I have a dog that likes to eat wood.. how do I stop this?
This is not just any wood, it is the teak wood of just a few chairs included in my outdoor patio furniture. I am very fond of the furniture, and it was here before the dog. We rescued the dog, brought her home, gave her toys and bones, and still, she eats the arm of the chair. I am getting that it is either a nervous thing, an attention thing, maybe a comfort thing.. but how do I make it stop?
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4 Answers
There are any number of reasons for the chewing…boredom, separation anxiety, compulsive behavior, etc. Changing the behavior may be difficult.
There are several products that will cause the wood to taste bad (Bitter Apple) that will need to be re-applied periodically. SERIOUS chewers will often ignore the incredibly nasty taste and chew anyway. Give it a try.
Make sure the dog has plenty of attention, a good diet, and a rotating assortment of toys (If it lays out in the yard for a month, it’s not exciting and she’s not going to play with it). Exercise is vitally important and can help with all of the above mentioned behavioral problems. Obedience training is always, always a good idea for a multitude of reasons.
Just make sure that you’re not more fond of the furniture than you are of the dog.
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My dog did this also and I rubbed some Habanero peppers where he liked to chew for a few days and he learned not to chew it ever again very quickly.
My dog also used to like to chew wood (particularly the expensive dining room table). It wasn’t that he didn’t have toys, we have about 100 lying around the house, it was just that he preferred the wood—that was until we bought cheap chili powder, mixed it with a little bit of water, and brushed in on the wood. One taste of that and he’s never chewed again!
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