Many people when they get home do so in fear of knowing what their dog has broken this time. A destructive dog can become a big problem for both its owner and its environment.
Unknowingly they can bite a cable that causes a fire, they can cause a break in a pipe or an endless number of things that not only damage the furniture in the home, but itself and the neighbors.
From Dogsis we fully understand the anguish of the people who have to deal with these problems on a daily basis, that’s why we offer you these practical tips with which you will prevent your dog from destroying things.
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Index of contents
- 1 Why does my dog destroy the house?
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- 1.0.1 Excess energy in dogs
- 1.0.2 Separation anxiety
- 1.0.3 The worst enemy, boredom
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- 2 Solutions to prevent a dog from breaking things
- 3 Other factors to consider
Why does my dog destroy the house?
In order to solve the problem we must know the origin of it, it is the only way to get our dog to stop biting furniture, digging in the ground, breaking walls or destroying our home at general levels.
A dog becomes destructive due to three basic factors, excess energy, anxiety, or boredom. Some dogs are not only destructive for one reason, but can be destructive for two or even all three.
Let’s look a little more deeply at what these basic problems are and why they cause a dog to break things, even if it is simply trashing senselessly.
Excess energy in dogs
Dogs are animals that generate a lot of energy a day that they need to spend. If we don’t take them out for a walk and exercise before leaving them home alone while we work or run errands, they will release their energy by breaking the bed, toys, furniture and any part of the house they find entertaining.
Separation anxiety
We must not forget that they are very familiar, a dog needs to be with his family (with you) at all times, or failing that with a human to play with or just feel safe.
When we leave a dog alone at home he thinks that in some way he is being abandoned, he wants to go with you but he cannot, which causes him enormous anxiety.
That separation anxiety in dogs It can quickly panic, leading you to scratch all doors and walls looking for a way out. Or to destroy things to attract attention and that we come to their aid.
The worst enemy, boredom
Incredible as boredom may seem, it is often the only reason a dog destroys the house. When hours and hours go by without knowing what to do … they look for a way to entertain themselves.
And what better way to entertain yourself than…. Biting things? Dogs love to bite, so when they get bored of doing nothing, they look for something to put in their mouths to entertain themselves by chewing on it.
Solutions to prevent a dog from breaking things
Once we have located the origin of the destructive craving of the dog, we must get down to work so that our dog stops breaking things.
If we are not very clear about the origin, we can gradually test the following solutions to see which one is more effective.
Dogs with a lot of energy For them, the best solution is to increase the walks and exercise they do on a daily basis. Before leaving them alone we must tire them out to release energy.
And it is not enough to go out for fifteen minutes and throw the ball at them until their tongue reaches the ground … you have to take a great walk of at least an hour, where they can run and play as they please, freely.
Dogs with anxiety they need a different treatment, to them we must dedicate time in another way, through confidence exercises. Although they also need to go out and release their energy (highly recommended), we must work on the process of leaving them alone at home.
For this we must start by leaving them alone for a short period of time, half an hour for example and then return home. We will expand this time with the passage of time, each day a little more until they get used to being alone.
It is a long but very effective process, if we cannot do it ourselves due to lack of time, we can always go to a professional dog trainer, which will help us with the process.
For boring dogs The process is quite similar but with a few changes, to start we must also release their energy with long walks before leaving them alone.
And to prevent them from lingering around breaking the house, we’ll buy them special dog toys. Intelligence toys with which they must do certain things to get their prize (some food) or toys of the purest Kong type entertainment.
Other factors to consider
If you have come this far, you will have understood that yes or yes, we must spend our dog’s energy before leaving him alone at home. But … What happens when it is a very small puppy, an older (old) dog or a sick dog?
The case of puppies is complex because we cannot force them to exercise, what’s more, it is even counterproductive. Puppies need constant company so they don’t feel lonely and so on, they go through what is known as teething period, which is the cycle where teeth change.
For all this, the best thing for a puppy is that he has constant company and several teethers with which to relieve the pain of his gums. If you can’t always accompany him, consider leaving him with a friend, family member or caregiver.
Elderly dogs or sick dogs should also not be forced to exercise, so their excess energy cannot be released in the same way as with a healthy dog. As with puppies, they will need company.
On many occasions, expanding the family with another puppy that they get along with is a great solution so that they do not have the feeling of being alone and thus avoid panicking or getting bored and starting to chew on any part of the house.
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