Dogs use their mouths as a means of communication and exploration of the environment, so it is common to see them nibbling on everything they catch. Now, the reasons why your dog seems to be obsessed with biting objects can be several and will depend on a series of factors such as the context in which the animal is found, its emotional state and its age, among others.
In this article on our site we help you find out the causes why your dog bites everything, we explain why it he does when he's home alone and we'll give you some tips to successfully modify this behavior.
Why does my dog bite everything he finds?
As we have indicated in the introduction to this article, there are many reasons why a dog chews everything that is within its reach and there are several factors that must be considered when analyzing this behaviour. However, the most frequent causes are listed below:
- Exploratory Behavior: This is the most common reason a dog will nibble on what he finds. Dogs explore the world around them through their senses, especially their sense of smell. However, licking, biting or holding objects in their mouths also helps them learn about the textures and tastes of objects, which is especially important for puppies who are still discovering the world. Thus, exploratory behavior is completely normal, being more frequent in young animals.
- Game: when dogs play with each other they do it by biting, and they also use their mouths to play with balls, stuffed animals or other toys. Through play they not only socialize and explore their environment, but also learn to control the power of their bite, which is very necessary. Newly adopted puppies or dogs must learn what things are toys and what are not, that is, what is allowed to chew, and this learning requires time and patience on the part of the guardians, who must teach the animal using appropriate methodologies based on in positive reinforcement. In this other article we explain how to teach a puppy not to bite.
- Instinctive Behavior: Does your dog not only grab your things but also tear them? This is natural in his species, since dogs are facultative carnivorous animals and have an instinct to grab, shake and tear their "prey". It is very important for the emotional he alth of the dog to cover this and other needs, so we must provide him with toys or objects that he can break and replace them with those that we do not want him to pick up. Remember that you cannot properly educate a dog if you do not know its natural behavior
- Boredom: Of course, a bored dog can use anything within reach to entertain himself, and chewing on things is a real treat! wonderful entertainment for them! All dogs get bored from time to time, but to prevent them from causing damage, you must ensure that your furry friend receives sufficient physical, social and mental stimulation on a daily basis.
- Frustration Vent: Dogs can become frustrated when they don't get what they want, if they are prevented from performing their species-specific behaviors or if aversive education techniques are used with them, among other things. Frustration is a very intense and unpleasant emotion that can lead the animal to discharge against objects or furniture, biting or tearing them in order to relax and regain stability. In this case, it is common to notice that the dog bites everything and is very restless.
- Previous Experiences: When biting something has been useful or beneficial to the dog in the past, it tends to repeat this behavior more frequently, and even intensify it. For example, if the dog learns that nibbling on the legs of a chair gets our attention, he will repeat it
Why does my dog bite everything when he is alone?
Many dogs do not show biting or destructive behavior towards objects in the house until they are left alone in the house. This is quite common and may be due either to the animal getting bored when it spends a lot of time alone at home and looking for something to entertain itself with, or to the fact that it suffers from a problem of separation anxiety
To find out the real cause, it is advisable to record the dog while he is alonein the home. In this way we can analyze his behavior and more easily reach a conclusion. An animal that is simply bored at home usually spends part of its time dozing or resting and another part wandering around the house with a curious attitude, focusing on the objects around it and looking for something to do. He tends to pick up objects, chew on them and move on to something else when he gets tired of them.
On the other hand, separation anxiety is a much more complex emotional and behavioral problem that consists of the appearance of very high levels of stress and anxietyin the dog as a result of the physical separation of the animal from its guardian or guardians. In this case, the dog is not able to adaptively manage this intense and unpleasant emotion, so we can see it looking for strategies to try to reduce stress, such as barking, crying or howling continuously, biting and destroying objects or furniture or carry out displacement behaviors and stereotypies. It is also common for the dog to urinate or defecate at home and salivate excessively while alone, as a result of its own anxiety, and not be able to lie down or rest at any time.
How do I stop my dog from biting everything?
What to do if your dog bites everything? As always, the solution to a behavioral problem involves knowing, in the first place, the reason that has led the animal to behave the way it does. This is not always easy, but it is essential to be able to deal with the situation in the most appropriate way possible.
If your furry is still a puppy, you must understand that play and exploration are the order of the day and you must allow him to use his mouth, especially if he is changing his teeth! Now, you can go, little by little, teaching him to inhibit his biteand to redirect it exclusively towards those toys that you provide him. This learning takes time, but it is usually quite easy to achieve as long as respectful methodologies are used with the animal.
On the other hand, if the problem is that the dog is bored or frustrated when he is alone at home, it may be enough to suggest the animal activities to do while he's alone, for example, leaving him with interactive toys or providing him with teethers and toys that he can use. Of course, it will also be necessary to remove from its reach everything that we want to prevent it from biting and, sometimes, it is even necessary to restrict or block its access to certain areas.
Now, if the dog suffers from separation anxiety, the behavioral modification process will be somewhat more expensive. A dog can develop separation anxiety for various reasons, but it must be taken into account that anxiety is an involuntary emotion and that the animal performs, in this case, destructive behaviors out of desperation, without any intention of teasing us or "getting revenge."It is totally counterproductive to punish the animal once the guardian comes home, because, as much as we think otherwise, the dog will not understand anything and his anxiety will increase. If there is any suspicion of separation anxiety, it is necessary to contact an ethologist or educator professional with up-to-date knowledge of canine ethology to evaluate the case and help the tutor and the dog throughout the behavioral modification process, which occurs gradually.
You have already seen that the answer to how to stop your dog from chewing things is not so simple, since you first need to find out why he does it. Even if it is not a case of separation anxiety, it is always a good idea to contact a professional if we do not know how to solve the situation ourselves. In this article we have focused on dogs that bite everything referring to objects, if the problem is that your dog bites people, we recommend you consult this other article: "How to make a dog not bite?". And if he bites other dogs, don't miss this video:
