can anyone tell me why dogs chew wood?

Question

my miniture yorkie loves to chew bits of wood and will this do him any harm

Answer 1

probably good for the bark

Answer 2

My dog loves wood too. I am very careful with it though because wood can splinter in a dogs mouth. Saying that, wood also is maleable and gets quite soggy when they have been chewing it and I have never actually heard of any problems. Be aware that some wood is treated with chemicals and could make your dog sick.
To be on the safe side I tend to swop bits of wood with safer chews if I catch my dog chewing on a chunk of wood.
Another thing to be aware of is that allowing a taste for chewing wood to develop may end up with a dog that loves to chew chair legs orother parts of furniture.
Chewing is definitely an activity to be encouraged as it will keep your dogs teeth in tiptop condition!

Answer 3

I got 2 reasons for ya:

1) Puppies chew on things because they are teething. They're teeth are growing and they need to chew on stuff a lot in order to help them grow. You're dog will get out of the habit once it matures out of the teething stage. I had a dog that chewed on the walls, doors, chairs, and about everything else! He grew out of it though.

2) If it's not a puppy, then the dog's got some problems! lol

Answer 4

Dogs will chew for a variety of reasons- it cleans their teeth, massages their gums and is fun! It has actually been shown that the act of chewing raises a dog's endorphin levels- this means that chewing makes then happy! Wood is a good, safe thing for them to chew (as long as it's natural- no chemical treatment or nails etc) I am very sorry for the person whose dog got splinters in it's gut but this is practically unheard of, as natural wood tends not to form hard splinters and is soft,especially one chewed. I have known upwards of 30 dogs personally who have always enjoyed a gnaw on a stick, and have never come across this happening to a dog because of wood before. Just use your common sense when you look at the wood your dog chews- do hard splinters come off it when it's broken up? Most dogs spit out all the bits they chew off anyway; mine certainly do.

Answer 5

Long nails can be harbingers for bacteria, especially if they are artificial, but they are good for scratching and beginning those little foil wrapped containers which are so hard to get in to.

Answer 6

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Answer 7

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Answer 8

It certainly can harm the dog!! My dog also liked to chew wood, it led to him getting very sick.... he would chew wood and I didn't notice he was also swallowing some bits of it, the wood splinters perforated his bowel and caused him to bleed internally..... poor dog started vomiting, bloody diarrhea, lethargy, loss of appetite I rushed him too the vet and had to get x-rays etc it cost me over $200 CAN to get him well again and I had to buy medication etc and starve him for 24 hours to let everything pass through... luckily he didnt swallow enough to cause a blockage or he would have had to get surgery. I suggest you stop your dog from chewing ANY wood and make sure to pick up all branches, sticks etc from your yard because it could end up seriously hurting your dog. As for why they chew wood, its because they like to chew and they don't know any better, thay have no idea it could hurt them.... thats where us caretakers come in and make the decisions for them, I can tell you right now the best thing is to NEVER let your dog chew wood under any circumstances because it could endanger the dogs life and end up costing alot of money.

PS it doesnt have to be big pieces of wood the chunks in my dogs bowel were the size of sunflower seeds but they still almost killed him, because they were sharp. At first the vet thought it was pieces of bone but I never gave him bones and once she examined it found out it was tiny sharp pieces of wood... I knew he chewed wood but I had never known the danger if he swallowed even a few pieces. OH my god I cant believe the comment below me... WOOD IS NOT SAFE FOR A DOG TO CHEW!!!! I also thought my dog spit out most of the pieces, and I also have known many dogs that chewed wood I never knew how dangerous it was until it happened to my dog... and by the way the wood my dog was chewing was soft wood from the red pine in my yard, however not all wood is soft ever hear of hardwood? Oak etc.. saliva does not soften any wood enough to help the dog hardwood, softwood doesnt matter its all dangerous... the vet told me they get upwards of 20-25 cases of this per year and I live in a small town.....

Answer 9

Its Instinct - Think of it as an old fashioned tooth brush. But if you want to stop em chewing it you'll have to fill its place with a chewable toy of sort.

There are also sprays you can buy to discourage your dog from chewing items..

Answer 10

I have Yorkie aswell and he chews wood, power rangers,bouncy balls,pencils,pens, cybermen, noses off cuddly toys,footballs. Basically just about anything that belongs to my kids, but he's still alive!!

Answer 11

Most dogs just chew it up and spit it out. It's "something to do".

If you should see some bits of wood in his stool I would not allow him to chew it anymore as if he is ingesting it, it could cause a blockage or a tear.