Dog destructive behaviour

When it's not a game anymore

Dog destructive behaviour or sign of boredom?

Boredom in dogs often lead to destructive behaviours

Destructive behaviour in dogs can be confusing.  For many years, people tried to punish dogs for these kind of behaviours but results were never what was expected.  This problem often led to dogs being abandoned because of the lack of ressources and understanding of the underlying problem.

But lets start from the beginning where dogs were used to work.  A time where shelters did not or nearly not exist, when dogs were working on the farm, taking their walk everyday with their partners in life.  Unfortunately, times have changed as we all live a more rapid and filled life with less time to take care of their basic needs which are chewing, working and searching for their food.

Boredom is the main cause leading to dog destructive behaviours. It cannot be changed but easily redirected.
Alexandre Tremblay
Designer

Can you stop a dog from being destructive, the answer is no, it’s part of their natural behaviour as is chewing.  But it doesn’t mean it cannot be redirected which is the fun part of it.  You just need to find what he likes and replicate it in a controlled environment.

There are solutions

Your dog likes to dig in the yard, build him a digging pit.  He likes to chew, buy him chew toys or treats that he will be able to work with and chew on.  Now the reason he chews on your shoes is not for fun or to make you mad, it’s because he doesn’t have anything else to chew on.

It all comes down to one thing, keep them occupied.  In zoos, we call it behavioural enrichment. Need some ideas, visit us here…

What's best for my dog

Now that’s the hard part.  We’ll that’s not the easiest question to answer.  It depends on what type of dog you have.  Yes, there are dog types and they all have different needs, we will explore this closer here but to give a brief idea, there are 7 different types of dog breeds from toy to working dogs.  They all have different needs going from digging to chasing including chewing.

When choosing or making a toy for your dog, please make sure it respects those needs and that you use a material which is safe for him.  Many plastics out there are not food safe so make sure to find the right one.  You can learn more about plastics safety here. We made it sure to cover all plastics to ensure your pet gets fun and safe toys.

What about Aïkiou products

Aïkiou products were designed for a destructive behaviour problem.  We were facing the same problem as many dog owners face, solve the destructive behaviour or find Sumo a new place to live.  It just happens that we decided to challenge him, make his life more fulfilled. There were many products out there doing the exact same thing with treats but we decided to use his meal to achieve the same goal.

As much as this might seems weird, there was a perfectly good reason for this.  Using treats require an interaction and it’s only a reward based game.  When you use a meal, your dog controls it and it can help with stress related issues where he can decide when to interact with the game.

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