Destruction in the home

Looking down at your dog whilst its munching on a revered pair old slippers is not every ones idea of a dog as the ideal pet - mind you, as far as dogs are concerned there's nothing wrong with chewing tasty leather or soft material at all - this is great fun. For them it's only natural to investigate objects by smell and taste. It usually only upsets us when our dog chews something which we value, though we need to remember that dogs don't understand our sense of worth: for them there's no difference between an old slipper and a new one a tea towel or end frills on a rug.

Most destructive behaviour can be categorised into three types. The first type is investigative puppy behaviour, the second is caused when a dog has insufficient activity and stimuli as it grows from puppy to an adult dog it specifically targets certain items in the house which give it immense pleasure, these dogs target specific items and in a way stimulate play and enjoyment from the activity - they are often bored dogs.

The last, but most common is linked to separation anxiety which means the dog becomes most stressed when apart from its family - I call it the helpless dog - resulting in destruction and often, maybe accompanied by urinating, defecating, barking and whining.

During the consultation, we first establish the cause and then set down plans to alter the dogs mind set.