my dog eats her toys!

[kuritsa18]

My dog Mika has developed a very strange and possibly dangerous habit of eating her chew toys. Some she won't eat but most new toys she ends up trying to eat them and succeeding sometimes. As soon as I see that she has eaten pieces of it I will take the toy away and throw it out and recently have started taking them away as soon as I see her trying to tear chunks off because I know she will eat it. She will eat the string parts and the plastic. It is expensive to keep having to buy her new toys all of the time! I have seen her 'pass' some of the chunks she has eaten but doing this has also made her sick and caused her to throw up a few times. I am worried about health problems and if this could be making her sick because diggesting plastic can't be good for you! I am also worried about taking all the toys away and that she might turn to something else to chew which she has done in the past. Also, I do not give raw hide bones or any treats to her that she can sit there and chew on for a long time because she has developed food aggression; we will be taking taking her to a trainer to work on this. We spend as much time as we can with her but we are busy too and cannot watch her all the time. Even last night she still tried to eat one of her chew toys and I had spent all day with her so it wasn't like she was bored or lonely. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to fix this or what might be causing it? Is this dangerous to her health? Is this just one of those weird dog behaviours?! Thanks!

[Lana]

I have an 8 month old Dalmatian who is causing me nothing but grief with chewing things she shouldn't!! I gave her near enough every chew toy I could buy and found she wanted to destroy them within minutes too! Very expensive....one day I dropped an empty plastic coke bottle on the floor by accident and she came running up and started chewing that and played with it. I had to take the label off and also the lid because she managed to undo it in no time at all. But this empty coke bottle I was going to bin did the trick for a short while.

I still have problems with her now, but this may resolve your problem.

Good luck.

[melody]

There are three types of materials that you should really check on and avoid if possible, before you give them as toys, rawhide, plastics, and ropes, or anything that can be broken to tiny pieces but can't be digested. I once read lately about a dog who died because her owner gave her a rope to play and chew on. Then one day, the poor dog suddenly died, and the owner mistook their neighbors dogs as the culprit. When she was rechecked by investigators, they found out she was able to chew very small rope pieces which she was not able to digest and got entangled on her intestines.

[uberglamorous]

Destructive behavior like chewing is often caused by the general frustration that lonely and isolated dogs experience. Most pets who exhibit this behavior are often lacking adequate exercise and playtime.

Dogs are instinctively driven to socialize with fellow animals and explore their surroundings. If a dog is deprived of these basic necessities, they will harbor a dangerous amount of boredom and loneliness. Thus, they will seek to relieve their tension by chewing nearby objects.

Providing your dog with active time together (walking, playing catch, etc.) is the best preventive measure to curb 'problem chewing'. Remember, a tired dog is less likely to chew objects to bits. The amount of exercise will vary with the specific breed you own. Obviously, larger types like German Shepherds will need more time walking and running around as opposed to smaller breeds.

Hope this helps.

[hazelnutx]

Food aggression is a very bad behavior and I am glad that you will be getting some help with this. I have an idea, but it all depends on the dog as I don't know how she is.

When you are home, give her a toy that you can keep an eye on. something large enough and hard enough that it will take some time before she can ruin it, though it might get expensive. When you are not home, give her a bone ( a safe one) that she can chew on excessively and not have to worry about anyone being there to get hurt until she gets out of her aggressive behavior.

But someone else also stated that attention and exercise are very important and that person couldn't be more correct. A tired dog is less likely to chew and she will be happier for it. Some dogs require more contact than others (my boxer/mastiff mix does) and that attention and playtime outside to run and run may just be what she needs.

Hope this helps!

[Roddydogs]

I have trained dogs for 25 years and everyone that has toy eating dogs have always done the same thing. If you give your dogs toys when you are not playing with the toys, you are teaching your dog to chew when they are bored.
Dog toys are for you and the dog to play with ( not chew on). Don't leave toys out for the dog to play with on their own. If you see them putting any thing in their mouth when you are not playing, get on to them. They don't know it's wong to chew unless you communicate that to them. Good Luck!