Destructive Chewing
Chewing is a matter of individual preference among dogs: some derive great pleasure from chewing and others just do it when they are extremely bored.
The phrase “destructive chewing” may sound redundant, because – by its very nature! – all chewing can tear things up. Your dog has strong jaws full of sharp, pointy teeth: just about anything she starts to chew on is probably going to show the effects of it inside of a minute. So just to clarify, when I use the phrase “destructive chewing”, I’m referring to inappropriate chewing: the kind of chewing that’s focused on your own possessions and household items, instead of on your dog’s own designated toys and chews.
The three main reasons why dogs chew:
- All dogs have a natural desire to chew. And really it’s fun and passes time a self-rewarding, self-reinforcing activity.)
Chewing is an outlet for a nervous bored or lonely dog. To an anxious dog, the repetitive act of chewing is soothing – it’s the doggie equivalent of comfort food.
- Under exercised dogs often use chewing as a way of burning up nervous energy and giving themselves something to do.
- How to prevent destructive chewing -
Dogs can learn not to chew your things – you just need to work at it.
1. Take control and manage your own possessions. Your first step should be to dog-proof your home. Even if you have the best-behaved dog in the world, there’s still no reason to test her self-control – after all, dogs explore the world with their mouths.
Dog-proofing your home means taking whatever you don’t want to end up in her mouth, and making it unavailable. Consider how tall she is and her agility when deciding whether something’s out of reach:? Can she climb on something to reach the desired object? How tall is she when standing on her back legs?
Many things in the home are common targets such as clothes, garbage, small crunchy things like cameras, cell phones and remote controls.
It should go without saying that all food needs to be put securely away: don’t leave snacks on low tables (or even countertops – you’d be surprised how acrobatic she can be when there’s food at stake!), put all food away. Make sure you scrape out plates and rinse them before leaving them by the sink.
2. Don’t let her learn the joys of illegal chewing. The more times she manages to snatch a jaw full of a forbidden substance – a chair-leg, a pillow, a running shoe – the more readily she’ll target those items in future. If you stop her from chewing your stuff she will understand what is expected of her. Practically speaking, this means confining her in a dog-proofed area until you’re confident of her understanding of the house rules.
3. Don’t make it harder for her by blurring the boundaries between her stuff (OK to chew) and your stuff (not OK to chew). If she has gotten caught with household articles then don’t give her similiar castoffs to play with, there is no way she would know the difference.
4. Give her lots of different, good tasting alternatives to your things. If her environment is relatively barren of attractive, appropriate chewing objects, you can hardly blame her for targeting your possessions. Remember, most dogs need to chew; if she’s an adolescent (under three years) or a puppy (under one year), her needs will be even more pronounced. Pick up several toys and chews and give her more than one at a time. Rotate her toys and make it interesting.
5. Spend lots of time in active supervision. Yes, it might be easier for you to just keep her penned up in her crate, run, or the yard – but that’s boring and horrible for her, and hardly much fun for you either (if you wanted a pet that you don’t need to interact with, you’d have got a goldfish, right?) She can’t learn what you expect of her if she’s spending all her time boxed up in the dog-proof zone: she needs the opportunity to explore the boundaries of your expectations, so she can understand what’s appropriate and what’s not.
6. Make a loud noise like clapping your hand or make an “Ah-ah-aaaah” when you catch her chewing something you don’t want her to chew!” noise. Then, immediately give her a tasty alternative such as a rawhide bone or chew toy; when she takes it praise her. There is no better way to get your dog to understand that chewing “her” toys equals praise from you, but everything else equals trouble.
- Maintain a productive attitude -
If nothing else, keep your expectation realistic. You’re not perfect, and neither is your dog: there’s likely to be at least one incident where a cherished item is damaged by her curiosity.
Particularly in the early stages of your relationship, she’s still learning the ropes: it’ll take awhile before she’s completely reliable (and even then, if she’s left by herself for too long or feels neglected, she may choose your stuff over hers to occupy her time and jaws with.) Remember to give her time to learn the rules, and plenty of ‘you-time’ to help her learn faster – and don’t forget to take precautions and keep things out of reach until she’s got the hang of the chewing rules!
For more information on dog training techniques and how to deal with problem dog behavior (like chewing), check out Secrets to Dog Training. It’s the complete manual for dog ownership and is designed to fast-track your dog’s learning.
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