11 Reasons Your Dog Loves To Destroy Their Toys

We’ve all seen the dog shaming photos on social media, showcasing the destruction caused by our loving canines who tore apart their precious toys. Do you ever leave your house only to come back later to a disaster, with your dog sitting idly by as if nothing happened? How about giving your dog toys, and they tear them apart in seconds?

It’s no secret that dogs love their toys, but even so they manage to destroy them. But the behavior is perfectly natural, since your dogs don’t really see toys as toys. For your pup, a brand new, perfectly intact toy is nothing other than a vessel for their primal instincts!

Here are 11 reasons your K9 counterparts love to destroy their toys!

For one, boredom! Dogs get bored, and when they do, they need to entertain themselves, and sometimes, it’s not in a way that you’ll appreciate.

Another reason is we taught them to destroy things. When you get a puppy, the way they aggressively go after their toys is adorable to us, so without knowing it, we tend to encourage it, and this leads to them to continue on the path to destruction.

A dog that can get at his toys all of the time will eventually tear them apart. I mean, what do you really expect? It should instead be a reward rather than something enjoyable that they just get to have because they’re the best and we love them.

We all love those cute plush toys, especially the ones designed for the holidays, because what’s a holiday if we aren’t celebrating with our dogs? But toys are not designed to last forever. They’re designed to be destroyed,  SAFELY , by your dog, since that’s what dogs do.

Your dog is capable of getting  frustrated, and when he/she does, they look for ways to relieve that frustration. For them, destroying something close by can do this, even if it is their precious toy. Stress does the same thing to them, and they can’t express themselves with words, their actions say it all!

To keep toys lasting longer, rotate them to give each individual toy a longer life! (But no promises of toy “immortality” here!

Similar to us training dogs to destroy things while they’re young, they might enjoy the actual act on their own. For us it’s a mess, for them, it’s fun! And it's instinctual.

Similar to boredom, if play time  isn’t interactive  enough or doesn’t burn enough energy. You need to have toys for your dog that make them use their mind, they like to think, and they suffer when you don’t stimulate their brain. Similar to this, if you’re not exercising them, they’re going to find something to get rid of that extra energy.

Our pets can feel what we’re feeling. If we feel bad or worried for them, they know and they catch on. Because of this, more and more dogs are getting  separation anxiety . This is a big reason why dogs destroy toys, but don’t worry, you can train them out of it! Keep working hard, to keep them happy, and teach them that it’s okay to be alone.

Don’t be fooled by your dogs size, even if they’re little, they can still chew with the best of them. A Chihuahua isn’t necessarily going to be happy with a plush, he might need a hard strong toy too! Get toys that work with your dogs personality, and give them toys that work with their chew style.

This is probably the most interesting of all reasons. You know those squeaky toys that your dog goes crazy for? The squeak in the toy is meant to represent a  dying animal , so for them, they’re tearing apart their prey. They’re still descendants of  wolves,  and domestic or not, it’s their natural instinct.