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Tricks on Preventing Destructive Chewing
Posted under Dog Training, SitStayFetchDestructive Chewing
The act of chewing among dogs seems to be a matter of individual preference : some have an ingrown need to chew as a pleasurable activity and others seem to have no desire to chew at all unless they’re really bored.
All chewing is destructive, hence the phrase “Destructive Chewing”. Your dog has strong jaws full of sharp, pointy teeth: just about anything he/she starts to chew on is probably going to show the effects of it inside of a minute. So when I use the phrase “destructive chewing”, I’m referring to inappropriate chewing. Chewing that involves your own possessions and household items, instead of on your dog’s own toys and chews.
Here are three main reasons why dogs chew:
- It’s natural for most dog’s to chew. It’s fun, it passes the time, and it’s a self-rewarding.
- 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.
- Underexercised dogs often use chewing as a way of burning up nervous energy and giving themselves something to do.
- How to prevent destructive chewing -
This will require a little effort on the human’s part too.
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 their 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 his/her mouth, and making it unavailable. Consider their size and agility when deciding whether something’s out of reach: Jumping, climbing, and leaping are very feasable when exploring the human’s home for stuff to chew. Keep this in mind when “dog proofing”
Common targets in the home include the human’s books, eyewear, clothing, shoes, garbage, and small hi-tech expensive 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 your dog 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 your dog from learning the joys of illegal chewing. The more times he/she manages to snatch a jawful of a forbidden substance – a chair-leg, a pillow, a running shoe – the more readily they will target those items in future. If you can prevent them from chewing your stuff in the first place, it’s a lot easier for them to understand what you expect of him/her. Practically speaking, this means confining him/her in a dog-proofed area until you’re confident your dog understands the house rules.
3. Don’t set him/her up for failure by crossing the line between their 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 him/her to be able to tell the difference between your current shoes and the one in their mouth which you gave them five minutes ago.
4. Provide your dog with lots of tasty alternatives to your stuff. If thier environment is relatively barren of attractive, appropriate chewing objects, you can hardly blame them for targeting your possessions. Remember, most dogs need to chew; if your dog is an adolescent (under three years) or a puppy (under one year), their needs will be even more pronounced. Go on a toy and chew shopping spree, then give them two or three to play with at a time. Rotating the available toys every few days will keep things novel and interesting for them.
5. Spend lots of time in active supervision. Yes, it might be easier for you to just keep them penned up in thier crate, run, or the yard – but that’s boring and horrible for them, and hardly much fun for you, the human, either I mean you wanted a pet that you didn’t want to interact with, you should have gotten a goldfish! Your dog can’t learn what you expect of them if they are boxed up in the dog-proof zone all the time: They need the opportunity to explore the boundaries of your expectations, so they can understand what’s appropriate and what’s not.
6. When you catch them chewing something inappropriate, interrupt your dog by making a loud noise: clap your hands or make an “Ah-ah-aaaah!” noise. Then, immediately hand him/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 “their” toys equals praise from you, but everything else equals trouble.
- Maintain a productive attitude -
Above all, remember to keep your expectations realistic. Human’s are not perfect, and neither are dogs: there’s likely to be at least one incident where a cherished item is damaged by 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 teaching you how to train your dog, and how to deal with problem dog behavior (like chewing), check out SitStayFetch. It’s the complete manual for dog ownership and is designed to fast-track your learning how to interact with your dog.
You can visit the SitStayFetch site by clicking on the link below:
http://www.teachyourhuman.com/chewing
