meet the instructors | meet the staff | news | links | testimonials  | our graduate brags | community
 

Chewing

Hi Lisa:

I need to get some suggestions on what to do to get Benny's chewing under control. He just started it a couple of months ago. The first time it happened was when I put him in my room when I went to work.
I didn't use the crate because he didn't like going in there and he had never chewed anything in my room at first.

He is never alone at my house for more than 3 hours at a time and it is usually not even that long. The first time he chewed a hole in my mattress and that is when I started putting him in the crate. He still didn't like going in there but I made sure he had toys to play with and toys for him to chew on.

But then I made the mistake of not putting him in the crate and that is when he put another hole in my mattress.

My sister usually picks him up almost every day so that our dogs can play together and Benny chewed up a pillow and comforter while I was house sitting for them. I had left the house for about 1 hour.

Then, while my sisters' kids were home, he chewed the cord off of her vacuum cleaner. Her dog was there at the time so I wonder why he would chew on things while someone was in the house and he had
another dog to play with.

Any advice would be great. Thanks for your help.

Benny's Mom


Hello:

Put simple: young dogs need to chew. If things are accessible and the dog chews something he "shouldn't have" once and finds it to be a fun and rewarding experience, he's been reinforced - and reinforced
behavior grows. The act of chewing is innately reinforcing and necessary for them, so if he is allowed to continue to chew on things that he "shouldn't" have, he will quite simply continue to do it. So preventing him from getting (or continuing to get) objects that are not his toys to chew on is essential.

If the dog does not engage in the behavior to begin with, bad "habits" never form. With crate prevention you always come home to a good dog, and at the same prevent him from learning behaviors, such as inappropriate chewing, in the first place.

I think it would be a good idea to actively train him to like his crate too - feed him meals inside of it from now on, and when you do put him inside to leave, stuff a Kong or a hollow bone with canned dog food, peanut butter, squeeze cheese (or how about a parfait with all 3!!!) and give it to him inside the crate, so that he looks forward to going in when you leave.

In each instance, Benny was left to his own devices. Young dogs are very curious and they explore their environments with their mouths. That coupled with the very normal need to chew, is what leads to
their learning, through reinforcement, to continue to chew on things that you'd prefer he not chew on.

This is the case even while the kids were home. Kids are just that...they're kids. He was not being supervised! Active supervision is prevention, and without it, he will continue to make what we consider to be the "wrong" choices in chew toys. Think of it this way, everything he can get his mouth on is a potential chew toy... if he finds something interesting, he'll chew it - it's all chew toys to him ; )

Positive reinforcement training stands on one very solid principle:

Prevent the behaviors that you don't want, and reinforce the behaviors you do want (with food - while he is actively doing the behavior you like). This goes for ALL behavior, not just chewing, but the following will help you to map a plan of action to get the behavior under control and start building a more "appropriate" chew habit.
 

1. Create a "Benny Don't" list and a "Benny Do" list
2. Define the problem
3. Work to prevent the "Benny Don'ts, and reinforce the "Benny
   Do's"

Let's take an example of chewing.

"Benny Don't"
Chew - this is not well defined enough...Benny has to chew! A better defined "Benny Don't" would be, "Benny don't chew on anything that is not one of your chew toys.

"Benny Do"
Chew your toys

From here it's simple - PREVENT THE "BENNY DON'TS" AND REINFORCE THE "BENNY DO'S" - the "Benny Don't" behavior(s) will go away, and the "Benny Do" behaviors will grow!

Now, you need to make good selections in chew toys. Just because you think that they are interesting and rewarding, does not mean that Benny does.

The 3 criteria when selecting chew toys are:

SAFE - no digestibles like rawhides or pig ears, when he is going to be alone! Only give digestibles when you are there to supervise. Great choices are stuffed Kongs^TM, Hollow Bones (the kind you stuff
yourself - not the pre-stuffed ones) and rope toys.

INTERESTING - The above mentioned toys are interesting because he has to work at them. Other suggestions may be buster cubes or other interactive toys that he has to bat around to make food fall out of.

REWARDING -  Again, if he is not interested in chewing what you give him, then those things are not helping you to accomplish your goal. So buying toys that you can make interesting is key.

Leave toys that meet the criteria around the house. When he is intersted and actively playing with/chewing on them, reinforce him immediately (in the act) for it! At the same time, make sure that he is prevented from getting his mouth on things that you don't want him to chew.

See, you're preventing the "Benny Don'ts" - and reinforcing the "Benny Do's"

And to answer your question as to why he was chewing even when there was another dog to play with? Put very simply...because he could!!!!! Just because there was another dog around, it does not take away his very normal need and desire to chew.

I hope this is helpful. You may wish to consider taking a class with us. Check out the website at www.woofology.com, or call directly to 248 616 6500 for more information. I think that a more in-depth
understanding of how Benny learns would be very helpful to you going forward.

Take Care,
Lisa Patrona, Dip. DTBC, CPDT, CBC

Sign up to receive Woofology's Tip of Week via email: woofologist@yahoo.com