Whoever has never gnawed the tip of a pencil or the cap of a pen or bit their nails should raise their hands. Whether out of boredom, anxiety or fear, we have all engaged in what we might call “repetitive chewing behaviors” that are meaningless beyond distraction. Well, so do dogs . Of course, it must be clarified that the fact of biting objects for a long period of time, without such a thing having as an objective to obtain food, enters the canine world, within normality
Dogs use their mouths to interact with the environment, more or less as we do with our hands . In addition, when they are young, puppies bite to relieve the discomfort caused by their teeth when they come out, just as human babies do. The point is, if they are not taught to control this urge, they are more likely to wreak havoc in the home as they grow up. Even a dog that has learned to only chew on toys can start to attack furniture.
Peaches, a cross between a bulldog, bichon frize and poodle, starred in an extreme case in 2016 that was picked up by the media in the United Kingdom, where he lives. In just a few months, this dog caused a lot of damage to her home. Thus, he thoroughly chewed all kinds of junk – its owner says that on one occasion he completely destroyed a sofa in just three hours – but also the door frames and even a lawnmower. The damages amounted to about 6,000 euros. In these types of situations, the most important thing is to determine with the help of an expert the cause of their behavior, since correcting it usually solves the problem .
Image: Carterse via Flickr / CC
