My Dog Keeps Chewing up Wires, What Can I Do?
Wire chewing is risky business for dogs.
How Can I Stop My Dog From Chewing Wires?
"I have a one-year-old Great Dane. She is chewing up wire harnesses to the house and trailers. How do I get her to stop? She has chew toys, and toys all over the yard. She also chews on the drywall in the garage."—Jamie
Stopping a Dog From Chewing Wires Requires a Multi-Modal Approach
Hi Jamie, I am sorry to hear that your Great Dane has managed to chew the wire harnesses that connect your house and trailers. I am sure you are frustrated by this situation and desperate for some solutions. As you can imagine, it’s important to tackle this issue promptly so as to minimize damage to your property and ensure the safety of your pet.
Addressing chewing behaviors in dogs requires a multifaceted approach. It is great that your dog has access to plenty of chew toys around the yard. Toys can help redirect a dog’s chewing to more appropriate items; however, this is only one part of the solution.
Firstly, it is paramount to implement management strategies so as to address the issue promptly. Then, in the background, we would need to work on addressing her chewing needs and the underlying causes for the chewing.
Let's take a closer look at several interventions that can help address your dog’s chewing on wires and the drywall.
A dog's sharp teeth can do extensive damage to all types of wires.
Owner's photo
Management Strategies to Prevent a Dog From Chewing Wires
When it comes to chewing in dogs, management plays a crucial role, especially when the items chewed on can be potentially dangerous. Management helps keep the dog safe (or at least "safer") and prevents the dog from getting stuck in a habit with a strong rehearsal history.
Now, there can be various “tiers” of management that can be used when it comes to chewing behaviors in dogs. Still, since in this case, we're talking about wires, it’s best to use a combination of options so as to add several layers of protection.
Here are several management options:
1. Make the Wires Difficult to Reach
Erecting a barrier to prevent access to the area with the wires is your best bet as you want you prevent your Great Dane from accessing the area completely. The barrier needs to be tall and sturdy enough that your Great Dane cannot knock it over, push through it or jump over it.
Here are some options, but you'll have to test them with your Great Dane as sometimes, even the reportedly sturdiest barriers have failed with some very determined dogs.
- An indoor baby gate that will prevent your dog from accessing the room where the wires are located (if tall enough pet gates can't be found, you can always stack one on top of the other)
- Foldable exercise pens that you can connect and use to surround the wires
- Extendible pet fences that can act as a barrier
- Another type of physical barrier that your dog isn't interested in chewing and can't be knocked over or pushed away (furniture, room divider, etc.)
2. Make the Wires Difficult to Chew
You can try to make the wires difficult to chew by investing in some purposely built commercial products.
There are a variety of cord protectors meant to protect pets from chewing hazardous cords, but every dog responds differently to them. Some dogs give up chewing, while others may still persist.
Some cord protectors are covered with a taste aversive such as bitter-tasting citrus, but some dogs care less about the flavor, and sometimes you encounter the oddball who actually likes it.
While many plastic cord protectors are rather flimsy, there are several heavy-duty options for powerful chewers. For example, flexible metal conduits may be a sturdy option, with some makes and models being even suitable for outdoor use.
While some dog owners run the wires through PVC pipes as they're cheaper, it's important to consider that with the white plumbing PVC pipes, there are risks with their use as they are not designed for electrical purposes. They shouldn't be confused with the grey electrical PVC pipes which may or may not be suitable with certain types of wires.
Considering the variety of wires and conduits on the market, it's important to consider safety and correct use. There are several calculations that go into determining how many and what size wire is permitted in a certain-sized conduit.
Disclaimer: I am not an expert in the field of electrical wiring; therefore, for safety and professional guidance, please consult with a qualified licensed electrician who can help with the repair/installation and guide you through the safest option.
3. Actively Supervise Every Move
Supervision can help prevent a dog’s opportunistic chewing, but there are risks involved, such as losing sight of our dog for just a second or not being able to quickly redirect the dog.
Active supervision means watching the dog's every move, no phones, no laptop computers or distractions, but this is not always easy, which is why it's best to have an extra layer of safety in place (sturdy cord protector and/or barrier that provides you with some additional time to intervene before the chewing gets risky or damaging).
A plan needs to be in place as to what to do should we notice the dog approaching the wires with the intent to chew them. Interventions may include the following:
- Use the leave it and drop it cues. This requires some time to train and our dog must respond to them at a fluent level. How to train this is covered in more detail below.
- Have the dog wear a head collar and drag leash. A drag leash is a short leash that can be dragged as the dog moves around freely. This is a temporary option as the dog is being trained. It gives you the opportunity to interrupt her at the earliest signs of her approaching something she shouldn’t chew so that you can redirect her to an appropriate item to chew.
