Dog chewing the walls, skirting, doors.

[ALAN PARIS]

We have a 9 week old puppy.  She has taken to chewing the walls, doors, skirting boards etc.  All your chewing advice is to keep things we don’t want chewed out of the way, but we can’t do this with walls!

We’ve started training and she is learning the basic commands quite well, but she doesn’t “leave it” when we tell her to.  We’ve tried the chew spray, it doesn’t bother her.  Any advice?

[Adrienne Farricelli]

Hi there,

Welcome the the forums, 

Congrats on your new 9 week-old puppy!

When we see young pups as such chewing things like walls, we need to evaluate why this is happening. In many cases, it turns out being just puppies exploring or getting a little bored or frustrated. 

At 9 weeks, puppies have a lot to learn about and the world around them has so much to offer. A good part of a puppy's learning take place through their mouths. This oral phase is similar to that of a toddler who manipulates things and puts them in his mouth. 

When puppies of this age spend time outdoors, you'll often see them nibbling on some grass and chewing some rocks or sticks. When indoors, they'll just happen to mouth anything in sight, and this may include the table leg, your slippers and yes, even licking and chewing the walls!

When you catch them during an idle moment, when there is not much going on, they may therefore become attracted to anything that keeps their mouth busy. 

So if they happen for these pups to be bored one day, sitting right next to a wall, they may start by licking the corner of the wall, which can lead to them nibbling on it. Next thing you know, they are actively chewing the wall, even leaving some debris on the floor!

This behavior provides relief from boredom, or maybe it's just plain fun and gives them sensory reinforcement, which feels good to the puppies, and they will want to repeat it, turning the act of chewing the wall/door/boards into a habit. 

Sometimes puppies may also decide to chew the wall to grab our attention. Even if we happen to tell them "no!" or push them away, it may still reinforce the behavior as it's still considered a form of attention, even if it's the negative type. 

Puppies may be particularly attracted to drywall because drywall contains gypsum which is a mineral conglomeration composed by a large amount of calcium sulfate. This makes drywall very similar to bone causing dogs to want to keep on chewing on it.

In some cases, excessive chewing and eating things that aren't edible can be a sign of pica. Pica is a condition where dogs become attracted to eating nonfood items like rocks, wood, drywall, socks, and coins. Basically, affected dogs will eat objects that are not considered part of a normal dog's diet.

It is still not well understood what exactly may trigger pica. Is it boredom? A health problem? A behavioral one? Some theorize that it may stem from nutritional deficiencies; however, no nutritional studies have ever backed up this theory. However, most most modern commercial dog foods are nutritionally complete, making a dietary deficiency a rare cause of pica in todays dogs.

In any case, it's worthy of mentioning this behavior to the vet, just to be safe and exclude any medical causes for this behavior just in case.

In any case, we don't want to encourage rehearsal of this behavior also because drywall can irritate a pup's tummy and pieces of wood or plaster can cause injuries to the mouth or even an intestinal blockage. Not to mention, the $$$ damage to the home.

As we have seen, puppies learn a lot through their mouths as their mouths are their primary tools for receiving information and to explore their surroundings. It's therefore important to tackle the root cause for a puppy's wall-chewing behavior.  Fortunately, most destructive chewing behavior in puppies can be prevented or controlled.

With time, as puppies develop into adults, they should lose interest in walls especially if we offer them things that are much better (although as they become adolescents they go through a stage where they want to chew more again, so keep that in mind).

So let's take a look at several different approaches to reduce the chewing.  

-Confine Your Puppy 

Since puppies learn by exploring with their mouths, giving them unrestricted access to your living space can lead to destructive behavior. To avoid potential damage to your walls, it's therefore essential to confine your puppy in a designated puppy-proofed area, especially for those times when you cannot supervise your puppy.

An exercise pen or playpen can come handy. You can also keep your puppy on an indoor tether (using a harness, not a collar) but always under careful supervision. Never tether your puppy to things that can tilt over or that can be dragged. 

-Keep that mouth busy

When you are able to actively supervise your puppy, make sure he has access to plenty of chew toys that keep him occupied and happy. Invest in a variety of shapes and textures making sure they are suitable for puppies. Look for chew toys that offer treats inside so that it's a no-brainer for your dog to pick these in lieu of the drywall. Examples are stuffed Kongs, Buster Cubes, Toppls, Kong Wobblers etc. 

-Always Supervise Closely 

As much as your puppy enjoys playing with her toys, it's fundamental that you supervise her closely at all times, especially when not confined in a puppy-proof area. 

Your puppy at some point may get tired of the toy once its contents have been consumed. It takes just a second for her to leave the toy and gravitate towards the wall. Closely supervising your puppy when they are not confined is crucial, similar to caring for a toddler. This means always being aware of the puppy's whereabouts and activities.

You need to therefore be there every time to remind your puppy that the wall is off limits. Your best bet in this case is training your puppy the basics of the "leave it' cue.

I see that you mentioned that she doesn't "leave it" when you tell her to, but if she's just 9 weeks, the training has likely didn't have enough time to "sink in," so let's do some troubleshooting on that. 

-Train Your Puppy to "Leave it"

The leave it cue, when pronounced with correct timing, should tell your puppy to stop approaching the wall. To train it easily at this age, always keep some tasty kibble in your pocket so that can redirect your puppy at a moment's notice. 

Start training it easily by telling your puppy "leave it" when you see her approaching the wall and tossing a treat across the room away from the wall. You puppy should chase the treat and give up the wall since treats should be perceived as more valuable than the wall. 

