Trouble was an into everything puppy.  She destroyed my inside window shutters in the entrance way, she found a loose piece of drywall tape on the wall and ripped it about 5 ft up, she chewed every corner off every blanket and sheet we owned.

And then one day, at about 15 months she became a model dog.  She stopped destroying things, she became reliable, she never had to be crated when we left ever again, you could put you plate of food in front of her and she won't take it (she will lick it, but not take it).

Like Rene, I too believe these dogs come into our lives for a reason. I know it is frustrating beyond belief, but there will be light at the end of the tunnel.

our two cents - don't give up on your pup!!  a strap can be fixed, it's not a deal breaker.  if you can't find a way to fix it, PM me and you can send it to me and i'll fix it.  puppies' jobs are to chew and chew....this will pass.  if you give up now, you will forever have the 'what if's', which will be much worse than the physical stuff.  hang in there, like everyone else has said, it passes and one day you look down and there's this perfect little pup setting next to you. 

charon & gayle

I realize, in retrospect, that my original reply about this might sound like I'm advocating finding a new home for Cocoa. I really didn't mean that, but rather to give you some perspective. Also, we sometimes feel that we need "permission" to do things like this, and if you don't think it's working out in a way that's fair to both you and Cocoa, then I think you should do what you feel you need to do.

However, I just want to reiterate that simply rescuing a dog from a dire situation does not make you responsible for that dog for the remainder of its life. I think that you are wise to be asking yourself these questions now and not in 6 months.

And for the record, I would love to see Cocoa stay with you. I don't know if I believe in fate or karma or anything like that, but having rescued a dog in similiar circumstances, I feel that the bond that grows is different in all the right ways. The rewards can be enormous.

I just didn't want you--or anyone else--thinking that I was advocating for a new home for Cocoa. But I think the worst thing that could happen is that you keep her out of a sense of obligation when you really don't want to. That one I'll stand by.

Shari

as per chewing:

just make sure to keep her safe while she is in the chewing stage. It is one thing to eat a piece of pizza and another something toxic.

I adopted Tazzie at age 18 months, and he was a counter surfer supreme. You could not eat a meal in the same room without him vacuuming the counters when your back was turned. One day I came home to find a less hyper Tazzie than usual, lying next to a pile of Advil strewn on the floor and the chewed open and half-empty Advil container (the kind that contains 100 pills). It must have been a 10 foot climb to get it (on a shelf, in a deep corner, above the kitchen sink), but he did it. Luckily he survived despite acute kidney failure (barely) and I constricted his space when I was out of the house (and was even more careful with anything that was potentially toxic).

The chewing phase tends to be worse at about 7 to 14 months in age, and from my experience I'd hazard a guess even for older dogs when they are first adopted. It will pass, or at least they start to restrict their chewing to relatively edible objects as they get older (pizza rather than drywall).

Oh my goodness. You sound like me a year ago (almost exactly to the day!). I think I have a post here even not long after I adopted the pups kind of saying "Omg, what did we do?!" 

We adopted Dante as a puppy (AND his sister - what were we thinking?!). So here I am, two puppies, after losing a senior, very calm, smart, well behaved old guy. Vastly different. We wanted a dog. One dog, older, mellow, dog. Not two puppies. Somehow we lost our memories of what having puppies is like (I hear this happens with people and newborn babies, too!). Also, in the midst of all of Dante's tripawdness, we failed to realize, he was still a puppy in every sense. A puppy with three legs is still a puppy, who knew? 

I think the excitement lasted a week or so. And then the dread set in - I waffled a lot. Are we the best home? Can we do this? Why am I not in love with them yet? This is SO draining!

But we pushed and persevered.  I love my babies now - they'll be 15 months old on the 24th and they sort of resemble well behaved dogs now. At least when we don't leave the house or have visitors, anyways! 

Our beagle didn't settle until she was almost 3 - that was a fun ride, and that was also the whole reason I never wanted another puppy ever again. They have to be as cute as they are, or they wouldn't make it to be grown dogs!  She chewed everything in sight and then some - and for an 18lb dog, she can chew through pretty much anything and everything she sets her mind to. It took a lot of reading, learning, and WELL over a thousand dollars of lost items/ruined carpet/tables/decks/sanity before we realized all that we were doing wrong and what she needed from us. And as Shanna mentioned with trouble - one day Coda went from being the devil to the best dog we've both ever owned. She's amazing. Something clicked and all of our hard work that seemed to fall on deaf ears sunk in and I couldn't ask for a more balanced, better behaved dog. 

What you're doing, will sink in, even when it doesn't feel like it. One day your wild child will become a stellar canine citizen - until then, deep breaths, patience and puppy kisses will get you through this!