4. Keep the Dog Confined
Keeping the dog confined in a secure area that cannot be jumped over or knocked down is important for those times when active supervision is not possible. Confinement is much better (and safer) than leaving a dog prone to chewing unsupervised.
Confinement may include any of the following measures that keep your dog safe and prevent her from wandering towards the area with the wires:
- A crate
- An exercise pen
- A room separated by a baby gate/indoor pet fence
- An outdoor kennel
- A securely fenced yard
If the dog is not used to being confined, steps should be taken to habituate him/her to being confined. It's important to create positive associations with the confinement area. Here are some general guidelines: how to crate train an adult dog.
"Out of Sight, Out of Mind"
Keeping your dog in an area away from the wires with something productive to do, keeps your dog out of trouble.
Photo by owner
According to a database, electrical injuries are more common in dogs ranging from 2 months to 1.5 years.
— Mazzaferro E. 2010
How Can I Stop My Dog From Chewing Wires?
To stop a dog from chewing wires, you will need to use a multi-modal approach. While on one hand you'll be using management to prevent an unwanted behavior from becoming entrenched (and keep your dog safe), in the background, you'll be helping your dog make good choices. Here are several tips:
1. Provide More Exercise and Mental Stimulation
Chewing in a teenage dog is often due to boredom and lack of mental stimulation. In a nutshell, the dog is seeking her own form of entertainment. This is similar to a child eager to disassemble and tear apart objects.
Make sure to take your dog on daily walks, keep up her training and socialization and provide enrichment by engaging her in some activities that promote mental stimulation. Here are just a few ideas: 17 ways to keep your dog mentally stimulated.
2. Pick Entertaining Toys
When dogs have access to several toys but decide to chew on other items, this is often a sign that the toys provided may not be attractive enough.
Most dogs lose interest in toys that are static and don’t offer much in terms of interaction unless they are “activated by owners” (e.g., tossing the toy, offering it as a toy to play tug with, wiggling it around).
Interactive toys that offer some type of interaction and entertainment are often more likely to grab a dog's attention. Flirt poles, tug toys and balls tossed by owners provide dogs with the entertainment they crave while also improving the bond between the dog and the owner.
While the above are toys that encourage interaction between dogs and their owners, there are also toys that encourage solitary play. Examples include food dispensing toys such as Kong Wobblers, Kongs, Buster Cubes and Topplers.
Smearing chew toys with some peanut butter (make sure it’s not a sugar-free version as it may contain xylitol, which is highly toxic to dogs) may help keep your dog interested while helping your dog make good choices.
3. Rotate the Toys
When a dog sees the same toys lying around all the time, they readily lose interest. It helps in these cases to rotate the toys so that they retain a sense of novelty.
In a nutshell, if your dog has lots of toys, make it a habit of storing the toys out of your dog's sight and randomly offer different toys each day of the week.
4. Train the Leave it and Drop it Cues
These are cues that every dog should know and that may turn out to even save a dog's life. They need to be trained in a quiet setting at first, and then gradually, more distractions can be added to the mix until the dog responds readily.
These behaviors need to attain a strong reinforcement history, with the dog showing signs of being responsive in other less distracting contexts before expecting the dog to respond in the more problematic ones.
The “leave it cue” comes in handy for when you notice your dog approaching something she shouldn’t interact with.
The “drop it” cue can be used if we fail to notice our dogs grabbing something and want them to readily release it.
Here is a guide for training them with some video demonstrations: how to train your dog leave it and drop it.
First Aid: If Your Dog Is Still in Contact with the Cord, Shut off the Electricity!
Shut off the electric at the circuit breaker or fuse box.
Why Do Dogs Chew Drywall?
You also mentioned that your Great Dane is interested in chewing the drywall. In this case, the underlying causes for the chewing may be similar to those of chewing wires, but there are some extra caveats to consider.
In a dog aggressively chewing drywall after whining, digging and sniffing the area, there may be a potential for critters (such as rodents) to be detected behind the walls. In this case, it may be wise to hire a pest control company invested in humane pest-control methods to check for the presence of critters.
Another thing to consider is that drywall is made of gypsum, which is a mineral conglomeration known for containing a significant amount of calcium sulfate. This makes its composition quite similar to bones, which may explain a dog’s fascination with it, explains veterinarian Dr. Ralston.
The problem with drywall ingestion is that it can cause digestive issues, and if a large amount is ingested, it can even cause an obstruction, explains Angel Alvarado, a licensed veterinary technician.
As with chewing wires, it’s therefore best to implement management to keep the dog away from the drywall area, especially if there is a spot where your dog has already left a dent. Dogs are attracted to these areas as they wish “to finish up the job.”
