How to Deal with a Chewing, Destructive Dog

How to Deal with a Chewing, Destructive Dog





As most of us know, your dog can wreak havoc with its teeth. Whether the culprit is a young puppy exploring her environment, an energetic juvenile displacing pent up energy, or an adult dog acting out the distress of thunderstorm phobia or separation anxiety, a canine with a penchant for chewing can transform your valuable piano to splinters in a matter of hours.

Because the reasons for chewing are so diverse, it should be considered a sign or symptom of some underlying motivation rather than a diagnosis, per se. Before attempting to change your dog's chewing behavior, it's first important to understand just why she's laying into your stuff .

Curiosity Propelled Chewing

Puppies and juvenile dogs learn about their environment by mouthing and gnawing on objects. Typically the targets are random, and may include shoes, books or bedposts. Investigational or "play-related" destructiveness of this kind is a normal behavior for a growing dog.

Puppies seem to escalate such chewing behavior around teething time. Whether chewing more at this time facilitates dental eruption or simply reflects a response to irritation or discomfort is unclear.

The most expedient solution to play-related destructiveness is a dog crate. Ideally, your puppy should be acclimated to a crate from the first day in her new home. Also helpful for house-training, a crate limits your pup's access to valuable items while allowing her to rest and chew at her leisure on appropriate items provided by you.

When your puppy must be left alone for long hours, a crate's too confining and among other things, may force your pup to stand or lie in her own urine or feces. Instead, when you have to leave your pup for a few hours, it is better to restrict your pup to a larger area, such as a kitchen, by means of a baby gate.

Contrary to popular belief, your dog won't necessarily stop chewing when she's grown to adult size. In fact, some of the most profoundly destructive chewers are young adults-not puppies. Sporting breeds (such as the Labrador retriever ) are well known for this type of behavior.

With room for individual differences, consider strategic restriction or crating for your dog at times when you can't supervise her until she's two years old.

Even then, introduce freedom only slowly and just for short periods. Well-designed "food-for-work" toys, which can be filled with biscuits or kibble, can keep your dog busy for hours.

Anxiety-related Chewing

Playful chewing is dog-years apart from the anxiety-based chewing of thunder-phobic dogs or dogs severely upset when "abandoned" by their owners each morning. In frenzied efforts to escape the house or find her owner, a dog of this persuasion will dig and chew at doorways, windowsills and curtains. She may also search for shoes, pillows, purses and other personal items to chew on. Unlike play-related chewing - which can happen whether or not you're home - anxiety-related destructiveness is most likely to happen when your dog is alone.

Because such dogs are already stressed, punishment or confinement (such as crating) isn't advisable because it can make matters worse by increasing your dog's anxiety. Separation anxiety is most easily identified by videotaping the dog right after you leave (a camera can be propped to focus on the door, for example). In most cases, an affected dog will start to whine or bark, dig, and even urinate or defecate within minutes of your departure.

If your dog suffers from thunder phobia, she can cause dramatic damage to your house on stormy days. In contrast to the destructiveness of separation anxiety, phobic behavior may be seen only once in a while. In addition to thunder, your dog may develop fears of fireworks, wind, and a variety of other noises.

Anxiety-related chewing is treated indirectly by addressing the anxiety itself; if you suspect this to be your dog's reason for chewing, ask your veterinarian for help in addressing the problem. Most typically, a temporary anti-anxiety medication will be prescribed - along with a behavior-modification program - to help your dog feel less stressed and react more calmly when left alone or when exposed to storms.

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When you're at home, Rover is everything you ever wished for in a dog. He's obedient and respectful. But when you're at work, his evil twin emerges.

Each day you come home, you tally up the destruction ... today he chewed the remote control into a gnarled piece of plastic, and there's a bite out of your slippers. And the list just keeps getting longer and longer. Why is your normally happy and obedient dog pulling this Jekyll-and-Hyde routine?

There are a lot of possible reasons, with sheer boredom ranking right up there. Without you there, life for your pooch just isn't that entertaining. So he makes do with your stuff, and you aren't there to restrain him. A dog does not differentiate between a remote control and a chew toy. Both are chew toys to him. What he does know is that you react in an unpleasant way when it's the remote control and remain calm when he goes for the chew toy.

So, naturally, he'll wait until you're gone before tasting the forbidden fruit.

Another reason why dogs chew everything in sight is simple curiosity. Puppies and juvenile dogs explore the world with their mouths. They explore by taste and texture. In addition, a puppy may chew around teething time. The action of chewing may help relieve the discomfort associated with the eruption of new teeth. The behavior may abate as the dog grows older but some breeds seem predisposed to chewing (Labrador retrievers, for instance).

An added attraction may be the fact that your scent is on many of these items, making them that more attractive than some impersonal chew toy.

Crating or strategically locating your dog in a part of the house with expendable items is one possible solution. You may also try to enrich your dog's environment with food puzzle toys, flavored Nylabones®, or treats strategically hidden around the room.

In addition, chewing may be an attempt to relieve anxiety, for example, during a thunderstorm in a thunderstorm phobic dog. This problem is relatively easy to diagnose; if your house is chewed up only after thunderstorms, then the cause of the chewing is relatively clear. Furthermore, your dog will probably react fearfully during storms even when you are home.

Separation anxiety is another serious cause behind chewing. Highly dependant dogs may feel abandoned when their owners are away, and may chew when alone to relieve anxiety and stress. Chew marks near doors indicate "barrier frustration," in which the dog is trying to break through the barrier to find his way to you.

Dogs that chew as a result of separation anxiety often show other signs of this condition. They may follow you from room to room, doting on you excessively. Some dogs with separation anxiety panic when they are unable to follow their owners around from room to room. If you suspect separation anxiety to be the cause of your dog's problem, contact your local veterinarian. You may need to institute an independence program to modify his behavior.


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