A common situation that many dog owners encounter is when their pup develops a chewing problem. Maybe your best friend takes to eating your shoes or couch or even your underwear. There may be no apparent rhyme or reason to explain your dog’s oral fixation but with a little bit of digging you can hone in on the issue.Your dog may have a gnawing problem for a long list of reasons including some of the following:
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Anxiety
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Hunger
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Teething
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Bordom
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Lack of Exercise
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Call for Attention
If the reason for your dog’s chewing problem could be one or all of the reasons listed above, so this problem can be a bit complex. If the reason is not apparent then we always suggest consulting your vet.
To share a personal story, when I was a kid we had the most beautiful german shepherd named Rex. Unfortunately, as he passed into his first year he began to develope a chewing problem, but not a normal chewing problem. Rex did not chew shoes or destroy his chew toys, instead he chewed on rocks or the wall. Of course we took him to the vet, and we were informed that Rex had severe hip dysplasia, and his chewing was a result of arthritis and his attempt to get more minerals into his body. This was devastating news for our family but it was the information we needed to help us understand the root of the chewing problem. Once we identified why he was gnawing on walls and rocks we were able to begin to address the underlying issue.
For the purposes of this blog we will not go into each possible scenario of why a dog may have a chewing problem. (We will produce a series of articles over the coming weeks to deal help identify the most common issues). Instead, we this blog will focus on trying to redirect a dog’s gnawing so that it is not destructive more constructive.
A simple three step approach should help you to solve your gnawing problem.
Identify- Redirect-Reinforce
Step 1: Identify the the reason why
As with a lot of things in life the first step is the hardest, but also the most crucial. Once you know the reason behind your dog’s chewing you will be able to take the correct steps. The cause of the chewing problem may not clear at first and may be for a totally different reason than you suspect. So do plenty of research and as a lot of questions to better understand why.
Step 2: Redirect
Whatever the underlying cause of the chewing issue. The second step is always to redirect, but redirect in the right way appropriate to cause of the chewing. The redirection can take on a many forms. For example:
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Maybe the pup is cooped up too many hours of the day and requires more exercise and after the exercise you give the pup a proper chew that should gnawing on and plenty of praise.
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Maybe the you have a dog that is anxious and chews on your shoes during rain storms. Before the rain arrives provide the dog with a long term dog chew that will take him hours to get through so that during the storm he will be more interested in the chew then in a shoe.
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Maybe like in my example above the pup has a nutritional deficiency in which case you would want to provide chews and supplements to give the pup relief. Remember that dogs can not communicate with words so it is important as owners that we learn to read into the non-verbals that our pups are constantly giving us.
Step 3: Reinforce
Just like we do with children we should also reinforce the behaviours that we want in our dogs. So provide plenty of praise when you dog is gnawing on a chew you have provided. Give them lots of love and hugs to let them know they are doing right thing. Remember that the dogs in our lives aim to please, and that they want to make us happy. We are their leaders and they seek our approval. The other side of reinforcement is using a simple spray to teach the dog that when they are chewing on something they should not be. A spray bitter spray to ward them off usually does the trick. A spray that works well in our home is a simple mixture of water and vinegar. At Nature Gnaws we always recommend the gentle approach with our dog, we never use any physical punishments to teach our dogs. Instead praise (reinforcement) when they are doing what want and the spray bottle when they are not.
Please remember that the reason for the chewing may originate with you the owner. If you are not giving the dog exercise or nutrition that it needs to grow and live a healthy productive life then the discipline provided when the dog is chewing will only be confusing to the dog. Please take the time to identify the source of the chewing problem (Step.1) then proceed to the next steps to resolve the issue. We hope this article sheds some light and provides a path to resolve your pups gnawing issues.
