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DEALING WITH YOUR DOG'S DESTRUCTIVE CHEWING
The act of chewing seems
to be a matter of individual preference among dogs: some have an innate
desire to chew as a pleasurable activity in itself, and some seem to have
no need to chew whatsoever unless they’re driven to it out of sheer
boredom.
The phrase “destructive chewing” may sound redundant, because – by its
very nature! – all chewing is destructive. 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:
- Most dogs have a natural desire to chew. It’s fun, it passes the time,
and it’s a self-rewarding, self-reinforcing activity (for example, if
she’s chewing on something that tastes good.)
- Chewing provides a nervous, bored, or lonely dog with an outlet for her
emotions. 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 are perfectly capable of learning not to chew your stuff – you just
have to put in a little effort first, that’s all.
1. Take control of the situation: 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 her size and agility when
deciding whether something’s out of reach: can she jump? Can she climb, or
leap onto something else to reach the desired object? How tall is she when
standing on her back legs?
Common targets in the home include books, eyewear, clothing, shoes,
garbage, and small crunchy appliances 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 into
containers or the pantry. Rinse your dirty plates clean of any food scraps
before leaving them by the sink.
2. Prevent her from learning 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 can prevent her from chewing your stuff in the first place,
it’s a lot easier for her to understand what you expect 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 set her up for failure by blurring the boundaries between her
stuff (OK to chew) and your stuff (not OK to chew). Don’t offer your dog
cast-off clothes, shoes, or towels to chew and play with: realistically,
you can’t possibly expect her to be able to tell the difference between
your current shoes and the one she’s got in her mouth that you gave her
five minutes ago.
4. Provide her with lots of tasty alternatives to your stuff. 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. Go on a toy and chew shopping spree, then give her two or
three to play with at a time. Rotating the available toys every few days
will keep things novel and interesting for her.
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. When you catch her chewing something inappropriate, interrupt her by
making a loud noise: clap your hands or make an “Ah-ah-aaaah!” noise.
Then, immediately hand her a tasty and dog-appropriate alternative (a
rawhide bone or other chew toy); as soon as her jaws close around it,
praise her lavishly. 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 -
Above all, remember to keep your expectations 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 further information on typical doggie behavior, including a fantastic
resource for how-to training and loads of detailed information on
preventing and dealing with problem behaviors, check out
SitStayFetch.
Written by a professional dog-trainer, it's an absorbing guide that deals
with all the subjects a responsible dog-owner could ever want to know
about - well worth a look.
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