here's the final day, almost a YEAR later!! http://www.pets.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=64649