Posts Tagged ‘dog tearing item’
Dog 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 can tear things up. With a mouthfull of sharp, pointy teeth: just about everything will show the effects of her chewing. 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. 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 bad chewing -
Dogs are perfectly capable of learning not to chew although it may take a little work at first.
1. Take control of the situation: manage your own possessions. Just like with a child you need 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? 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.
when food is at stake you will be surprised how easy she can get to it, all food needs to be put securely away!), put all food into containers or the pantry. Rinse your dirty plates clean of any food scraps 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). Do not offer your dog cast-off shoes, clothes or anything that she may have pick up before and gotten in trouble for, how could she tell the difference.
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. Just think, most dogs need to chew; especially if she’s an adolescent or a puppy. Go on a shopping spree and pick up several toys and chews so that you can give her two or three 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. 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.
– 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.
In the early stage of your relationship, she is still learning the ropes: it will take a while before she will be completely reliable.) You need to give her time to learn the rules, and a lot of time with you, then she will learn faster but don’t forget tto keep things out of her reach!
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.