photo credit: Rutger Blom

There are  three main reasons why dogs chew:

• Firstly it is a natural process. It’s fun for them, helps them pass the time, and it’s a self-rewarding, self-reinforcing activity especially if they are chewing something that tastes good.

• If a dog is bored, nervous, lonely or suffering from separation anxiety then they may chew as an outlet for their emotions. It’s a bit like humans hitting the chocolate or whatever your comfort food of choice is!

• If your dog hasn’t had enough exercise then they will often use chewing as a way of burning up nervous energy and giving themselves something to do.

Over the next few days we are going to look ove some things that we can do to minimise destructive chewing.