Destructive Chewing: Why Dogs Do It and How to Stop It
Chewed skirting boards and shredded cushions have four different causes — and the fix depends entirely on which one you have.
A chewed skirting board is not a discipline problem. It is a symptom, and the useful question is never "how do I stop it" but "what is this dog getting from it".
There are four common answers, and they need four different responses. Using the wrong one is why so many owners buy a drawer full of chew toys and still come home to a destroyed cushion.
Work out which one you have
| Cause | Signature | What it needs |
|---|---|---|
| Teething | Puppy 12 weeks–7 months, chews everything, gums sore | Appropriate outlets, management, time |
| Boredom | Happens when awake and unoccupied, targets anything | Mental work, exercise, enrichment |
| Stress or anxiety | Often when alone, targets exits and windows | Address the anxiety, not the chewing |
| Habit or scavenging | Specific objects, often food-scented | Management and swapping |
The distinguishing question is when it happens. Damage while you are in the house points to boredom or teething. Damage only when you are out, starting within half an hour of leaving, points at separation distress — a different problem with a different protocol, covered in our guide to separation anxiety.
Damage focused on doorframes, window sills and the exit route is a particularly strong signal for distress rather than boredom. Boredom chewing tends to pick the nearest interesting thing; panic chewing picks the way out.
Teething, if your dog is under seven months
Puppies lose their milk teeth and cut adult ones between roughly twelve weeks and seven months, and the discomfort makes chewing genuinely necessary rather than naughty.
What helps:
- Cold things. A damp flannel twisted and frozen, frozen carrot, a chilled rubber toy
- Variety of textures — rubber, rope, wood-substitute, edible chews
- A toy in every room your puppy has access to, so the right option is always closer than the wrong one
What does not: telling a teething puppy off. The need does not go away because you disapproved of the outlet.
This phase overlaps with mouthing and play-biting, which is a separate behaviour with its own method — see why puppies bite and how to make it stop.
Boredom, which is most adult cases
A dog with nothing to do will find something to do, and your sofa is available.
Physical exercise helps less than owners expect. Mental work tires dogs faster than distance does:
- Feed at least one meal from a puzzle feeder or scattered in grass
- Ten minutes of nose work settles a dog more than half an hour of fetch
- Rotate toys weekly so they stay novel rather than becoming furniture
- Give a long-lasting chew at the times of day damage usually happens
A practical test: if the chewing spikes on days when the walk was skipped or the routine was dull, you have your answer.
The structured version of this is what Paw Plan's Adventures section is for — roughly seventy short activities, each tagged with duration, time of day and weather, so "give the dog something to do" becomes a specific suggestion for a wet Tuesday evening rather than a good intention. Enrichment fails more often from decision fatigue than from unwillingness.
Give the behaviour somewhere to go
Chewing is a normal, self-soothing canine behaviour. The goal is redirection, not elimination.
- Make the legal option better than the illegal one — stuffed and frozen rubber toys beat a dry nylon bone most dogs ignore
- Swap, do not snatch. Take the chair leg, immediately offer the chew, reward the switch. Snatching teaches guarding
- Reward chewing the right thing when it happens on its own — most people only react to the wrong choice
Manage the environment while you train
You cannot train a behaviour that is being rehearsed in your absence. For a few weeks, remove the opportunity:
- Restrict access to one dog-proofed room, a pen, or a crate
- Cables, shoes, remotes and children's toys out of reach
- Bitter deterrent spray on furniture legs — helps with some dogs, ignored by others
- Supervise, or confine. There is no third option that works
This is not giving up. Every unrehearsed chew is a habit not strengthened, and management buys you the time for the real fix to take effect.
Crate work belongs here for many dogs, and done properly it is a place the dog chooses rather than a punishment — see crate training without the crying.
Choosing chews that are actually safe
The chew aisle is largely unregulated, and some of the most popular products are the ones veterinary dentists see most often.
