# strange new behavior



## ShamaMama (Jul 27, 2015)

Hi All! Shama turned 20 months yesterday. Photos below. Recently, she's started chewing on our furniture! It's so bizarre, because she didn't do that as a little puppy. We'll use Bitter Apple and try to engage her in other activity, but does anyone have any other thoughts? Is this common in a 20-month-old Havanese? Thanks!


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## Sheri (Oct 11, 2008)

No advice from me, (unless she's bored, or needs a vet checkup,) but I'll be watching to see if others have ideas.


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## davetgabby (Dec 29, 2007)

need more context, when ?, anyone present? how long , ? chew toys available.?


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## davetgabby (Dec 29, 2007)

Where are ya Jackie? What does Jean Donaldson say in " it's all chewtoys to them"? :smile2:


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## Hava Novice (Aug 30, 2016)

I don't know anything helpful, but just wanted to say that she is beautiful!


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## ShamaMama (Jul 27, 2015)

She doesn't do it at any particular/consistent time. It seems like she's doing it when she's bored. She'll have her entire box of toys available but choose to chew on something she shouldn't. Her favorite thing to chew on is a bully spring, but we try to only give her a (fattening) bully spring once a week. Today, we gave her a full-size (eight inches or so) bully spring at 5 PM or so, and it was nearly gone by 8. We just did some obedience (sit stays, down stays, and recalls) and agility (weave poles and sit stay to BREAK to jump and keep running), and now she's chewing on a brand new Himalayan chew. She occasionally gets into her water buffalo horn (sawed into 1x1x3-inch pieces) and rarely her antler pieces (which we never did soak in chicken broth because it seemed we'd end up with chicken grease all over the house). It's cute because she has a peanut butter flavored cow's ear that she's has since she was really little, and she chews on it a little each day, but it never seems to get smaller. We stopped giving her pigs' ears because they're too fattening now that she's no longer a puppy. We've been meaning to get her the moose antlers that Karen gets, but we haven't gotten around to it. She likes to throw her toys around and pounce on them, and she especially likes to throw her orange squeaky ball down the stairs and retrieve it, but she rarely sits and chews on her toys with the exception of her Petstages ORKA bone (but when she chews on it, it's not generally for very long).

https://www.chewy.com/petstages-ork...gclid=CMLDp_SHgtICFUe5wAodUlUOPg&gclsrc=aw.ds

Right now, she's still going to town on her Himalayan chew. She had several stubs lying around, but we probably should have given her a new full-size Himalayan chew when we first noticed this destructive behavior.

Thanks for your insight.


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## Askavi (Nov 5, 2015)

But she's so freakin' adorable! How could she possibly do anything bad?


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## ShamaMama (Jul 27, 2015)

We can't stay mad at her long, that's for sure!


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## Teddy Bear (Apr 11, 2015)

Thats almost the same time Teddy discovered his love for chewing shoes, socks and the sofa!

Could be many reasons for this (eg pent up energy, boredom or separation anxiety)
I would recommend increasing Shama's daily exercise and have toy rotations instead of giving her a whole box of toys.
I learnt the hard way with Teddy that even if he has a box of toys, the become old very quickly! we now rotate his toys so every week (or 2) and he gets excited to get his "new" toy even though its the same toy he wanted nothing to do with when it was in his toy box.

Hope you manage to find a solution that works for you!


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

The other thing to remember is that even though she's physically mature at this age, she still has "puppy brain". Most dogs don't geow up mentally before two... many take a lot longer.


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## Jackie from Concrete WA (Mar 23, 2015)

davetgabby said:


> Where are ya Jackie? What does Jean Donaldson say in " it's all chewtoys to them"? :smile2:


Well, it's listed as one of the "Top Ten Things We Know About Real Dogs". "It's all chew toys to them (no concept of artifacts)"


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## davetgabby (Dec 29, 2007)

Right on Jackie. Here is more from Jean Donaldson. , some of which I summarized. 

"There was a time when chewing in domestic dogs was viewed as
either a stage that “teething” puppies went through or else a sign of
a neurotic, screwed up dog. Now we know better. Chewing is a
normal canine pastime that is both enjoyable for the dog and keeps
the jaws and teeth in good shape. Dogs get into chew toys the way
humans get into spy novels or an absorbing movie. The problem is
simply one of choice of chew object: we would like the dog to
discriminate between dog chew toys and all the other items in the
house, indeed the universe. This is an easy discrimination for us
but not at all obvious to the dog. Remember, dogs have no concept
of things in your house being “worth” anything apart from their 
40
obvious suitability as chew objects. They also have no concept of
right and wrong, only safe and dangerous. They also don't
particularly care what your opinion is of their actions unless there
is some impact on them." 


-control access to objects not valid chew toys

-must be monitored if not they must be confined , similar to housetraining 

-if approaching wrong item ,redirect to appropriate toy and engage playfully

-try to set up a sting and catch him as he attempts to chew on wrong item and gently redirect to a different type of activity such as tug. 

-use real bones and make kongs an attractive alternative. 

-make him earn his meals ,avoid bowls all the time

-much of chewing is boredom related and therefore the best solution is a more active life. 

"We are subject to the
laws of learning. So are dogs, but with less incentive from
understanding the potential harm of their behavior. Dogs cannot
have moral failings as they cannot knowingly act against the
common good. They therefore never self-punish with guilt and
self-recrimination as we do. This doesn't make them morally
inferior. It's just how they are. We take far too personally
phenomena that are simply products of animal learning laws.""


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## Dee Dee (Jul 24, 2015)

Great information! I have a few "chewing" areas I need to work with Sophie also got some good tips. Although she is tons better than she was. 

Good HEAVENS Shama is too adorable for words!!!!! She is a real cutie pie!


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## Dee Dee (Jul 24, 2015)

How much does Shama weigh is she as little as she looks?


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## Tux's Mom (May 24, 2016)

A dog on a calorie-restricted diet might chew and destroy objects in an attempt to find additional sources of nutrition. Dogs usually direct this kind of chewing toward objects related to food or that smell like food. (do you oil your furniture?)

To help your dog learn the difference between things he should and shouldn’t chew, it’s important to avoid confusing him by offering unwanted household items, like old shoes and discarded cushions. It isn’t fair to expect your dog to learn that some shoes are okay to chew and others aren’t.


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## ShamaMama (Jul 27, 2015)

I realized I never answered Dee Dee. Shama weighs eight pounds. I think it's worth reviving this post so that some of the new members can see Dave's post about chewing being a natural dog behavior.


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## Marni (Apr 1, 2017)

*Kosmo the Aesthete*

She is so beautiful she may chew on my furniture, send her down south!

Kosmo, at a mere 5 months. chose only one piece of furniture in the house to gnaw, my great grandaunt's rocking chair gifted from the porch of her cabin in mountainous Appalachia. So, I sent the rocker to a relative for a short time (just as I am asking for your dog).

Kosmo has taken exception to the large pattern on the rug at the lake house, so while I am mesmerized by a screen he removes the offending design white yarn piece by white yarn piece. He also decided the ball fringe on a lumbar pillow was tacky, and promptly removed a portion. His aesthetics are very sophisticated.

I am going to take the excellent advice and remove the bulk of his toys from rotation so some might appear new. I used a billy spring to distract from the rug.


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