Dog - Destructiveness (Chewing)

Why do dogs chew?

Dogs, especially puppies, are extremely playful and exploratory in their behaviour. While play with people and other dogs is an important part of socialisation and social development, exploration and object play are important ways for dogs to learn about their environment. Therefore it is a normal behaviour for puppies to investigate their environment by sniffing, tasting and perhaps chewing on objects throughout the home.

There are a wide variety of reasons why dogs seem to destructively chew, for example:

• Scavenging for food (as in raiding dustbins).
• Playing (as in the dog that chews on objects that spring forth feathers or foam such as cushions or sofas).
• Teething (dogs 3-6 months of age that chew on household objects).
• Satisfying a natural urge to chew and gnaw, which may serve to help keep teeth and gums healthy.
• An increase in the urge to chew often occurs at around 8-10 months of age and owners may find this frustrating as they have just gone through the teething process and expect those sorts of behaviours to be behind them!! Being prepared for this phase enables owners to provide items for their dog to chew on and avoid getting annoyed with their dog for something that is entirely normal!
• Satisfying an urge to gnaw and chew which reflects insufficient roughage in the diet.
• Inducing attention (even if it is negative) or treats from the owners each time they chew. In this case the owner may be inadvertently rewarding the behaviour.
• Reacting to an underlying problem of anxiety, fear or panic. For example, dogs that are confined in areas where they are insecure or frightened may dig and chew in an attempt to escape. Dogs that are in a state of conflict, high arousal or anxiety may also turn to chewing and other forms of destructiveness as an outlet for their emotional responses.

Since there are such a range of possible motivations for dogs to chew it is important to identify the reason or reasons why your dog is chewing. If your dog is a puppy or young adult that is chewing at a variety of objects in the household, it is likely that play and investigation (and perhaps teething) is the motive. Dogs that raid bins and steal food off counters are obviously motivated by the presence and smell of food. But in some cases professional assistance may be required to determine the cause of the problem and identify the most effective treatment for your dog.

How can appropriate chewing be encouraged?

Before considering how inappropriate chewing might be discouraged, the real key is to provide some appropriate outlets for your dog’s chewing 'needs'. Begin with a few toys of a variety of tastes, smells, and textures to determine what appeals most to your pet. Although plastic, nylon or rubber toys may be the most durable, products that can be torn apart such as rawhide or pigs’ ears may be more like natural prey. Coating toys with liver or cheese spread may also increase their desirability, as may soaking the toy in meat juices. Durable chew toys with hollow centres are ideal as their appeal can be greatly enhanced by placing a piece of cheese or liver inside and then filling them tight with biscuits. This encourages your dog to 'work' to get its reward. Placing soup, meat juices or soaked dog kibble into these toys and freezing them, or freezing food items in ice lolly makers and placing them in the dogs food bowl may increase the durability to the treats. There is a growing market of mental stimulation toys and these not only provide activity but also encourage your dog to use its mind to obtain some of its daily food ration.

To ensure that your puppy is encouraged and rewarded for chewing on his toys, and discouraged from chewing on all other objects, he must be well supervised initially. Whenever supervision is not possible, you must prevent access to any object or area that might be chewed.

How can inappropriate chewing be treated?

Treatment depends to some extent on the cause, but some general guidelines are given below:

1. Direct the chewing into appealing alternatives, for example providing your dog with a new chew toy covered in cream cheese or peanut butter, can help to redirect the behaviour into an acceptable form.
2. Check that your dog is not getting too much energy in his diet, and that you are providing sufficient play and exercise.
3. Check that your dog gets sufficient roughage in his diet (remember that your dog’s ancestors were scavengers). He may be chewing to help fill an empty stomach.
4. Prevent inappropriate chewing by denying him access to chewed items and areas. This should only be done once appropriate outlets for the behaviour have been provided and trained.
5. Ensure that you are not inadvertently rewarding the behaviour by interacting with your dog when he is chewing.

If your dog is still a puppy the chewing behaviour may decrease in time, provided you direct it into appropriate outlets. In the case of dogs that are raiding bins or food stealing, the behaviour itself is self-rewarding and associating the bin or food with an unpleasant stimulus, such as a taste or sound, may be necessary but it is very important to be nearby so that you can immediately reward your dog for avoiding the bin. Close supervision and prevention of access are obviously also needed. Dogs that are destructive in an attempt to escape confinement must learn to become comfortable and secure with the place where they are to be confined. Dogs that are destructive as an outlet for anxiety, will need to have the cause of the anxiety fully assessed by a professional, and the problem appropriately treated. Following such assessment, drugs or a synthetic analogue of a chemical produced by dogs which has a calming effect (Dog Appeasing Pheromone - DAP) may be recommended to ease your dog’s anxiety and help speed up the behaviour therapy for the condition.

How else can my dog’s inappropriately directed activity be reduced?

The needs of most working dogs are usually satisfied with daily work sessions (retrieving, herding, sledding, etc.) while non-working house-pets will require alternative forms of activity to meet their requirements for work and play. Games such as retrieving and catching a ball or frisbee, and exercise, in the form of long walks or jogging, are often acceptable alternatives to work which allow the dog an opportunity to expend energy and benefit from your attention. Obedience training, agility classes and simply teaching your dog a few tricks are not only pleasant interactive activities for you and your dog, but they also provide some stimulation and 'work' to your dog's daily schedule.

How can I stop the chewing on household objects?

Access to all areas that your dog might chew must be prevented initially unless you are present to supervise. Aversion training should only be attempted once your dog has been actively rewarded for chewing on appropriate items, so your dog now knows what choice is available.

Effectively booby-trapping the area may be an option, but in this case you should be present nearby so that as soon as the booby trap is triggered you can call your dog and redirect his attention to an appropriate chew item or reward it for an alternative behaviour. Taste (e.g. chilli sauce) or conditioned smell aversion (pairing a physical booby trap with a specific odour that can then be used to label other items) is often the simplest and most practical type of booby trap. Your dog will need prior conditioning, to learn the association and establish that the aversive really works. Punishment for chewing should only ever be associated with the act and must be immediately followed by reward for appropriate behaviour. Even then it is essential that the punishment is humane, immediate and effective (i.e. associated with the behaviour and not the presence of someone to deliver it). In many cases seeking professional advice would be recommended if you are considering the use of aversion therapy as it is very possible that with help you will be able to avoid these techniques altogether.

What not to do

• If there is any association between punishment and an owner you run the risk that your pet will learn not to chew in your presence, and the behaviour will continue, and may even worsen, in your absence.
• Arriving home and punishing a pet for chewing that has occurred in your absence will only serve to increase your dog’s anxiety and increase the risk of more serious problems.