The thumbnail test: press your thumbnail into the chew. If it does not give at all, it is hard enough to fracture a tooth. Slab fractures of the upper carnassial teeth are common and usually need extraction.
| Generally safer | Treat with caution |
|---|---|
| Rubber toys stuffed and frozen | Cooked bones — splinter, never give |
| Snuffle mats and puzzle feeders | Antlers and hooves — very hard |
| Softer dental chews | Nylon bones that shard |
| Carrot, or a frozen wet flannel for teething | Rawhide — choking and blockage risk |
| Yak-milk chews, softened | Sticks — splinter and cause mouth injuries |
Two rules regardless of what you choose: supervise new chews, and remove any piece small enough to swallow. Size up rather than down — a chew that fits entirely in the mouth is a choking hazard.
A week that usually works
If you want a concrete starting plan rather than principles:
- Days 1–2. Dog-proof one room and use it. Buy three different textures of chew. Note the times damage usually happens
- Days 3–4. Put a long-lasting chew into exactly those time slots, before the chewing starts rather than after
- Days 5–7. Add one puzzle-fed meal a day and ten minutes of nose work. Practise the swap — take an item, offer the chew, reward the exchange
- Week 2. Widen access one room at a time, only while you are there to supervise
If damage stops in week one with more enrichment, it was boredom. If it continues only in your absence, it was never boredom, and the separation work is the right path.
What not to do
- Punishment after the fact. Your dog cannot link a telling-off to something they did twenty minutes ago. The guilty look is appeasement in response to your body language, not an admission
- Leaving the destroyed item out as a lesson. Means nothing to a dog
- Shouting. Adds stress, and stress is one of the four causes
- Assuming spite. Dogs do not damage things to make a point about being left
When it is a health or welfare issue
Some chewing needs more than a training plan:
- Sudden onset in a previously reliable adult — check for pain, dental problems, or a routine change first
- Eating non-food items (stones, fabric, plastic) rather than chewing them. Pica risks intestinal blockage and warrants a vet visit
- Chewing at their own paws or flanks — that is usually skin, allergy or pain, not boredom
- Frantic, injurious chewing when alone, sometimes with broken teeth or torn claws — that is panic, and it needs a behaviourist and often veterinary input
The honest boundary: separation-related destruction and self-injurious chewing are not things to work through from an article. Both improve reliably with proper help, and both get worse with time if treated as disobedience.
Timeline
Teething resolves on its own by about seven months, provided the outlets are there. Boredom chewing usually improves within one to two weeks of a genuinely better routine — this is the fastest-fixing category, and often the most misdiagnosed. Anxiety-driven chewing follows the timeline of the anxiety work, which is months rather than weeks.
Start by answering the when question honestly. Almost everyone who is stuck on this problem is applying the boredom fix to a separation problem, or the training fix to a teething puppy.
Common questions
- Why does my dog chew everything when I leave?
- Chewing that happens only in your absence and starts within about thirty minutes of you leaving is usually separation distress rather than boredom. It typically comes with pacing, vocalising and damage focused on doors and windows, and it needs a graduated absence plan, not more toys.
- At what age do puppies stop chewing?
- Teething chewing eases once the adult teeth are through at around six to seven months, but a second chewing phase is common between six and eighteen months during adolescence. Adult dogs chew less, though the need never disappears entirely.
- Do bitter sprays stop dogs chewing furniture?
- They help some dogs and are entirely ignored by others, and they do nothing about the underlying cause. Treat a deterrent spray as a temporary management tool alongside supervision, an acceptable outlet, and a fix for whatever is driving the chewing.
- Is it too late to stop an adult dog chewing?
- No, but the first question changes. Sudden destructive chewing in an adult dog who was previously fine is a signal to check health, stress and routine changes before assuming it is a training problem.
- What should I do if I catch my dog chewing something?
- Interrupt calmly, swap for something they are allowed to chew, and reward them for taking it. Punishment after the fact teaches nothing, because dogs cannot connect a telling-off to a decision made minutes earlier.
