Why Dogs Chew

Dogs, especially puppies are extremely playful and investigative. 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. Dogs that chew may also be scavenging for food (as in garbage raiding), playing (as in the dog that chews apart a book or couch), teething (dogs 3 to 6 months of age that chew on household objects), or satisfying a natural urge to chew and gnaw (which may serve to help keep teeth and gums healthy). Some dogs may chew because they receive attention (even if it is negative) or treats from the owners each time they chew, and the owners are inadvertently rewarding the behaviour.

Chewing and destructive behaviours may also be a response to anxiety. Dogs that are confined in areas where they are insecure may dig and chew in an attempt to escape. Dogs that are in a state of conflict, arousal or anxiety, such as separation anxiety, may turn to chewing and other forms of destructiveness as an outlet.

Solutions

First, determine why the dog is chewing. If the dog is a puppy or young adult dog 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 garbage and steal food off counters are obviously motivated by the presence and odour of food. Some dogs are attempting to escape confinement while in others chewing may be an outlet for anxiety. Determining the cause and motivation for chewing is therefore essential in developing a treatment strategy. Directing the chewing into appealing alternatives, sufficient play and exercise, and prevention of inappropriate chewing are needed for the exploratory dog. You must ensure that you are not inadvertently rewarding the behaviour. Inattention or disruption devices may be useful for these dogs. If the dog is a puppy this behaviour may decrease in time, provided you direct the chewing to proper outlets.

Dogs that are garbage raiding or food stealing need to be treated by supervision, prevention and booby traps, since the behaviour itself is self-rewarding. Dogs that are destructive to escape confinement must learn to become comfortable and secure with the cage or room where they are to be confined. Alternatively a new confinement area may have to be chosen. Dogs that are destructive as an outlet for anxiety will need to have the cause of the anxiety diagnosed, and the problem appropriately treated.

Encouraging Proper Chewing

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 with a variety of tastes, odours, and textures to determine what appeals most to the pet. Although plastic, nylon or rubber toys may be the most durable, products that can be torn apart such as rawhide or pig’s ears may be more like the natural prey and wood products that attract most dogs. Coating toys with liver or cheese spread or peanut butter may also increase their desirability. The Kong is a durable chew toy, but its appeal can be greatly enhanced by placing a piece of cheese or liver inside and then filling it tight with biscuits. Placing soup items or food into the Kong and freezing it, or freezing food items in Popsicle makers and placing them in the dog’s food bowl may provide a little longer durability to the treats. Numerous other play toys are also available that provide a means for stuffing food or treats inside, so that the dog has to work to get its reward. To ensure that your puppy is encouraged and rewarded for chewing on its toys, and discouraged from chewing on all other objects, it must be supervised at all times. Whenever supervision is not possible, you must prevent access to any object or area that might be chewed. Although play periods and chew toys may be sufficient for most pets, additional activities such as self-feeders, other pets, interactive toys, and even videos may help to keep pets occupied.

Reducing Unwanted Activity

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 chasing, hide and seek, retrieving, catching a ball or Frisbee, jogging, or even long walks are often an acceptable alternative to work, allow the dog an opportunity to expend unused energy, and provide regular attention periods. 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 the dog's daily schedule.

A Good Chew Toy

It is important that chew toys should have the following features:

Made of safe material

Size - large enough that your dog can't swallow

Without small parts, buttons, strings - that can be swallowed (similar to children's toys)

Easy to wash

Durable

Show no signs of deterioration

There are a range of very durable rubber toys we recommend including Kong toys and Gumabones. Kongs come in various shapes and sizes and also can be filled with treats to keep a curious canine entertained for hours. Whilst toys specifically designed for chewing are safe for most pets they should be regularly evaluated for deterioration and replaced when necessary.

Importance of the Right Toy

As vets we see the unfortunate side of a combination of curiosity and a relentless love of chewing the unknown. Injuries include dental chips and broken teeth, eye and mouth injuries and foreign body injury which often results in surgery and the extraction of many interesting items from the stomach and intestines of pets.

Pets who have consumed a foreign body often arrive to us showing some of the following signs. Vomiting, reluctance to eat, stretch out regularly like they are uncomfortable, have abdominal pain and do not appear to be themselves. Treatment in most cases involves surgery and hospitalised care.

We have retrieved many items from pet stomach's the most dangerous are those that have sharp edges which can tear at the internal lining of the stomach and intestinal tract.

Rubber pieces (normally from rubber balls not meant for chewing),

Tennis ball fragments,

Cotton,

Rocks,

Stone fruit pips (such as nectarines, peaches),

Clothing (socks, gloves, underwear),

Corn cobs,

Bones and bone shards (feed only large raw bones under supervision and remember bones are for chewing on not through),

Towels,

Plastic,

Shoe inner soles,

Lead sinkers,

Dental floss, just to name a few.

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