Most dogs are interested in chewing drywall in corners. You can block access by placing bulky items in front of the area or fencing it off by using an indoor pet fence to make the area difficult to reach when you are around.
As with the wires, you need to be actively supervising, as you can’t address the behavior if you aren’t there to redirect it. You will also need to keep your dog confined with something desirable to chew (e.g. frozen Kong stuffed with peanut butter, bully stick) when you cannot actively supervise.
Since drywall ingestion may sometimes take place in some cases of nutritional deficiencies and medical disorders, it's a good idea to mention the behavior to the vet just to be on the safe side.
If a dog is chewing drywall when separated from the owner, the potential for separation-related distress in dogs should be considered. As with other emotionally-driven chewing behaviors, it's important to tackle the root cause of the anxiety.
The corners of walls are often the most attractive to dogs.
What Ultimately Causes Dogs to Chew?
Chewing in dogs is a natural, species-specific behavior. Since early puppyhood, dogs show signs of a profound urge to seek the sensation gained through chewing. Chewing feels good to teething puppies, and as dogs reach adolescence, they may go through a so-called “ second teething stage.”
Chewing behaviors are quite common in dogs, especially in high-energy dog breeds. Great Danes were selectively bred to be exceptionally tall for the purpose of hunting down large animals such as bear, boar and deer. Later on, their imposing looks made them great guardians of estates and carriages.
Although today, Great Danes are mostly used for companionship, their energy levels, coupled with their need to have a “job,” may cause their desire to chew to persist, especially if they lack sufficient mental stimulation.
Chewing plays a role in explorative behavior; in a nutshell, it satiates a dog’s curiosity. Dogs may seek novel items or items of certain textures. If bored, random items may be chewed, whether in the presence or absence of the owner. The chewing helps satisfy a dog’s cravings for play and exploration.
Chewing is known to yield benefits to a dog’s teeth and gum health, causing dogs to be naturally drawn to chewing.
In the wild, wild dogs and wolves are known for chewing bones, and chewing anything that grabs the dog’s attention may be a behavioral substitution for bones.
On top of this, dogs gain enormous enrichment by chewing and dissecting objects, whether they are toys or not.
Some cases of chewing may sometimes be triggered by an underlying medical problem, such as gastrointestinal irritation or some form of dental/gum pain.
Chewing as an Emotional Outlet
While chewing is considered a natural, instinctive behavior, in some cases, there may be some underlying emotional problems at play that may require intervention.
For instance, we sometimes see increased chewing when dogs are anxious, frustrated, or seeking attention. Some dogs even engage in compulsive chewing, and some others may do so as a result of medical conditions or nutritional deficiencies.
The items the dog chews and the context in which the chewing takes place can provide some clues about the dog’s underlying emotions.
In separation distress, the dog will typically chew items in the absence of the owner when the dog is left alone. Commonly chewed items are located in the area the owner exits and may include door mats, screens, blinds, door frames and window sills. As mentioned, drywall may be a target, too, if the dog feels that it's separating him/her from reaching his owner.
With noise phobias, dogs chew when exposed to sounds they fear, and even in this case, the chewing may be targeted to objects or exit points as the dog desperately tries to escape the sound.
Confinement anxiety may cause dogs to chew anything that confines them, such as the bars of a crate, doors or other parts of the crate in hopes of escaping it. The possibility of separation distress will need to be teased out.
Chewing for the purpose of escaping yards may be seen in dogs prone to roaming, especially in intact male dogs.
In generalized anxiety, the dog chews just about anything as a coping mechanism.
In cases of compulsive behaviors, dogs will chew excessively and may chew their own legs to the point of causing wounds. There’s an anxiety component at play in compulsive behaviors.
Dogs who chew and ingest non-edible items may sometimes suffer from a medical problem or nutritional deficiencies.
When seeking attention, the chewing takes place in front of the owner in hopes of garnering attention. For some dogs, even the mere fact of their owners making eye contact and talking to them (even if to scold them) qualifies as attention.
Some dogs may get a kick out of grabbing an item and chewing it in front of their owners in hopes of being chased around in a fun keep-away game.
When frustrated due to being bored and under-stimulated, a dog may choose to chew any objects that pique his/her interest and provide entertainment.
Chewing and destructive behaviors are not done out of spite or for revenge. Studies have shown that dogs who "act guilty" are simply reacting to our angry or frustrated body language.
Can a Dog Be Completely Stopped From Chewing?
Since dogs, like other animals, need to perform natural behavior patterns, chewing is a behavior that cannot be stopped altogether or be totally removed from a dog’s behavior repertoire. What we can do instead is provide them with legit outlets for their chewing needs.
Do Adolescent Dogs Chew a Lot?
