Taking a dog, you need to understand the complexity of responsibility. We'll have to wipe the puddles, accustom to walking, but this is not the biggest problem. Many of them simply love to taste household things, and become real "parasites" that spoil a person’s comfortable existence. In this article, we will examine the question of why dogs gnaw things, and how to wean them from this by adjusting manners and behavior. Knowing the reasons for such games, you can easily achieve a positive result, and save many of your favorite things and expensive furniture.
Common misconception
Many people mistakenly believe that the dog began to gnaw things out of fear and loneliness. You go to work or on business, and the four-legged friend remains alone, he is scared and lonely, and that is why he begins to smash and crush everything. But the point is not fear at all! Shaggy robbers do these dirty tricks due to lack of education, they just like to gnaw a table more than a bone toy.
Many pets are eagerly waiting for a person to cross the threshold of a house so that they can start doing what they love without obstacles! Next, we consider the reasons for this behavior and tell you how to wean a dog from nibbling things and furniture.
Dog learns the world
At the age of 2-3 months, the puppy is sure to gnaw something at home. He thus gets acquainted with the world around him, tastes all objects. This is absolutely normal, because even human children at a certain age begin to drag in the mouth and lick everything in a row. In the case of puppies, nothing can be done either, they, like people, develop a sensory sensation by learning, they learn to distinguish between edible and inedible.
How to wean a dog to nibble things in puppyhood? No way. The task is completely different - to protect valuable things and the pet itself. Take away your shoes, all items that are valuable, because the baby does not understand that this is not an excellent toy, but very expensive boots or watches. Remove all wires that the puppy can reach, all sharp and piercing objects, children's toys and any trifle that the prankster can swallow.
Buy toys for dogs, and at every opportunity offer to play. As soon as the pet is attached to nibble the leg of the chair, drag it away and give the toy, which is also very nice to gnaw.
Change of teeth - discomfort for the animal
At the age of 4–7 months, chewing teeth begin to cut in puppies, and milk teeth change. During this period, the animal feels itching, even pain, and caring of the gums about everything that gets in the way helps relieve discomfort. Especially like the legs and edges of furniture, shoes, wires - everything that fits well in your mouth! At this age, you don’t even have to wonder how to wean a dog to nibble things! You can distract the pest from property damage with toys and goodies, they must be given when the pet starts tearing off linoleum, chewing on the carpet and other “goodies”.
Abdominal discomfort
In spring and summer, all dogs chew grass. They need it to cleanse their stomach and intestines, and this is the only way. In winter, there is no grass and you have to look for everything that contains cellulose, so the dog begins to gnaw at the doors, take wallpapers and eat them, spoil wooden objects, carry toilet paper from the toilet.
There is a solution: grow grass in pots on the windowsill, give it to your pet. If you do not want to plant a garden on the window, then get special treats designed for cleaning the stomach and intestines in dogs at the pet store. Once every three months, be sure to worm the pet, because parasites cause no less discomfort than undigested food.
Weakened intestinal microflora
Puppies get the necessary lactobacilli and bifidobacteria from their mother’s milk. Against this background, the baby has strong immunity, and even after an illness it quickly recovers.
If we are talking about a puppy who no longer lives with his mother, or about an adult dog, then he can weaken the microflora after illness and treatment, vaccinations. Then the appetite for everything inedible wakes up, it can be things made from natural materials, waste from food (it will dig in the trash) and even feces.
How to wean a dog to nibble things in this case? Buy doggie vitamins, during illness, after it, during vaccinations and just like that, add fermented milk products rich in bifidum and lactobacilli to the diet.
Avitaminosis
When a dog lacks vitamins, it begins to chew on leather products (shoes, belts, leather furniture) with a special appetite, gnaw at walls, lick whitewash, eat stones and earth on the street, stationery, carrion, pyrotechnics. It is simply necessary to eliminate vitamin deficiency, thereby you protect not only your property, but also maintain the health of the pet.
The consequences of vitamin deficiency are as follows:
- unpleasant smell from the mouth;
- brittle teeth and bones;
- baldness;
- frequent upset stomach and intestines;
- developing allergies;
- poisoning.
As soon as you notice the animal’s unhealthy interest in spoiled food and inedible items, immediately introduce micronutrient-rich foods into your diet. You will need to take a course of complex vitamins.
Boredom for the sake of
To prevent a dog from chewing on things, never leave it alone without toys. Both a puppy and an adult animal should have objects and toys that can be chewed and chewed! If there are none, then the dog will get bored, and the alternative will be all the objects that fell under the teeth: a sofa, chairs, shoes, floor coverings, and so on.
The dog should have several toys, because one quickly gets bored, and the pet begins to look for other ways to have fun! But don't give it all at once! Change the toy a new time every two days. During this time, the pet will get tired of the first one, the second will replace it, then the third and so on. When the toys are over, the dog will have time to miss the first.
In the case when the owner managed to find the reason why the four-legged pet gnaws things, and eliminated it, but the pet still continues to harm, then, most likely, it is upbringing. You did not begin to wean the dog from a bad habit on time, and she became the norm for the animal. The dog does everything as she used to, and the owner began to curse and even spank - the pet can not understand the reasons! The upbringing and correction of behavior must be dealt with from a very early age. In all possible ways, distract the four-legged friend from unauthorized things to eat.
How to wean a dog to nibble things when the upbringing is already running? There are several ways that will help to adjust its behavior and wean it from spoiling furniture and other items.
Punishment: how and when?
It is only necessary to punish a dog for a spoiled thing if the pet has been caught behind its “dirty deed”. If you came home from work and found already stuffed things, then the animal will not understand why it is scolded.
Remove all objects that the dog likes to chew in places inaccessible to him. Chairs can be raised on the table, shoes hidden in boxes, and wires removed in special tunnels.
How to punish a dog? Up to six months you can scuff without much zeal for the withers. Caught red-handed? Take the dog by the withers and gently pat, while saying strictly: "It is impossible!". For older animals, this punishment does not apply, for them it is humiliating. What to do?
You can ignore the dog, showing him that they are offended by the eaten slipper. You can determine the dog in place, and not be allowed to go out. When you try to leave, say: “In place! You are punished".
Processing items and furniture
At the pet store you can buy a special spray that you need to spray on all the objects that the pet chews on. Funds are safe after drying for a person and a dog, but a four-legged one will not like its taste. The fact is that in the compositions of such funds there is pepper of synthetic origin.
If you need to process a lot, then the spray will not work, as it will become expensive. How to wean a dog to nibble things at home? Folk remedies will come to the rescue. Treat all the dog’s favorite items, items and furniture with lemon juice, black pepper, garlic, tea tree or citrus essential oils!
All of these flavoring and flavored repellers will make the dog flinch at the mere thought of tasting an object!
Extreme measures
Dog nibbles things, what to do? It is especially unpleasant when new expensive boots or just a sofa brought from the store hit the animal’s teeth! It is necessary to show the dog as quickly as possible that these are not his toys. If the spray and folk methods do not help, then you need to go to extreme measures, there are two of them:
- Rattle Fill the plastic container with nuts, small items, and other items. As soon as the dog wants to start nibbling a thing, start to rattle. If it does not help, then throw the rattle toward the animal (but not into it).
- Caught a pet at work? Click on its soft spot with an elastic band. Very unpleasant, but effective!
Learning from eating will take some time. Until the dog stops spoiling the property, do not buy new furniture, hide everything that can only be eaten!