Destructive Chewing

Dog Behavior and Training >> Destructive Chewing

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Attention-Seeking Behavior

Without realizing it, we often pay more attention to our dogs when they're misbehaving. Dogs who don't receive a lot of attention and reinforcement for appropriate behavior may engage in destructive behavior when their owners are present as a way to attract attention -- even if the attention is "negative," such as a verbal scolding.

Solutions:

• Make sure your dog gets a lot of positive attention every day -- playing, walking, grooming or just petting.
• Ignore (as much as possible) bad behavior and reward good behavior. Remember to reward your dog with praise and petting when he's playing quietly with appropriate toys.
• Make his favorite "off-limits" chew objects unattractive or unavailable to him. Use aversives on objects that cannot be put away (See our handout "Sample Aversives for Dogs").
• Teach your dog a "drop it" command so when he does pick up an "off-limits" object, you can use your command and praise him for complying. The best way to teach "drop it" is to practice having him exchange a toy in his possession for a tidbit of food.
• Practice "Nothing in Life is Free" with your dog (see our handout: "Nothing in Life is Free"). This gets your dog in the habit of complying with your commands and is a good way to make sure he gets lots of positive attention for doing the right things -- so he won't have to resort to being naughty just to get your attention.

Fears And Phobias

Your dog's destructive behavior may be a response to something he fears. Some dogs are afraid of loud noises (see our handout: "Helping Your Dog Overcome the Fear of Thunder and Other Startling Noises"). Your dog's destructive behavior may be caused by fear if the destruction occurs when he's exposed to loud noises, such as thunderstorms, firecrackers or construction sounds, and if the primary damage is to doors, doorframes, window coverings, screens or walls.

Solutions:

• Provide a "safe place" for your dog. Observe where he likes to go when he feels anxious, then allow access to that space or create a similar one for him to use when the fear stimulus is present.
• Don't comfort your dog when he's behaving fearfully. Try to get him to play with you or respond to commands he knows and give him praise and treats when he responds to you instead of to the fear stimulus.
• Don't crate your dog unless he's thoroughly crate-trained and considers the crate his safe place. If you put him in a crate to prevent destruction and he's not crate-trained, he may injure himself and/or destroy the crate.

What Not To Do:

Punishment is rarely effective in resolving destructive behavior problems and can even make them worse. Never discipline your dog after the fact. If you discover an item your dog has chewed minutes, or even seconds later, it's too late to administer a correction. Your dog doesn't understand that, "I chewed those shoes an hour ago and that's why I'm being scolded now." People often believe their dog makes this connection because he runs and hides or "looks guilty." Dogs don't feel guilt, rather they display submissive postures like cowering, running away or hiding, when they feel threatened by an angry tone of voice, body posture or facial expression. Your dog doesn't know that he's done something wrong; he only knows that you're upset. Punishment after the fact will not only fail to eliminate the undesirable behavior, but may also provoke other undesirable behaviors, as well.

Copyright Denver Dumb Friends League and Humane Society of the United States. All rights reserved. Used with permission.

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