During adolescence, dogs undergo dramatic hormonal changes along with the reorganization of the brain’s neural circuitry. As it happens in humans, this is a time when dogs undergo several behavior changes that dog owners often find challenging.
The second teething stage in adolescent dogs takes place between the ages of 5 and 12 months, which is when the dog’s permanent teeth come in. Think of it in terms of a human teenager getting his/her wisdom teeth in. It simply feels good to chew and exercise those jaws!
During this time, your dog may appreciate some durable chew toys, but it's important to practice caution as some very hard chews can cause fractured teeth.
We often forget that adolescents go through a second “teething” stage, and that during this time we must provide appropriate chew toys to keep the dog from developing a taste for more expensive item."
— Sarah Whitehead, Adolescent Dog Survival Guide
Should You Punish a Dog Who Is Engaging in Destructive Chewing?
Getting upset at the dog for chewing something may cause a dog to learn to chew items when the owner is absent or not actively watching. This sneaky form of chewing can obviously be extra risky for dogs who like to chew electrical wires!
There is also no point in punishing a dog after the fact. If we come home and get upset with our dog for finding proof of something that was chewed minutes or hours earlier, the dog won’t understand what she’s being punished for, and this risks increasing a dog’s mistrust in us, confuses the dog and may aggravate any underlying anxiety.
There is really no point in using punishment for a natural behavior like chewing. Research has found several reasons why punishment methods are not worth it and may actually backfire.
Chewing is ultimately a natural behavior that is inherently rewarding and will likely persist in some way or another despite the use of punishment. Management and training that focuses on teaching our dogs what we would like them to do instead is the best option.
A Dog Who Is Chewing on a Kong Can't Be Chewing Anything Else!
Tip: Freezing a Kong with its contents provides a longer-lasting distraction.
Are Taste Deterrents Effective to Stop Chewing?
What do Tabasco, vinegar and hot sauce have in common? These products are often used by dog owners as taste deterrents. Some of these are very spicy and can cause digestive upset. There are safer commercial taste deterrents such as Bitter Apple Sprays or Bitter Yuck, but do they really work?
While several dogs may be deterred from chewing objects sprayed with these products, on top of being messy and requiring multiple applications, they're not always entirely effective, and as mentioned, some dogs even like the taste!
In the case of wires, since water conducts electricity, spraying them can pose a safety hazard if the wires are already frayed or damaged due to previous chewing.
Due to the 'iffy results" in stopping dogs from chewing, coupled with these safety concerns, it's best to rely on more effective preventive measures (like barriers and confinement).
The Advantages of Using a Holistic Approach
The good news is that as dogs get trained and grow into mature adults, they may find things like the drywall less appealing and may eventually give up chewing on them, just as they outgrow chasing and grabbing at their tails.
What seems to work best is to use a holistic approach. By making the wires difficult to access, or even better, impossible to reach, while leaving out food dispensing toys or long-lasting edibles that just beg to be chewed on, your dog is kept safe and capable of only making good choices.
On top of this, by providing your Great Dane with more exercise and mental stimulation, you fulfill her needs, and by teaching her the "leave it" and "drop it" cues, you have a backup plan in case she still happens to grab something she shouldn’t have.
This multi-pronged, holistic approach ultimately offers a win-win solution for all! Happy training!
References
- Asher Lucy, England Gary C. W., Sommerville Rebecca and Harvey Naomi D.2020Teenage dogs? Evidence for adolescent-phase conflict behaviour and an association between attachment to humans and pubertal timing in the domestic dog Biol. Lett
- Kobelt, A. J., Hemsworth, P. H., Barnett, J. L., et al. The behaviour of Labrador retrievers in suburban backyards: the relationships between the backyard environment and dog behaviour. Appl Anim Behav Sci. 2007
- Blackwell's Five-Minute Veterinary Consult Clinical Companion: Canine and Feline Behavior, Second Edition
- PetMD: Electrocution in Dogs
- Mazzaferro, E. M. Blackwell’s five-minute veterinary consult clinical companion. Small Animal Emergency and Critical Care. Ames, IA: Wiley-Blackwell. 2010
- Feline Electrocution. Daniel Armstrong. Class of 2018. Clinicopathologic Conference. February 2, 2018. CPC Advisor: Dr. Marc Seitz. DVM, DABVP
If your puppy or dog shows signs of potential aggression (lunging, barking, growling, snapping, biting), please consult with a dog behavior professional for direct in-person guidance. Articles, videos, and general information provided online are not meant to replace in-person training/instruction. By using this service, you are waiving any liability claims or other types of claims related to any of your dogs' behaviors against you or others.
© 2024 Adrienne Farricelli CPDT-KA, Dip.CBST
