Posts Tagged ‘dog tearing item’
Dogs that Chew
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 can tear things up. With a mouthfull of sharp, pointy teeth: just about everything will show the effects of her chewing. To be clear when I use the phrase “destructive chewing” I am referring to chewing your possessions and house items instead of hers.
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 a dog the repetitive act of chewing is soothing just like we eat comfort food.
If dogs are not exercised to burn up their excess energy they often turn to chewing to give 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, or leap onto something else to reach the desired object? When standing on her back legs how tall is she?
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. Make sure you scrape out plates and rinse them 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). 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 she doesn’t have anything to play with, you can hardly blame her for targeting your possessions. Just think, most dogs need to chew; especially if she’s an adolescent or a puppy. Pick up several toys and chews and give her more than one at a time. Rotating the available toys every few days will keep things novel and interesting for her.
5. Spend a lot of time in one on one 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 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.
– Keep a productive attitude-
If nothing else, keep your expectation realistic. Neither you or your dog are perfect and there will be a good chance she will tear up something you cherishe.
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. A complete manual to fast-track your dog’s learning.
