Most of the dogs who like to chew on furniture and tear down homes, some are bad habits picked up when they were young, some are bored, and there may be other reasons.
Whatever the reason, they usually start by biting some newspapers, magazines, and loose books, etc.
As dogs nibble more, they may add some wiggling motions to their later nibbles, which can sometimes be scary, just like hunting an animal.
Next, let’s analyze the reasons why dogs bite and demolish homes, and how to correct this bad habit.
Because of boredom, curiosity, energy
During the various stages of a dog’s development, the I am curious about new things I have never seen before.
Especially in the socialization period of puppies, driven by curiosity, they especially like to explore new things in the environment.
When you encounter something you have not seen before, you will use various ways to explore, including using your mouth to learn about new things.
It is also common in adult dogs, such as Huskies, who are particularly curious,
It is It likes to explore every place in the new environment. Once it encounters something it has not seen or smelled, it will go crazy to explore under the drive of curiosity, so huskies often It’s called “letting go”.
Sometimes, when the husky is bored at home, he often explores every part of the house. He may sniff first, and then scratch with his claws.
When I found that I couldn’t satisfy my curiosity, I started to bite with my mouth.
Over time, it will find that the method of scratching with its claws and biting is very cool. At this time, the biting behavior is strengthened.
When it is bored and energetic next time, it will take the way of dismantling the house to vent, such as bed corner, sofa, table corner, etc.
Solution
We need to know that curiosity is an instinctive behavior, it is There is no way to completely eliminate it, only to suppress it.
When we are at home, we can watch the dog and let it explore. When the dog starts to tear down the house, we need to stop it.
At the same time, set aside a certain amount of time every day to train the dog’s basic obedience at home, reward other good behaviors, and let the dog’s curiosity at home slowly Attracted by the reward in your hand.
Take the dog out for a walk, let the dog explore the outside world to the fullest, consume excess energy, and slowly shift the dog’s desire to explore at home to the outside world.
If the dog is interested in toys, you can give the dog some toys, such as a sniffing pad, a molar stick, and when the dog is bored, let the dog have something to do and consume excess energy.
Because the puppy’s tooth growth period, also known as the molar period
Puppies begin to develop permanent teeth between 16 and 24 weeks of age. During this time, puppies have very itchy gums, and to relieve the itch, they will chew on objects.
For dogs, teeth grinding is an inevitable stage in a dog’s life. The main function of molars is to assist the growth of the dog’s permanent teeth.
When the dog is in the molar period, he will find some items to chew and chew.
When they find something hard to chew on, they also satisfy their desire to grind their teeth (when chewing on objects, dogs will get the pleasure of chewing,
then This biting process reinforces the behavior of the dog tearing its teeth apart. The hard object bitten is the reinforcement).
As time goes by, if you don’t stop it in time, you will develop this habit, and you will be demolished when you grow up.
Workaround
Buy a cage, fundamentally Make the dog unable to touch the furniture, and at the same time buy some hard-bone molar sticks and put them in the cage for molar teeth.
Directly prevent the dog from developing the behavior of biting things, and directly reduce the number of dogs The probability of growing up and demolishing the house.
Because of the dog’s hunting motivation
There is a stage in the development of dogs called “pre-hunting behavior.” Dogs at this stage begin to have a desire for prey and want to hunt them.
When canines are in the wild, the parents will bring food back to the nest for the cubs to eat. Because the cubs are still young and cannot go out to hunt alone, the cubs will use the food brought back by the parents as prey , to practice hunting.
In the family, we humans play the role of parents, the family is the nest, and due to the pre-hunting behavior, the dog’s hunting motivation will be induced.
So the slippers or clothes that fall on the ground are all prey.
Therefore, puppies will take things on the ground as prey, and carry out hunting behaviors such as biting and wildly throwing.
If the owner does not manage it, the dog will get worse and worse, and it will eventually result in the demolition of the house.
Solution
Items that require the dog to be considered “prey”, such as slippers, socks
, etc. Put it away and don’t put it on the ground.
Buy some knot toys and play tug of war with the dog.
When dogs play a game of tug-of-war, their hunting urges are vented. When the dog is not playing, put the knot in the dog’s den.
In the process of dog growth, no matter what kind of situation causes the dog to bite things and demolish the house. If it is not corrected, or handled improperly, the behavior will become more and more serious, and
even negatively reinforce in some cases (anything that increases the probability of a reaction or the occurrence of a reaction The possible means, measures, etc., can be called reinforcement, and events that can increase the probability of reaction are reinforcements).
To correct these behaviors, first ensure that the dog does not continue to receive reinforced information.
But in the family dog, there is no way to change some things in the house, and there is no way to make the dog completely invisible to the reinforcement.
Under the premise of not changing the home environment, if you want to correct the dog’s behavior of biting and tearing down the house, you only need to choose a substitute for the dog.
Molar sticks, knot toys, sniffing pads, etc. are used to replace furniture, and the reinforcement brought by slippers can divert the dog’s attention.
These things are a better substitute for dog demolition behavior, and at the same time make dogs get better and more direct reinforcements than furniture.
The molar stick can not only satisfy the grinding, cleaning, but also enjoy the food; the knot can not only serve as the prey, but also tug-of-war to make the dog happier.
