Dogs make wonderful pets, loving companions, a shoulder to cry on when there's no one else around, a valued member of the family and, quite often, are comical characters that make you laugh. However, with all of these good points, dogs can form some bad habits just like people!
The wood chewing dog can quickly become a nuisance, worrying your back fence to the point of necessary repairs, or ruining a perfectly good table leg. Worse yet, your wood chewing dog poses a danger to your pet's health. That lovely coffee table or chair leg may have a varnished or oiled finish, the first thing to be ingested, sometimes with disastrous health consequences. As for the fence, splinters from the wood chewing adventure can be swallowed, with dire effects on the digestive tract, or cause injuries to the inside of the mouth.
In order to 'cure' the wood chewing dog of this detrimental behavior, you must first understand why he took it up in the first place. A dog who starts exhibiting neurotic behavior patterns is usually a bored dog. Somewhat like the canine version of the human who bites their nails, wood chewing is something which keeps him occupied when there's nothing better to do.
Most dogs love barking at the mail carrier, because it's fun for them to see the startled reaction of the hapless human. This is standard dog behavior. They don't do this out of boredom.
Dogs absolutely need chewing toys, especially when they're puppies and teething. Does your dog have a ready and ample supply of chewing toys? If not, it's time to visit the pet shop and collect a variety of these toys. It's funny, but most dogs become quite possessive of their toys. Chewing toys are no exception. Your wood chewing dog won't have any trouble figuring out what to do with his new found play time toys.
Try for a varied collection. He'll probably favor some more than others, but having a range of choices helps. Those heavy lengths of sisal rope can be held between his paws and worried over for hours. You can use these ropes for a little tug-of-war play as well. He'll love the participatory aspect and the attention he receives with this game. Hard rubber bones are good choices too.
In addition to chew toys from the pet shop, check with your supermarket butcher for some genuine bones, the larger, the better. Some supermarkets sell gigantic beef bones for just a couple of dollars. Dogs love these, thinking they've surely arrived in dog heaven. Not only does it smell like meat, but makes a fantastic chew alternative to your furniture or porch rails. So much so, that if you keep him well supplied, he'll soon disdain the wood chewing dog habit in favor of this gourmet dog treat. It's really funny to watch a dog presented with a big bone. You can almost see his little dog eyebrows rise up as he views his prize. He'll drag it around, chew for a while, hide it, bury it and dig it up for further use later on.
Earlier, we mentioned boredom as a major contributor to the wood chewing dog syndrome. Another contributing factor is lack of exercise. If he's got energy to burn, all dressed up with nowhere to go, he's sure to start down some neurotic path of behavior. So be sure you take him on regular walks, or have a game of Frisbee or ball play a couple of times of day. Hey, you can probably use the exercise yourself!
Try all of these suggestions. You'll soon enough cure him of the wood chewing dog behavior.
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