Help with rescue dog

Goose81

Hey,

We got a dog from the <snip> about 2.5 months ago, hes a little jack russell type maybe 2 years old. (he is neutered)

We have had dogs inc jack russell before so arent new to having them but theres a few issues;

He chews non stop,if you pet him or play with him at all he constantly chew/bites your hand, its quite sore after a while. Wont let you pet him without chew/biting.

He is a terror absolutely shreds everything, power cords, shoes you name it he shreds it. Its ridiculous we have had to pretty much baby proof the house inc a baby gate on the stairs.

hes recently started ripping the hair on his back off. At first I thought he was just itching himself but hes not and he is developing a bald spot where he is actually ripping the hair out.
He also licks his paws non stop if hes not ripping his hair out.
Temperament wise he is brilliant, loves kids and other dogs. Not a bad bone in him never any signs of aggression or anything like that.

He is walked loads so it cant be lack of exercise.

We dont have a clue about his history but just wondering if anyone can help. I think he must have been badly mistreated maybe because he doesnt seem to sleep well combined with his behaviour.

(also we were told he was perfectly healthy. when the insurance company received his medical from the <snip> they refused to insure multiple things that may crop up due to his medical which I think was bad form for us not to be told)

tks

DBB

The skin issue needs to be checked out with your vet op, as a matter of urgency.
There's a very good chance it's an allergy of some sort, the most common allergies are caused by some ingredients in dry food (very often gluten in the cereals... It is my firm belief that dogs should not be fed cereals), it could be mites, either storage or harvest mites, it could be a yeast infection.... But if he's that itchy that he's ripping his hair out, it means he's in serious discomfort, and this increases behaviours including destructiveness and restlessness/not sleeping well.
To the vet with you. And if he advises a hypoallergenic dry dog food but can't tell you what's wrong, come back here and tell us so we can help. He will probably give you antibiotics, a course of steroids, and some anti-fungal, anti-bacterial shampoo too.

Gloomtastic!

As for the chewing, get a crate and put them in there everytime you have to leave them unsupervised. Are you sure it's over 2? Chewing is a puppy trait. Buy a stack of chew toys from the discount shops.

Good luck!

Gremlinertia

My dog, a small westie, chewed her Paws a lot when I took her over first. I put her on a hypoallergenic food, and I give her a bit of tuna in sunflower oil a few times a week, it stopped pretty much immediately though I did go to the vet and get a medicated shampoo to treat her in combination with the diet change..

As for the chewing, that may lessen when she's less itchy/aggravated. I used a water pistol with just water in it to splash her on the nose when she chewed anything other than her toys.. Then would send her to bed for a few minutes. Hope any bit of this helps.

DBB

OP, please don't use a water pistol or anything similar when your dog mouths your hands. It can cause more trouble than it appears to solve.
There are loads of threads on how to deal with this problem more effectively and ethically. I don't have time to post a blurb about it now, but a forum search will bring up quite a few old threads on the issue.

Gremlinertia

Oh oops I didn't know - disregard that bit so OP honest mistake.