If the treats aren't valuable enough, you can always mix in some low-sodium pieces of hot dog and let it sit overnight in the fridge in a baggie with the kibble so that the kibble absorbs some of its aroma. In the morning, you can then remove the hot dog and let her have the "hot-dog infused" kibble. 

With time, your puppy should understand that leave it means that she must no longer interact with the wall. However, you'll always need to be there for this to work.

If you cannot be in the same room to actively supervise, please keep your puppy confined so that she can't rehearse the wall-chewing behavior in your absence. Another option is to keep her tethered to you (keep her on a long leash clipped to your belt).

-Put Your Puppy's Brain to Work!

Make sure your puppy has plenty of things to do so you can keep her mind off the wall. Clicker train her, teach her some tricks, do some obedience training, let her play, invite people over so she socializes (she's at the peak socialization period), take her on car rides and puppy classes. 

Brain games are also a great solution for pups who need to keep busy!

I hope this helps!

Keep us posted on how things go,

Happy training!

[ALAN PARIS]

Thanks for this.  We’re mostly doing as you suggest.  One example is when we feed her in the kitchen when we are in there having our dinner, she has a slow feeding bowl and once she is done has access to plenty of chew toys.  She will ignore those, and lay at the back door (she seems to like it despite the drafts!) and idly chew the wall.  She does it right as we are watching, eyeing us as she does. (Cheeky minx!)  I will try the throwing of the treats to see if that helps.

Her puppy proofed area has nothing solid can damage, except the base of her crate, which we are replacing.

Funny you should mention car rides, I was going to do another post about that.  She really doesn’t like the car.  We’ve taken her out about 4 or 5 times, mainly on short rides to get her used to it, but she whines and cries and is really unsettled.  We treat her when she is quiet and have started ignoring her when she isn’t, but for her first few rides she had cuddles with us as she seemed terrified so I guess there was some reinforcing going on there.  Any tips to help her love the car?

[Adrienne Farricelli]

Try to break the routine of finishing eating and right away heading to back door. You can try placing something bulky there if this is not the door that she uses to go potty or you can confine her. Young puppies shouldn't have the full run of the house until better potty trained anyways.

Practice tossing kibble/treats during the day so that she learns to better focus for when you need it the most (saying leave it, and tossing a treat away). 

Most likely, the breeder never took her on a car ride before and it's frightening, or she may be a little car sick or she may be going through a fear period since she has other concomitant fears. https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/fear-periods-8-10-weeks-6-14-months/

It's important to make everything like a fun game and create positive associations.  Calming aids such as DAP sprays and veterinarian recommended supplements may also prove helpful. If there is car sickness at play, vets have meds for that. Research conducted by Conder GA et al. in 2008 found that as many as 1 in 5 dogs suffered from canine motion sickness. 

Motion sickness is particularly prevalent among puppies and the same phenomenon occurs in human children. The reason it's more common in puppies is likely because the parts of their inner ear responsible for balance isn't fully developed.

 Start slow using baby steps. 

According to research by Mariti et al, the dogs who were gradually accustomed to travel as puppies were statistically less likely to develop car transport problems. This emphasizes the importance of helping puppies become accustomed to car transport, by habituating them very gradually to car rides and making it always pleasant experience. 

It can start with just creating positive association nearby the car, playing and feeding the puppy when nearby it. Then, she can be taken in the car where she's played with and fed tasty treats. Then, she can be habituated to the noises of the engine. Then, she can be taken on a very brief ride around the block. 

Baby steps are important. They help create positive associations with the car while also helping the pup get used to its movements and sounds. Bringing along familiar dog toys and blankets seems to help. 

When taking puppies prone to motion sickness on car rides, they may soon become anxious because they come to anticipate and dread the onset of motion sickness. This causes them to eventually end up associating this unpleasant sensation with the car.  So how can puppies be helped to learn about car rides being happy places, when they are experiencing nausea? Good question!

In this case, in order to teach the puppy how to appreciate car rides, it's important to take preventive steps to avoid them from feeling sick while working on desensitizing them to car rides. Failure to do so can lead to conditioned carsickness even after the pup's inner ear has fully developed.

"No amount of training will convince him he doesn't feel well," points out veterinarian Dr. Nicholas H. Dodman in the book: "The Well-Adjusted Dog, Dr. Dodman's 7 Steps to Lifelong Health and Happiness for Your Best Friend."

To accomplish this, you may therefore find it helpful to avoid feeding your pup for a few hours prior to the trip. Making frequent stops and keeping fresh air in or the A/C on can help too. 

On top of this, prescription medications obtained from your veterinarian can help a whole lot, especially when given early before too strong negative associations are formed with the car. If your puppy feels better, she'll be more likely to feel calm if motion sickness is the culprit. 

A fairly new drug known as Cerenia has been specifically crafted for puppies who get motion sick, but it can be used in puppies that are four months or older.  So you will have to wait for this until your pup is older if motion-sickness is a trigger. 

If there is some element of anxiety, using a DAP spray which consists of a synthetic version of dog appeasing pheromones nursing mother dog produce (spray it in the car and/or on the travel crate) or the use of a DAP collar can turn handy. Another option is using a calming homeopathic remedy such as Bach's Rescue Remedy which can used along with DAP. Some dogs even benefit from ginger cookies made specifically for dogs.

"Whatever works best is the way to go—but something must be done to alleviate a dog's distress before attempting desensitization," points out Dr. Dodman

I hope this helps!

Adrienne