Put An End to Your Dogs Furniture Chewing Habits
If your dog is gnawing holes in the settee, chewing up the carpet or leaving ugly teeth marks in the table and chairs, you’ll already understand that its far too costly a problem to ignore!
Unfortunately, chewing is standard dog behaviour and it is unrealistic to expect them to stop chewing altogether. For a start, chewing is vital to a puppy’s development, helping to alleviate teething pain and enable their teeth to come through. And, while a dog’s drive to chew decreases with age, it might not disappear, so the very best you can aim for is to keep the dog chewing away from your furniture and focussed on other items, like their own chew toys!
A Two-Step Approach to Stop Your Dog Chewing the Furniture
Your primary step is to take rapid action to limit any more damage, while you get to grips with the second step, that might take a little longer. Step 2 involves observing your dog rigorously to identify the reasons why your dog is chewing the furniture, so that you can take the right actions to stop the chewing problems and let you to trust your dog again.
Limit the Damage Caused by Dog Chewing
Begin by taking some of these straightforward steps to restrict the damage due to your dog’s chewing.
- Do not let your dog have unmanaged access to furniture they can chew on. This means don’t allow them to be in a room without any person there to keep an eye on them.
- When you go out, limit their access to a room which has nothing in it they can damage, or use a dog crate or kennel run.
- Use baby gates to stop your dog accessing areas where you can’t trust them, eg the dining room.
- You can try coating furniture with chewing deterrents like Sour Apple spray, which will need to be re-applied regularly. Feedback indicates this doesn’t work for all dogs as some don’t appear to be affected by the taste. Remember also that it will not really teach your dog not to chew on the furniture, just not that bit of furniture!
- Supply your dog with items that are strong enough and safe to chew. Many toys are all to easily demolished and can be a danger if they chew bits off and swallow them, so be careful what you give them.
Get to the Base of the Dogs Chewing Problem
Your dog’s chewing problems can be driven by a range of different factors, so observe your dog thoroughly and try to work out what lies behind your dogs chewing, before deciding how you are going to stop it.
Separation Anxiety in Dogs
If your dog is only chewing things when you go out, it is actually possible that your dog suffers from separation anxiety. The process of chewing will help the dog produce natural endorphins that calms their stress down, (a bit like somebody chewing on their nails when scared).
Dog separation anxiety training is the most often recommended way to remove the problem and can be particularly useful when coupled with demonstrating to your dog you’re the pack leader. With extremely worried dogs you may need to think about using some dog separation anxiety medicine, but you should always discuss this with your vet first.
Dog Teething Issues
Pup teething lasts until around 7 months and a puppy’s chewing will helps ease agony, remove and loosen puppy dog teeth and help adult teeth come through, so if your dog is at this point, provide plenty of acceptable chewing toys and give them one of them every time you see them heading for furniture or catch them in the process of gnawing at your furniture. Praise them for chewing their own toys.
Chewing for teething reasons can last up to 1 year, with teen dogs trying to relieve the pain in their gums or jaw till all adult teeth have settled in.
Attention Seeking in Dogs
Some dogs use chewing as a method to get their owner’s to pay them attention. For example, if he starts chewing on a chair leg and you react by raising your voice or maybe chasing him, he has worked out how to get your attention every time he wants it, and if you chase him he has also got a great game!
To remove this habit, don’t pay your dog any attention for this behaviour. You could try walking from the room he’s in and getting out of his sight line, to demonstrate him that not only does he not get your attention but loses you altogether.
If your dog is trying to get your attention, then at this moment, he’s most likely to stop chewing and come after you. Equally, you can take your dog by the collar and without chatting to, or looking your dog in the eye, put them on their own for a little while in a crate, or room alone. This also shows them that they could lose the pack for this behavior which is something your dog will not want to happen and so it can be a powerful incentive.
Choosing the Best Approach to Dog Chewing Problems
Once you’ve worked out the base of your dog’s chewing problem, it’s time to take action. Decide what approach you need and commit some time to it, and be prepared to be patient and be persistent with your dog.
Do not use punishments as most dog pros agree that this approach can be useless, making a dog fear you instead of teaching them what they should do. As an alternative by taking a positive approach to training and using lots of positive reinforcement with praise and treats, you ought to be able to stop your dog chewing the furniture.
Get additional information to help stop your dog chewing furnitureand discover more about dog anxiety when you visit the authors website.
