We thought our Jack Russell had grown out of this problem a long time ago. After all, he IS now 10 years old. However, about 6 months ago, the chewing dog syndrome returned. Who would have thought we’d have to go back to putting our shoes up on a shelf and out of sight. Is there such a thing as a mid-life crisis for dogs? Of course, at 11 years of age, I don’t think he fits the mid-life scenario anymore.
Stop Dog Chewing
Click here for how to stop chewing dog.
There does seem to be a pattern to his chewing. For example, we can leave our shoes right at the door when we get home from work, with absolute piece of mind. But leave them anywhere in sight during that day, when we are at work, then we might as well work an extra hour to pay for the next pair of shoes to replace his “chewing efforts” during the day.
Yes, that’s right I think he is bored during the day but if that is the case, then I’m at a loss to explain it. I mean, we have 2 dogs, so they should be company for each other when we are away at work. They have endless toys, replaced periodically. They have a large yard and their kennels are on decking which for all intents and purposes is like their own personalized viewing deck from which they can “spy” on the neighboring dogs.
So, unable to explain why he does it, we instead went on a search for how to stop what he does when tempted to chew items of value. We could have, of course just opted for making sure that there are no shoes lying around. But it’s not only shoes. If there are no shoes left lying around, he is quite happy to torment the Shih Tzu by raiding his kennel and chewing up any bedding that is filled with stuffing of some kind. It’s never his own kennel that he raids mind you!!.
So what did my research for a solution uncover?
- Chewing is quite a natural instinct of dogs. You simply have to observe the cute antics of a puppy to see how much chewing she does. This is not only fun for puppy but necessary for puppy, just like it is for baby when teething. The trick is not to squash this natural habit but rather to educate puppy so that she learns what is okay to chew and what is off-limits.
- Chewing is a dog’s way of exploring everything, similar to how we might pick up things in our hands to examine them more closely.
How to Stop Puppy Chewing
So, let’s look at some tricks you can explore to first educate puppy and then your “adult puppy”. Many of these ideas have been suggested as ways to stop chewing dogs.
- Provide something else for him to chew, such as a ball.For some reason our Jack Russell finds the things that are off limit much more fun to chew and he prefers that you are there to throw the ball before he starts chewing it.
- Tabasco Sauce has been suggested as a way to stop a chewing dog.For outdoor furniture this could be worth trying, but for shoes, I don’t think so. No matter how strategically placed on the outside, I am sure that the sauce would end up inside the shoe somehow. I can just picture going to work the next day and turning heads with the smell emanating from my feet.
- One suggestion I found that has merit however, is to limit the number of toys that I put out and then rotate them at the end of each week, for example, so that he always has a “new” toy to occupy his attention.
- Exercise and lots of it. Yes, this is one that definitely works for us. We do walk our dogs every morning but the Jack Russell is a dog that has a lot of energy and I dare say that on the weekends when he gets a much longer walk, the chewing is definitely a lot less.
- An empty soft drink bottle.Now this is a GOOD suggestion. I have often noticed that our Jack Russell can spend hours chewing a plastic bottle that has been left around.Someone suggested putting something inside the bottle such as a treat or liverwurst. Yes that’s an option also but he is not as food motivated as the Shihtzu and seems to love the empty bottle anyway. So this one I would definitely give a try to see if you can redirect your dog from off-limit chewing to dog-toy chewing.
~ Bright Dog Tips
