Almost every dog owner has had some form of unpleasant experience with their dog. This especially true when the dog feels compelled to satisfy the urge to chew. Here are five steps to help stop your dog’s destructive chewing.
Coming home from work can be a tense moment. You never know what unexpected damage inflicted by your dog’s teeth is waiting for you when you walk through the door. This is even more of a problem if your dog suffers from separation anxiety. Here is a good article to help you deal with that problem: https://excellentdogsclub.com/how-to-help-your-dog-deal-with-their-separation-anxiety/
While dogs use their great sense of smell and vision to explore their surrounding, they also use their mouths. Chewing is also one of their sources of entertainment. It is a well-established stress reliever for dogs.
Chewing on firm items facilitates teething as well as making sore gums feel better; thus, you do not want to squash this behavior completely. All you need to do is to direct the chewing to appropriate channels. Here are some easy tactics you can use to stop the destruction.
- To prevent the inappropriate chewing from happening
- Keep your dog active
A bored dog is a destructive dog. Always ensure that your dog is active by giving him plenty of physical exercise such as walks, hikes, flirt poles, tug-of-war as well as brain work. Some training games like obedience training, trick training, freestyle canine disc, backyard agility and manners classes are also good.
- Use food-dispensing puzzle toys instead of a food bowl
Replace your dog’s food bowl with a food-dispensing puzzle toy as it is a good way to exercise the dog’s brain and keep him occupied. The dog will take more time to eat which means that he will have less time to chew up your stuff.
- Get your dog long-lasting snacks and solid puppy chew toys
These include a rubber treat-dispenser or a dog-safe hollow beef-bone. Dogs also like dried animal parts such as hooves and pigs ears and the smellier they are the better. There is a wide range of excelllent chew toys to help satisfy that urge to chew.
Grandchildren’ s Drago with heavy-duty, solid chew toy
- Reward your dog’s good behavior
Dogs are fast learners and anytime they make good choices, they should be rewarded. Tell your dog how good he has been and give him or her a treat. Take him out for a walk or to a play game to let him know that good behavior is always appreciated.
Prevention is an important part of helping your chewing dog abandon his or her destructive chewing habits. Always supervise, manage and dog-proof. If your dog has separation anxiety, you need to help him overcome this problem. There is a helpful article on that topic on this website.
Remember that you are the only one who can prevent dog destruction from happening. Chewing can cause the destruction of valuable items in your home and may also jeopardize your dog’s safety. It is, therefore, every dog owner’s responsibility to manage their dog’s chewing habits until they have learned what they can or cannot chew.
Photos courtesy of my photo album and Pixabay
