Good day Shannon

I have an 8 month old female Pointer. She is very loving and, up to now, has not been through any "chewing up the shoes stage". She has just had her first season and this last week has taken a dislike to our double bed and has taken a lot of the stuffing out of the mattress. I do have other animals in the house, ie. two cats and a dog, so it is not as if she is lonely. What could be the problem and how do I get her out of it besides smacking and shouting at her?

Many thanks

"Sleepless in Seattle"

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Hi Sleepless,

From what you say I would think that her behaviour has more of a hormonal cause than a developmental cause. I have arrived at this assumption based on two interpretations:

" Most puppies will go through a destructive phase (I prefer to call it an investigation phase) from about four - five months. However, you say that your pup has not shown any destructive behaviour until eight months of age.
" The behaviour is acute thus indicating an internal trigger.

As such I would tend to attribute her sudden change in behaviour to her heat cycle. Perhaps the behaviour started due to a nesting instinct, brought on by a pseudo pregnancy.

To an extent one could imagine this nesting instinct (and many other non-taught /inherent behaviours) almost like an "internal itch" that needs to be scratched. Simply put, the dog feels a desire to do something. Through experimentation and instinct they stumble upon a behaviour that relieves this desire (in this case building a nest). Because the desire is relieved, the behaviour is reinforced and even in the absence of the initial trigger (in this case the nesting instinct) the behaviour may continue.

Taking the stuffing out of a mattress is quite extreme and a slight distortion of typical nesting behaviour, but I have witnessed many bitches in similar situations go to comparable lengths.

The easy solution is to deny her access to the mattress. If the behaviour is not reinforced it will eventually extinguish.

However, if she still has a behavioural itch that needs to be scratched she will need to be provided with an acceptable alternative otherwise she could develop another objectionable behaviour. I would restrict her access to the bedroom and provide her with a secluded area with lots of bedding. Cheap dog blankets or loads of newspaper would be ideal.

Punishment is a very tricky concept at the best of time and punishing her for doing something (which she feels she has to do) will create anxiety. Needless to say this will aggravate the situation.

Whenever we punish we create a behavioural void - if this is not filled with an acceptable behaviour we simply create an opportunity for another undesired behaviour.

I would expect her to stop this behaviour if she is initially restricted from the area and given an acceptable alternative. However I would watch her carefully for signs of pseudo pregnancy after her next heat. Some bitches seem to have a particularly hard time of it, with some even developing mastitis, so spaying may have to be considered.

Good luck

Shannon