Chewing

I'm outside beginning my observations. I notice that Drap's intending to get food but Oso is present therefore, poor Drap is struggling to eat.  I mentioned this before but I'll say it again Oso doesn't allow Drap to eat anything. Drap begins eating (It's about time) but as soon as he gets the second bite in Oso slams him on the ground beside the dog food. I step in and begin chasing Oso off of Drap with a broom. I take into consideration that Oso is getting exhausted because I continuously block him anytime he gets too close to Drap so we go back and forth. I believe Oso took  the hint  (he can't get near Drap as long as I'm present), because now he took off with a wooden stick and into Drap's dog house he goes. It seems as if he's throwing a tantrum. I'm letting him because I would do the same if I were in his situation. He didn't get what he wanted so he's isolating himself the typical immature move. I'll let him be for a few minutes now lets see what Drap is up to. 

Drap is currently at a corner in our backyard where the wooden logs are located and he seems fairly distracted by the logs. I say he seems distracted because his eyes are set directlyon the log he is biting and no where else. I wonder why these two dogs are so fascinated by biting logs? This makes me think about them being in doors and how they would bite our furniture. It's a great thing that they're outside dogs. Since they have been doing this  (biting logs) for quite sometime now I've decided to do a little research on the motives for them chewing on wood. I'm on the website dogdaycare.com and I just came across a sentence that begins answering my question. It states that chewing is a natural behavior for dogs (Amy Brantley). This makes sense because dogs like humans need to have some type of behavior in order to investagate this world. Although dogs may demonstrate getting to know the world with different behaviors they still manage to and chewing on wood is one way, "...Dogs investigate the world with their mouths." Now that I've figured out that getting familiar with the world is a contributing factor for both of my dogs chewing on wood I want to figure out ways to prevent this. Yes my dogs may enjoy gnawing on wood but I'm aware of this being unhealthy. For this being, I continued reading and learned that providing chew treats and dog toys will eventually substitue their wood chewing habits. "The key is correcting your dog when she [or he] chews on wood, but praising her [or him] whe she [or he] chews on her [or his] toys," (Amy Brantley). 

Works Cited

"Amy Brantley: What Causes Puppies and Dogs to Chew Wood?." TED. n.d. Web. 2 Nov. 2014.