“My dog chews on the furniture,” or “My dog keeps chewing up my laundry.” These are things we’ve heard over the years from dog owners who are frustrated with their best friend’s destructive chewing.
So is chewing a bad thing? Well the simple answer to that is: It depends on what your dog is chewing, of course! So giving them something that’s okay to chew on.
Puppy chewing is an important part of the teething process. As adults, dogs often chew for fun, or to relieve boredom. Chewing or tearing things up (like paper) can also be a displacement behavior, a way to release pent-up energy or stress.
Dogs love to chew objects that are heavily covered with the scent of human family members. Toys and reading glasses are common targets, and one company that sells replacement remote controls notes that “the dog ate it” is the second most popular reason for replacement after “we lost it.” These objects aren’t the only things dogs will chew, of course, and veterinarians have surgically removed everything from underwear and socks to piles of rocks from dogs.
Separation Anxiety
Dogs who chew to relieve the stress of separation anxiety usually only chew when left alone or chew most intensely when left alone. They also display other signs of separation anxiety, such as whining, barking, pacing, restlessness, urination and defecation. To learn more about separation anxiety and how to treat it, please see our article, Separation Anxiety.
Burning Up Energy or Boredom
Your dog may be chewing on items in the home as a simple way to relieve some energy. Good ways to combat this are to get them out on long walks and ensuring they get a proper amount of exercise every day.
What Can You Do?
Use positive reinforcement to train your dog what he can chew. When he takes an approved object to chew, praise him. If you catch him with something he shouldn’t have, remove it without comment, provide an acceptable chew toy and praise him for chewing on that.
Most dogs will outgrow the need for constant chewing by the age of 2 or so, but will continue to enjoy chewing when you offer safe objects.
Make sure his chew toys are very enticing and rotate them so they are always new and interesting.
I hope these tips help you to keep on enjoying life with your best friend!
