Has your dog ever caught you chewing on things it shouldn’t? Haven’t you asked yourself ” why is my dog biting his blanket ” or directly ” why is my dog breaking his beds “? We are also concerned! For this reason, in this article from Expert Animal we want to bring you a solution to this serious and annoying problem for everyone.
Dogs sometimes go through the need to bite and we don’t know how to react properly, and that’s where the problems start. This type of behavior is learned especially during the dog’s childhood, although it could also be an expression of discomfort in the animal. The dog needs a certain emotional balance to be well and this must be given by us. Our responsibility is to be attentive and give you what you need at all times. Therefore, we encourage you to continue reading to discover why your dog bites his bed and what to do to avoid it.
You may also be interested: Why does my dog wet the bed?
Index
- My dog eats the cushions, what do I do?
- Why does my dog bite his bed?
- How to prevent my dog from biting his bed
My dog eats the cushions, what do I do?
It can get a lot of attention when your dog starts tearing up his bed. It represents that it is a thing that you like and gives you well-being and comfort. It is very confusing for those who do not yet understand the way of being of dogs. It is normal to react in some ways, but you have to control yourself.
First of all, when you see that your dog has been biting and destroying his bed or cushions, remember that you should never punish or scold him . Even if I understood, which is unlikely, it would not be effective and would cause discomfort to your dog. The bottom line is finding out what are the possible reasons behind your dog biting his bed. Next, we show the most common.
Why does my dog bite his bed?
The reasons that justify why a dog destroys its bed, cushions or blankets could vary depending on the dog, but generally we will not go astray if we bet on one of these options:
- Bad learning: the dog has learned that he can or should bite the objects around him because it is fun. Maybe he has played around the bed with you and at some point bitten her. He has related biting the bed with the game and it is something that amuses him.
- Teeth hurt: A puppy, as is so often the case with humans, may have teeth pain because they are growing. At this age it is normal that it hurts and wants to bite things. This behavior is natural and allows you to learn what can and cannot bite. The weird thing would be for a puppy not to bite everything it finds! For this reason, if your puppy chews on his bed or breaks it, it is most likely due to this.
- Frustration: There are dogs that learn to express or vent their frustration through behaviors such as biting the cushions. This is very frequent in very sensitive dogs. When someone roughly treats you or says “no” to something, they resort to biting your bed to burn that feeling and feel calm again. Many dogs biting things relaxes them, and it is not surprising that they catch this hobby.
- Boredom: in the animal world boredom is dangerous. As we can see in any zoo, an animal without enough stimulation tends to suffer boredom and this leads to repetitive or stimulating behaviors , which can lead to dangerous things like biting the first object they find. It can be a piece of furniture, a slipper or your bed.
- Separation anxiety: When we leave a dog alone at home, if he suffers from separation anxiety he will need a distraction to relax. Biting cushions, blankets and beds is, unfortunately, one of the solutions they find.
- Lack of Exercise: When a dog doesn’t exercise enough, it still needs to burn energy indoors. It is then when these problems begin to arise, since the game becomes more energetic and can end up destroying objects.
The best we can do is work on these causes and try to solve the problems that trigger this behavior in the dog. Some causes will resolve over time (such as tooth pain), while others will require you to bring more quality of life to the dog (such as lack of exercise).
Especially with the issue of separation anxiety, you should consider going to a qualified canine educator , who uses positive training techniques and helps you.
How to prevent my dog from biting his bed
If you want to prevent your dog from breaking his bed, destroying it or chewing on the cushions and blankets, you have several options:
- Buy teethers: If your dog loves to bite, you should try to satisfy his desire with things that he can bite. This can be cloth teethers or kongs, highly recommended.
- Allowthe dog to use the bed only when you are : let the dog use the bed only when you can control it. If it starts biting the bed, you can remove it and give it a toy instead, without raising your voice. In this way, the dog will understand that the toy is the object that can bite and, little by little and with constancy, it will internalize it and stop biting its bed.
- Buy dog beds that cannot be broken: There are many anti-bite dog beds on the market, which are already prepared to withstand the bites of these animals.
This is all! We hope that your problems of coexistence are solved soon and everything goes well. Remember that if after applying these guidelines to prevent your dog from destroying his bed, he continues to bite it or break the cushions and blankets, the most appropriate thing is to go to an ethologist or canine educator specialized in behavior modification. And if your dog is a puppy and not only bites his bed, do not miss the advice we share in this other article: ” How to teach a puppy not to bite? “.
