Are you finding that your adorable dog is chewing through your furniture like a pack of piranhas?
Let’s face it, you didn’t buy all that nice furniture in your house just to have it destroyed by your pup!
If you answered yes, you’re in luck! In today’s article, we go over how to effectively stop dog chewing furniture home remedies.
Why Dogs Chew Furniture in the First Place
The very first step in stop dog chewing furniture home remedies is to understand why your dog is chewing your furniture in the first place!
The truth is dogs chewing for dogs is a natural behavior and is simply entertaining for dogs to chew. Our equivalent of dog chewing would be when we watch tv, just plain entertainment.
Now that we know how dogs view chewing, it’s important to understand that dogs chew your furniture for a variety of reasons but the most common reason dogs chew your furniture are:
Never Taught House Rules: Whether you have a puppy for an adult dog or you haven’t taken the time to teach your pup, basic house rules such as what objects are appropriate to chew on and what objects are off-limits. Then the main reason your dog chews furniture is because of a lack of clear understanding of the house rules.
Anxiety: If your dog chews excessively then you might have a pup that chews your furniture due to anxiety. This often occurs many times when dogs are left alone and begin to behave anxiously because they are not comfortable being alone.
Many times this occurs for a variety of reasons but the most common is because your dog is either left alone too long whenever you leave or your pup isn’t left alone at all.
Having Too Much Freedom: If you just brought home a puppy or an older dog, you may be tempted to allow your new furry companion to roam all of your houses so that your pup can feel “comfortable.” Be aware of providing your dog too much freedom too soon before your pup has a clear understanding of your expectations and your house rules!
Too much freedom early on leaves your dog to “figure it out” on his own, if you do that then your dog will do what he thinks is best.
Teething: If you brought home a young puppy then you might notice his or her mouthiness when it comes to you and your furniture!
Don’t worry as this is just normal puppy behavior. Remember puppies have no clue what is right and what is wrong so we must take the time to show our puppies this, especially if your pup has those tiny teeth growing in!
Effective Ways to Stop Dog Chewing Furniture Home Remedies
There are various ways to begin to stop dog chewing furniture home remedies and teach them to chew appropriate objects instead.
Follow the guideline below to learn how to stop dog chewing furniture home remedies.
Use A Dog Crate: The first step is to use a dog crate to prevent your dog from rehearsing the behavior of chewing inappropriate objects. As a rule of thumb the more a puppy or dog rehearse a behavior the stronger the behavior gets.
So the first step is preventing your dog from chewing your furniture, to begin with, while your dog is learning what objects he/she can chew on!
Another reason we use the crate is to limit the amount of freedom your dog has to your house while your pup is learning your house rules.
Essentially we want to micromanage our dogs so that they never get the opportunity to chew on our furniture in the first place.
That means that if your pup isn’t under your direct supervision your pup should be crated to prevent your dog from making any mistakes while learning what objects are appropriate to chew on.
Give Your Dog Appropriate objects To Chew On: Now that we are actively preventing your pup from rehearsing the behavior of chewing your furniture the next step is to provide your pup will an alternative outlet for the behaviors your dog wants to do anyway!
Below is a list of chew toys we recommend and use for our pups.
Durable Strong Natural Rubber Dog Bone Toy
Nylabone Dura Chew Textured Toy
Now that you have some appropriate chew toys we then want to give your pup these chew toys whenever your dog is inside the crate. Doing this allows your dog to “practice” chewing on appropriate objects instead of your furniture.
What To Do If Your Dog Is Chewing On Furniture
If you physically catch your dog in the act of chewing your furniture you first want to interrupt your pup immediately and then Redirect your dog or puppy onto an appropriate object to chew on like the toys outlined above.
Redirection: is essentially providing your pup with an alternative outlet for the behavior your dog may want to do anyway!
For instance, if there is a two-year-old child with crayons about to draw on your wall, instead of punishing your child you’d likely say ” here draw on this notepad instead of the wall”… This is the same concept we are using for your dog or puppy.
Essentially telling your dog, “not that, but this instead.”
It’s also important to understand that dogs live in the moment and if you don’t physically catch your dog in the act of chewing your furniture then any punishment or redirection won’t work.
The reason redirection or punishment won’t work is that for a dog to associate a behavior with a reward or punishment you must physically catch your dog in the act!
That means if your dog chews your furniture at noon and you discover the mess at 1 PM, punishing or redirecting your pup won’t work because your dog won’t associate redirection or the punishment at 1 PM with chewing your furniture at noon.
This is why the crate is soo important to manage your dog while he or she isn’t under your supervision because if you’re not there to initially help teach your dog to make the correct decision then your dog is left to figure it out on his or her own!
For Dogs That Chew Due To Anxiety
For dogs that chew due to anxiety, or when left alone the concept is similar with a slight difference.
We want to begin to provide your pup with small doses of alone time throughout the day in their crate with an appropriate chew bone.
Many times dogs that are anxious due to being left alone behave destructively because every time they’re left alone it’s for hours and hours on end.
Providing your pup with a short burst of alone time in the crate here and there with fun chew toys for entertainment should begin changing your dog’s perspective on being alone.
In the future, we will create an in-depth step by step guide for dogs that suffer from severe separation anxiety!
Conclusion
Learning to stop dog chewing furniture home remedies isn’t too hard if you follow the steps above be sure to understand your specific dog and remember consistency is key in ensuring your pup reliably chews his toys instead of your furniture!
To awaken your dog’s true potential contact us here or Give us a call!
Receive your free dog training consultation and set your pup up for success!
