Should dogs be allowed to chew, shred, and dig?
People might be horrified when they hear that dogs should be given opportunities to do all the “bad dog” stuff, like chewing, shredding, and digging. After all, nobody wants their dog chewing up their pricey Blundstone boots, shredding an important document casually left on the coffee table, or digging up the carefully-planted pollinator garden in the backyard.
The phrase “let them chew/shred/dig” comes with an asterisk: No one is saying let your dog go wild and wreck all your favourite stuff. Rather, give them “legal” opportunities to do all these things, so that they’ll be less likely to do the “illegal” version.
Why let them do it at all? It’s important to note that these things humans might find annoying are very natural dog behaviours. Giving your dog outlets to chew, shred, and dig fulfills their basic needs, just like how you provide them with food, fresh water, and walks.
So how do you give your dog legal options to do all these things? The answer: Give them enrichment activities! For example…
Chewing: Your dog may have some chew toys already, which is good! The more things you give him to chew on, the less chance he’ll chew on something you don’t want him to. Be sure to provide a variety, from durable toys to edible chews (just make sure you’re giving your dog safe things to chew).
Shredding: Watching dogs shred cardboard is incredibly fun! It brings out something primal, like they’re tearing the flesh off a fresh kill. Dogs will usually spit out the pieces rather than swallow them, but supervise the shredding to make sure this is the case. Before long, you’ll be saving cereal boxes and egg cartons from your recycling bin so your dog has plenty of shredding materials!
Digging: If you have a backyard and a dog who’s a digging maniac, then it’s a no-brainer: Your dog needs his own dig pit! Designate a small area to be just for your dog’s digging pleasure, or you could even build a dog sandbox. No backyard? No problem! Bring the fun indoors with a ball pit or homemade foraging box. There’s also this fancy digging toy you can order off Amazon. Or if you have access to forests or trails or sandy beaches, let your dog dig to his hearts’ content there. It’s a preferable alternative to your flowerbeds!
But wait! If you open the floodgates and let your dog chew, shred, and dig with reckless abandon, won’t he want to do it even more? This is unlikely, because of the well-documented effects of saturation and deprivation.
The concept is that if a dog gets enough of something he needs, he’ll feel satisfied and won’t want to do it for a while. If you keep giving him opportunities to “saturate,” he’ll be less likely to satisfy his needs in a way his humans don’t want. This effect applies to humans too! Some examples:
All day at work you’re craving chocolate. On the way home, you buy an entire chocolate cake and eat three huge slices. You put the rest of the cake in the fridge, and you can’t even look at it until the following evening.
You spend all day Saturday sprawled on the sofa, marathoning the new Netflix true crime series. By Sunday morning, you’re sick of staring at the TV and feeling energized enough to do some chores and errands.
This one will be familiar to introverts! You go to a crowded, noisy event, spend three hours socializing with strangers, then leave and avoid social interaction for several days afterwards. You’ve just saturated on people!
So if you don’t want your dog doing “bad dog stuff,” give him more opportunities to do them, not fewer - just give him the versions he’s actually allowed to do. His desire to chew, shred, and dig is in there anyway, so channeling those needs into healthy ways of satisfying them is the way to go. A dog whose needs have been met is a happier, more relaxed dog - and a dog way less likely to wreck all of your stuff!
p.s. As always, the best way to stop a dog from rehearsing unwanted behaviours is managing the environment. So keep your expensive footwear in the closet, put your paperwork in a filing cabinet, and add a dog-proof border to the edge of your garden.
Need help getting started with your dog’s enrichment? Check out my private in-person or virtual training options.
