Your dog destroying stuff can be stressful, frustrating and expensive! To solve this problem, you first need to look at the why, how and when of your dog destroying stuff. As with all behavioural issues, you’ll first want to rule out that there’s not an underlying medical issue that’s leading your dog to their destructive behaviour. This is particularly true if this is a new issue with your dog. Pain, gastrointestinal issues, skin conditions and dental issues may all lead a dog to chew, scratch and shred stuff they previously showed no interest in. Make sure your dog is fit and healthy before making any other changes or embarking on training.
Why is my dog destroying stuff?
So, assuming your dog is healthy and there’s no underlying medical issues, let’s look at the other factors that could be leading to your dog destroying stuff.
- Is your dog a puppy/younger than 1 year old?
- Do they have access to items that they like to destroy? These might include your shoes, furniture, books etc.
- Is your dog destroying stuff when you are out of the house?
- Is your dog getting enough mental and physical stimulation for their age and breed?
- Are they over-stimulated?
Destructive behaviour in puppies
If your dog is younger than 6 months old, they are likely still teething. This means that their puppy teeth are falling out and their adult teeth are starting to grow through. Just like for babies, this is painful! Chewing on different textures provides relief from the soreness. You can read more about puppy biting and teething in our blog post here. Puppies will also use their teeth to explore and understand the world around them. This is totally normal puppy behaviour. Make sure your teething puppy has plenty of appropriate toys and chews to help reduce the likelihood that they will chew and destroy your things.
Is your dog destroying stuff when home alone?
If your dog is only destructive when you’re not at home, you’ll want to get a camera so you can see what’s going on. We use the Furbo Dog Camera. There may be a number of reasons why your dog is destroying stuff when you’re not there. They may be bored and finding ways to entertain themselves. They may be stressed by your absence and dealing with separation anxiety. If so, the destructive behaviour you’re finding when you come home could be a coping mechanism or your dog trying to escape the house. Your dog may be fine when left alone, but then a cat goes past the window and your dog attempts to get to it and shreds your curtain in the process. You simply won’t know what’s going on and how to solve the issue if you don’t know what’s going on. A camera really is essential in dealing with destructive behaviour when you’re not there.
Separation Anxiety
If your dog is showing other signs of separation anxiety, as well as destructive behaviour, you will want to seek the help of an appropriate force free behaviourist. These might include barking, howling, urinating inside, pacing, panting and more. If your dog is fine at home but is triggered by certain events happening, like in the cat at the window example above, have a think about how these can be remedied. Could you block your dog’s access to the window with a gate or by shutting them out of that room? Block their vision of the front garden by shutting the curtains or putting up some transparent film? If your dog starts destroying stuff after the doorbell goes, can you turn it off or unplug it whilst you’re out? Many triggers like this can be easily managed and prevented with a little thought and creativity.
Preventing your dog destroying stuff
If your dog destroys stuff whether your home or not, we need to look at prevention. To stop your dog destroying stuff, you need to prevent them from having access to the items. Keep tempting items out of your dog’s reach, such as up high or put away in cupboards. Use a baby gate or x-pen to create a dog safe zone or room that you have already ‘dog-proofed’. A crate can also be used, but it’s not fair to have your dog crated for long periods of time. Your dog may have particular items they seem to be drawn to to destroy (Duke loves shoes and slippers!). Make sure these are out of reach so they can’t build the habit of destroying them. Having your home set up for your dog to succeed and not destroy is much more sustainable than supervising them constantly. The added benefit of this is it keeps your home a bit tidier!
Boredom
Consider if your dog is simply bored and looking for something to do when they are being destructive. How much physical and mental stimulation your dog needs is an individual thing. But if your dog is fit and healthy and they are destroying stuff when you’re home, they may well just be looking for something to do. Breeds like Spaniels and their mixes, Labradors, Collies etc will need significantly more exercise, training and enrichment than most Bulldogs. Dogs from working lines will need more input than dogs from show lines. A quick 10 minute walk round the block and breakfast from a bowl is unlikely to be enough for a dog who was bred to herd sheep or retrieve birds all day!
Meeting your dogs needs
Make sure your dog’s needs are being met and they are much less likely to turn to destroying your stuff to keep themselves entertained. Shredding dissecting stuff is itself a very natural and normal dog behaviour. Providing appropriate outlets for this behaviour can help prevent your dog destroying stuff you’d rather they didn’t. Give your dog cardboard boxes and brown paper from your recycling box and let them shred to their heart’s content! Always supervise these activities to ensure your dog doesn’t ingest any cardboard or paper.
Overstimulation
Conversely, overstimulation can cause as many problems as under-stimulation. For example, if your dog has been at doggy day care all day playing with other dogs but they come home and start shredding stuff up, they may well be over-stimulated and be struggling to settle. Finding the balance of enough exercise, training and enrichment for your dog can take a bit of trial and error, but is well worth it for a happy and satisfied dog who is much less likely to destroy your stuff.
Avoid punishment
Lastly, avoiding punishing your dog for their destructive behaviour, especially after the fact. Your dog has no real understanding that they shouldn’t shred or chew stuff up. They certainly won’t understand why you’re shouting at them when you get home when they destroyed the sofa two hours ago.
What next?
- Looking for help with your dog? Contact us to arrange in person or online training.
- Read more blog posts here.
- Perfect Recall: Teaching your dog to come back when called every time. Our guide is free to download when you join our email list- sign up here.