When you come home to find your dog chewing the book you were currently reading, or your most comfy shoes it's difficult not to become annoyed. But worse is finding your dog has been chewing the furniture, carpet or perhaps the walls.
While a number of these are extreme cases of dog chewing problems, you do hear about them fairly often and however much you love your dog, the money needed in setting it right is sufficient to try anyones patience...
The problem is, getting worked up with your dogs chewing doesn't seem to make much difference. Roar and they might look guilty and slink towards you, head down and tail between their legs. It definitely looks like they know they could be in the dog house but it never appears to stop them doing it again. So why do they do it and how can you stop dog chewing?
Pup Chewing
The most evident reason for chewing is teething in puppies. All of us can plan for that by being observant and providing masses of indestructible chew toys (N.B. Unsure they actually exist because my pup has annihilated everything we've given them so far) Just remember that it can take up until 2 years old for all adult teeth to come down.
Dog Chewing
As dogs get older and their teeth get bigger and jaws get stronger, they can begin to do a load more damage to your house and to themselves with their ceaseless chewing and it becomes more crucial to understand what could be driving their urge to chew and what you can do about it.
There are 2 main reasons for dog chewing problems:
1. Your dog is chewing to get you to pay attention.
If they start chewing something where you can see them, and you react by shouting at them, chasing them or even getting cross, they are most likely to carry on doing it because doing it got them your attention (and even a great game of chase into the bargain).
My puppy used get a shoe and plonk himself down in front of me before he started chewing, all of the time attempting to catch my eye, knowing I would have to jump up and take if off him. He had my attention, regardless of whether I was cross with him and he carried on doing it more often until I spotted his game and modified my response.
Here is what I did that stopped this behaviour within just a few days:
Whenever he grabbed a shoe and brought it into the room, I would simply get up and without looking at him, or talking to him, put him in his crate for 10 minutes where he could not see me or anybody else (you might employ a separate room if you do not have a crate).
This meant his behaviour did not get me interested, but also lost him access to me utterly. His chewing problem went away very quickly, as dogs don't seem to carry on doing things that will not benefit them.
2. Your dogs chewing is created by dog anxiety
Chewing in dogs helps release a natural enzyme that has a soothing effect on our systems. (If you are a nail biter, you'll understand this).
So if your dog only starts to chew when left alone, anxiety could be the trigger. Sadly, the anxiety can also extend to chewing paws or other areas of themselves and in the act can continuously get rid of the fur and even goes through the skin at times.
In this scenario, the sole way to stop dog chewing is to deal with the dog anxiety first, which is sadly more convoluted than an attention getting problem.
A Chewing Dog Might Be A Stressed Pack Leader
Recent dogs training approaches suggest that a dog that presumes he is leader of his pack will experience anxiety when you leave them on their own because they do not know where you are and cannot fulfil their role as leader to keep you safe.
This makes sense when you see how many dogs will do anything to get out when left alone, scratching, scraping and chewing at furniture, doors, windows "infact anything that stands in their way.
How To Stop Dog Chewing
The solution is actually quite easy "take the job of pack leader away from the dog and their anxiousness should disappear together with their desire to chew. But to do it you'll need to discover how to show your dog you're the pack leader and they can trust you and have nothing to be anxious about. (N.B.You do not have to be strong, or tough to do this, actually you can do this without any domination methods, punishment or force.)
If the dog anxiety is very severe then you made need to approsch your vet and take advice. There are meds and other products that would help while you go into a retraining process with your dog.
While a number of these are extreme cases of dog chewing problems, you do hear about them fairly often and however much you love your dog, the money needed in setting it right is sufficient to try anyones patience...
The problem is, getting worked up with your dogs chewing doesn't seem to make much difference. Roar and they might look guilty and slink towards you, head down and tail between their legs. It definitely looks like they know they could be in the dog house but it never appears to stop them doing it again. So why do they do it and how can you stop dog chewing?
Pup Chewing
The most evident reason for chewing is teething in puppies. All of us can plan for that by being observant and providing masses of indestructible chew toys (N.B. Unsure they actually exist because my pup has annihilated everything we've given them so far) Just remember that it can take up until 2 years old for all adult teeth to come down.
Dog Chewing
As dogs get older and their teeth get bigger and jaws get stronger, they can begin to do a load more damage to your house and to themselves with their ceaseless chewing and it becomes more crucial to understand what could be driving their urge to chew and what you can do about it.
There are 2 main reasons for dog chewing problems:
1. Your dog is chewing to get you to pay attention.
If they start chewing something where you can see them, and you react by shouting at them, chasing them or even getting cross, they are most likely to carry on doing it because doing it got them your attention (and even a great game of chase into the bargain).
My puppy used get a shoe and plonk himself down in front of me before he started chewing, all of the time attempting to catch my eye, knowing I would have to jump up and take if off him. He had my attention, regardless of whether I was cross with him and he carried on doing it more often until I spotted his game and modified my response.
Here is what I did that stopped this behaviour within just a few days:
Whenever he grabbed a shoe and brought it into the room, I would simply get up and without looking at him, or talking to him, put him in his crate for 10 minutes where he could not see me or anybody else (you might employ a separate room if you do not have a crate).
This meant his behaviour did not get me interested, but also lost him access to me utterly. His chewing problem went away very quickly, as dogs don't seem to carry on doing things that will not benefit them.
2. Your dogs chewing is created by dog anxiety
Chewing in dogs helps release a natural enzyme that has a soothing effect on our systems. (If you are a nail biter, you'll understand this).
So if your dog only starts to chew when left alone, anxiety could be the trigger. Sadly, the anxiety can also extend to chewing paws or other areas of themselves and in the act can continuously get rid of the fur and even goes through the skin at times.
In this scenario, the sole way to stop dog chewing is to deal with the dog anxiety first, which is sadly more convoluted than an attention getting problem.
A Chewing Dog Might Be A Stressed Pack Leader
Recent dogs training approaches suggest that a dog that presumes he is leader of his pack will experience anxiety when you leave them on their own because they do not know where you are and cannot fulfil their role as leader to keep you safe.
This makes sense when you see how many dogs will do anything to get out when left alone, scratching, scraping and chewing at furniture, doors, windows "infact anything that stands in their way.
How To Stop Dog Chewing
The solution is actually quite easy "take the job of pack leader away from the dog and their anxiousness should disappear together with their desire to chew. But to do it you'll need to discover how to show your dog you're the pack leader and they can trust you and have nothing to be anxious about. (N.B.You do not have to be strong, or tough to do this, actually you can do this without any domination methods, punishment or force.)
If the dog anxiety is very severe then you made need to approsch your vet and take advice. There are meds and other products that would help while you go into a retraining process with your dog.
About the Author:
The Writer has experienced both dog chewing and dog anxiety Problems with her own rescue dog and you can get a free report ondog anxiety symptomsfrom her site to help you spot anxiety symptoms in your own dog.
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