Why does my dog get in the trash and chew my shoes?!?

I am a medical student. But I have learned this stuff of chewing up while I was studying ethology. I have a German Shepherd, but it has never done anything like this. You can train your dog too, but first we need to know the reasons... The first and foremost reason is that the dog simply is not getting adequate nutrition which it requires. My cousin, a vet had also told this to me. Make sure that your dog is getting enough nutrition, you can analyze it by doing nutritional tests with your vet. Chewing can become life threatening in pups and young dogs, so I think your 3 year old pitbull needs care.. I have heard that young dogs naturally chew a lot because they are still teething. So no worries if your dog is young. 'Young' can actually depend on the breed. I am no vet, so I don't know about pitbulls. Actually, in young ones, this activity helps enormously. Next problem for this relentless chewing and garbage browsing is anxiety and even loneliness. Dogs are social creatures like humans, you must keep them happy.I had learned this in my ethology classes To counter this, I guess you need some "Kong" type toys; or even a "Bite a Bone" might do. Pups must chew for healthy teeth, so it's better to give some toys for them to chew on... or you could also give some old shoe to play with. That'll fix it! Regards, Ajith.

Dogs don't think of right or wrong, they just form habits and unless you spend many hours working with them or can make your shoes distasteful to her she will continue to try to chew them. There is nothing personal about this, she just wants to continue her habit. She may in fact be doing this out of love for you, your shoes smell of you and she just wants to be close to you.

Chewing and garbage checking is a sign of anxiety. Your dog learned how to open the door simply because is checking for companion. Chewing on shoes can be stopped by introducing chewable toys, that I believe Pitbull needs very badly. Please don't yell on the dog. Your dog is shaking in the corner, because it is afraid to be punished.

Hi, I used to have dogs too but not a pitbull. Most of my dogs ate my shoes and I can't find the way to stop them. So, I bought some balls or toys for them and then they cut down a little bit from chewing my shoes... About trash is their habit, they love messy not like cat. They will dig out the trash or dig out your dirt if you let them outside for too long. However, you dog might be bored... or need some other to play with while you are out. So, if you are interest to have another one then it might help.

My dog has never done that before until my hubby's dad ruined my dog... he fed him people's food and let him lick his flavored fingers after eating, basically, he just wants my dog likes him and follows him, what a j**k. Anyway, he has been doing that after what my hubby's dad did to him, always look for stuff from the rubbish bin, sniff it and waits next to it, all I could do is say NO loud and wag him a little bit so that he knows it is wrong. The other thing is he likes to grab my slippers too, I think he just wants my attention by doing that, also I tell him NO and give him his own toy so he knows what he should be playing with.

You are her master, so she feels obligated to chew on your shoes. Mu suggestion would be to spray them with a bitter apple as dogs don't like it at all. The only thing aout it is, it doesn't last very long, but it might just last long enough, she will leave them alone. You need to be consistent with her as it will only confuse her if you continue to let her chew on them. My dogs will pick up my slippers, but right away I correct the bad behavior and they walk away from them. Oh, they will try it again later, and I do the same thing again. If you are consistent long enough, the dog will get the message that she isn't supposed to touch your shoes. Andou need to break her from getting into the trash too. You might start by putting it up where she can't reach it while ou are gone. See if that works. Then slowly put it back down, and see what she does. She might eventually realize that she isn't totouch it and will leave it alone. I am not an authority, but I would try these things nad see what happens. Well, good luck with you dog, and happy mylotting.