March 18, 2024

Our year old Dutch Shepherd mix takes soft toys and grinds them between his molars even though he has bones available. Is this normal?

Full Question:
Hey Cindy,

We adopted a Dutch shepherd/mix back in July. He's a little over a year old now, and as more of a medium dog, I'm guessing he's mostly done growing. I'm planning to train him as a running partner in the spring, and at this point, he's doing very well with basic commands and leash manners. The problem I'm running into is that he likes taking the thin parts of his soft toys and grinding them between his molars. Our German shepherd did this with rope toys when we first got her (she was another adoption and was about 1.5 years old), but she grew out of it very quickly. He does it when he's bored, and I'm not sure what to do. He chews his bones throughout the day no problem, and we've started keeping the soft toys put up unless supervised. But today, he discovered the tag for the bathroom rug and started chewing that with a bone less than 2 feet away. Is this normal? Is this something he'll grow out of? Is it something I should worry about? Thanks a bunch for any help!
Cindy
Cindy Cindy's Answer:
Some dogs do this, we have a Chihuahua that does almost the same thing. She loves those soft toys that don't have stuffing and she chews the ears and faces off if we don't supervise her. She's tiny and loves to play tug with us with those fabric/fuzzy toys but if left to her own devices she does exactly what your dog does. I'm not sure why some dogs do this but we have chosen to put all toys that can be chewed up and potentially swallowed away. She's only 4 ½ pounds so I worry about an obstruction if she swallows a chunk of material.

I would pick up toys you know he may like to chew in this manner and put him in a safe area without access to anything that may tempt him when you are unable to supervise.
User Response:
That's great to hear! Thanks for the feedback
Cindy
Cindy Cindy's Answer:
You're welcome, have a great day!

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Expert Dog Trainer Cindy Rhodes
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