Destruction of stuffed animals

[thornhills]

Marley is really good about only chewing his toys, which is great. However, stuffed toys that we get from the pet store last about 30 seconds. He gets very, very focused on tearing apart and removing the stuffing and squeaker and he’s not satisfied until the job is done. At which point, he loses interest and walks away from the toy.

 

Is this normal behavior? Should we find tougher toys that he can’t destroy?

 

Thank you!

[Adrienne Farricelli]

In order to understand this behavior, we must take a step back and see what toys really represent to dogs. Dog play, as in human play after all, shares some similarities. Just as children practice games that mimic chores observed in adults (cooking, playing doctor), puppies and dogs often play in ways that include the enactment of hunting moves such as stalking, chasing and pouncing. On top of hunting moves, dogs during play may also borrow behaviors from other facets of life, and therefore, you may see elements of fighting behaviors, fleeing behaviors and even courtship behaviors added in the mix of a dog's play behavior repertoire.

 

Playing with toys borrows many elements from hunting. To a dog, as gruesome as it sounds, stuffed animals tend to represent prey. They will therefore chase the stuffed animal, pounce on it and then will "finish it up" by shaking the toy (which in nature would mean shaking to break the neck) and then breaking it apart. So it's totally normal behavior for dogs to destroy stuffed toys and they may also do it for some extent out of curiosity should they detect a squeaker or some other things inside (stuffing) that is fun to get out. Caution is needed here: I don't know how many surgeries our vets had to do with some dogs who swallowed squeakers and had a surgery due to blockages, so there's an element of risk (especially with smaller dogs who have trouble passing them).

 

While there are some dogs that are gentle with their stuffed animals (often behind this are dog owners who have taught them to inhibit their natural destructive behavior but this eliminates all the fun), left to their own devices, dogs tend to destroy stuffed toys rather than sleep and cuddle with them as we may expect children to do. Hence, the classical dog owners' big search for tougher toys that can withstand dog teeth overtime.

Edited December 5, 2018 by Adrienne Farricelli

[thornhills]

Thanks for your quick and thoughtful reply! That was kind of what I thought but wanted to make sure there isn’t an out of line aggression issue we should be addressing. Fortunately he only shows this behavior with his toys. And, yes, our frame of reference is our previous dog, which was a flat coated retriever, and she neve tore her toys - simply walked around with them in her mouth and made them squeak.

 

Thanks again!

[Adrienne Farricelli]

You're very welcome!

Best,

Adrienne