Our London spends time in her crate during the day for about 2 hrs in the morning and again for a couple hours in the afternoon. She is also crated at night. This has been the routine for some time now. Today at lunch we arrived home to find that she had completely chewed apart the pillow in her crate. The pillow has been in her crate for about 1 1/2 months now and she actually sleeps better with it (she is a bit of a princess ad she likes the comfortable life). She had a couple of toys to play with so I'm just wondering what brought this on. Boredom perhaps? She gets lots of attention and toys when she is out of the crate and has now started spending the evenings in the livingroom upstairs with us (previously, someone would sit with her in "her space" in the basement and play and be with her).

Should we bother getting another pillow for her crate or let her do without? She is a chewer that's for sure!

Any suggestions are most welcome.

A quote from my housebreaking sticky, ''Skip the bedding. At first it gets wet, and later it can be chewed into choking hazards.'' I do allow my 14 year old Lab a nice dog bed, but the puppies always sleep on the bare floor of their crate.

Why now? Maybe she just discovered she could chew it. She is maturing, and could be looking for more stimulation. Her hormones are flowing. If not already, this would be a good time to have her spayed. It is the best option for most pet owners. It avoids the hassles of seasons and reduces the chances of cancer later in life. Breeding is best left to those willing to do the intensive work needs to produce quality dogs.

Thanks Labman. I have been lurking on this board for awhile now and have always appreciated your comments to others.

Guess I got sucked in with the pillow in the crate, no replacement for her. She is about 98% housebroken and has never had an accident in her crate. She has just been spayed so the hormones are probably still coursing through her system.

She has also been dealing with a skin issue and I wonder if the medications is working and she is starting to feel better and is more comfortable "exploring" her surroundings. Maybe she is sleeping less and looking for more to do in her crate.

Thanks again and I'm sure I'll have more questions as she gets older.