Interior Doors

hdowney

Ok so the interior doors in my house are the cheap mdfy type hollow doors. crap basically. anyway a number of years ago one of the doors got a small hole in it, then the terrier we have (who is a chicken) when shut in that room, ripped chunks out of the door with her teeth trying to escape/hide.

i switched out that door for another in the house with no holes. anyway she has managed to rip chunks out of that one too.

so i am looking to begin a major redecorating process over the coming year or two, which will include replacing all the interior doors (so as to get rid of the chewed ones, but have them all match). my question is this:

what kinda doors do i get. i don't want to buy ones that the terrier can damage in any way through scratching and chewing at them. any advice greatly appreciated

slimjimmc

No wooden door is dog proof, they all can be chewed, scratched and damaged. A solid door would be harder to eat a hole in though but can still be badly damaged.

How about fitting a metal kicker plate to the bottom of the door to fend off the dog if you can't correct the dog's behaviour with retraining.

paddy147

A good size 10 wing tip up the dogs ae5e usually sorts things out.

She wont do it again,thats for sure.

hdowney

slimjimmc wrote: »

No wooden door is dog proof, they all can be chewed, scratched and damaged. A solid door would be harder to eat a hole in though but can still be badly damaged.

How about fitting a metal kicker plate to the bottom of the door to fend off the dog if you can't correct the dog's behaviour with retraining.

dog is 9, can't see retraining working - tis only in the last yr/yr and a half she started ripping the door to shreds.

i'd need quite a high kicker plate, like 10 inches off the bottom of the door (like from the bottom) at least judging by the height she chews

paddy147 wrote: »

A good size 10 wing tip up the dogs ae5e usually sorts things out.

She wont do it again,thats for sure.

um i wish that was the case. i ended up in caredoc on friday night, trying to stop her doing something (canni remember what, but she had a chew in her mouth at the same time) and she BIT ME, drawing blood. poor finger!

sooo solid wood is the first step, then figuring out the kick plate section

Pique

hdowney wrote: »

dog is 9, can't see retraining working - tis only in the last yr/yr and a half she started ripping the door to shreds.

i'd need quite a high kicker plate, like 10 inches off the bottom of the door (like from the bottom) at least judging by the height she chews

um i wish that was the case. i ended up in caredoc on friday night, trying to stop her doing something (canni remember what, but she had a chew in her mouth at the same time) and she BIT ME, drawing blood. poor finger!

sooo solid wood is the first step, then figuring out the kick plate section

A vet, and a Dog behaviourial specialist would be my first stop.
A 7+ year old dog starting to chew doors sounds very much like a problem with the dog that needs to be sorted. Add the fact that she bit you means she is in some form of distress/pain/whatever.
Get her checked out at the vet and then by a good qualified animal behaviour expert.

hdowney

Pique wrote: »

A vet, and a Dog behaviourial specialist would be my first stop.
A 7+ year old dog starting to chew doors sounds very much like a problem with the dog that needs to be sorted. Add the fact that she bit you means she is in some form of distress/pain/whatever.
Get her checked out at the vet and then by a good qualified animal behaviour expert.

well she is ok according to the vet. she is on medication for her arthritis and is walking properly again without any bother. she has always been a scaredy dog and scrabbled at doors, it is only in the last couple of years she has tried chewing her way out of them, even if you were in the room with her.

and as to the biting i won't say it was my fault as the dog should never bite me, but she was going somewhere she shouldn't, i was trying to stop her and she had a bit of a chew in her mouth at the time. i am thinking perhaps she thought i was going to take said chew and was not happy about that.

(sorry ot!)

misterdeeds

Simple answer Get Rid Of The DOG
:):)

hdowney

misterdeeds wrote: »

Simple answer Get Rid Of The DOG
:):)

i'll let you come and tell her that and see what happens :pac::pac::pac:

slowburner

Isn't there some pet deterrent spray that you could put on the doors? Even at 9, it'll learn. The poor auld mutt.

hdowney

slowburner wrote: »

Isn't there some pet deterrent spray that you could put on the doors? Even at 9, it'll learn. The poor auld mutt.

i was actually just thinking that meself shall go to the pet store and see can i find anything

slimjimmc

Old dogs can and do learn new tricks, it just takes more time and patience. The dog's behaviour is being reinforced by you in some subtle way and you need to look at that.

In the meantime, you could place one of these large fire guards with the heavy duty wire at the door as you leave to keep those gnashers out of reach.
You won't need to keep fixing or replacing doors and it might be enough to break her habit too.