Digging, scratching and burying are the natural habits of dogs. Sometimes they are excited, and sometimes they are stressed. To make themselves comfortable, they scratch the floor with their paws. Excessive scratching may leave scuffs and dents on your floors, which can look awkward and cost you to repair. For those looking for the reasons for the scratching habit in your furry friend, we are representing this blog post: Why do dogs scratch the floor? In this article, we will discuss in detail all possible reasons the dogs scratch the flooring in Dubai. At the end, we will give you the possible solutions for dog lovers to stop their pooch’s scratching behaviour.
Causes For Dogs Scratching the Floor
In the beginning, the scratching behaviour looks normal, but when it exceeds, it might cause problems not only to your floor but to your dog’s health too. It is necessary to know why dogs scratch. This way, you can detect the problem from the start and manage it accordingly. Let’s discuss the reasons one by one.
Instinct/Natural Habit
You might have observed that dogs dig the surface with their sharp paws. They usually do this to prepare their place for sitting or resting. This behaviour came from their ancestors. As their father or mother did that, they have learnt this from their parents. This is quite normal. Tarriers, Yorkies & Huskies often scratch more than other breeds because of their instinct.
Boredom
Your puppy is getting bored; it could be the first reason for scratching. Sometimes, when you have a new puppy, being alone, it gets bored very soon. It may take a few days to become familiar with you or the other animals at home. Similarly, the dogs seeking the attention of their owners start scratching the floor as they want a response from the owner. A retriever & German Shepherd often scratch the floor when they get bored.
Excitement Stress/Anxiety
Excitement or stress are the reasons for scratching in some dogs. Lack of feed or unavailability of their favourite feed makes them aggressive. Fireworks or thunderstorms with lightning scare them. Because of this danger, they become unhappy, scared and stressed. To get them out of this danger, they show an anxious response to threats by scratching the floor. This way, their anxiety or frustration is settled, and they feel good.
Health Problems
Some breeds, like the Retriever, the Bulldog, Boxers, and Beagles, start scratching more when they get sick with allergies or infections. Sick puppies scratch the floor as they feel restlessness. Dogs with pain, respiratory infections, or age-related medical issues are compelled to scratch the floor for comfort.
Marking Behaviour
Marking is one of the natural habits of dogs to set their territory and nesting area. They have sweat glands in their paws, which release scent while scratching or digging on the floor. This scent will inform other dogs of their presence in a particular place.
Nail-Filing or Cleaning
When dogs’ nails grow long and need filing, they feel uncomfortable while carrying on their usual activities. To relieve the pressure on their nails to their comfort level, they start scratching the floor. Similarly, if something gets stuck to their paws or they get dirty too much after feeding or wandering, then scratching will help them to keep their claws free of any sticky things or dirt.
Breeding Season
During breeding, the dogs have the habit of nesting to make them feel safe and protective. So, if your canine friend is in breeding season, it will show scratching behaviour.
Expert Tips to Avoid Dog Scratching
Here are the useful tips for the pet owners who want to keep their stylish parquet flooring protected from pet damage.
1. Offer Them A Comfortable Bed
Giving your dog a comfortable and cosy area for resting and napping will help reduce boredom or restlessness. Offering their favourite toy in their bedding area will be an added element for keeping them busy and relaxed. Special beds provide a comfy place compared to the spc flooring, which becomes cool in winter. Raised beds will give them a den-like feel, so keep this in mind when purchasing a new bed for your pet.
2. Engage Them With Exercise
For high-energy dogs, you need to offer extra time for play and walks to utilise this energy. Increase their exercise, which makes them happy and healthy, too. Daily playful activities, including walk times, are the best ways to help your canine friend manage frustration or excitement.
3. Bring New Toys For Entertainment
Engaging your dog with toys will help with their physical growth and help settle stress-related issues. Puzzle toys stimulate their minds and keep them busy, diverting the destructive behaviour to a healthy activity. Chew toys made of recycled materials will help the dogs with excessive scratching & digging.
Many other toys, including rope toys, tough balls, soft toys and frisbees are available in the market. All of these are very useful for entertaining your furry friend and keeping them away from stress and hyperactivity. Moreover, you can offer reinforced rubber balls with a favourite dog treat (peanut butter, a bone or meat) for those with excessive chewing or scratching instinct. This will give a fun & challenging activity side-by-side.
4. Maintain The Cleaning
Clean the pet area regularly to avoid infections or allergies. If you watch your pet marking different places to set their territory, it might be the presence of another dog’s scent that was in that place before. So if you have more than two dogs, then it would be better to maintain the cleaning of their area. The best is to use odour-removing sprays, which are not toxic to dogs.
5. Trim Your Dog’s Nail
When your dog is scratching just to trim their nails, then it would be good to help them out. Trim their nails first by yourself. For this practice, you will need a nail clipper, a rotary snipper or a filer. Professionals train their dogs to wear their nails when they get excessively large to make them comfortable for daily activities.
6. Make Sure Your Dog is Clean
The cleanliness of your dog is the basic solution for keeping your dog calm and healthy. Health-related issues are also the reasons for scratching. When your dog comes back from the garden or outside walk, make sure their claws are clean. Additionally, give them regular baths to avoid infections or allergies.
7. Train Your Dog
Training your dog with the command “leave it” would really help if you want them to stop scratching on the floor. Train them with consistent practice with this command. When it starts scratching the floor, say Leave it. Repeat the process on consistent days. Every time offers his favourite treat. Soon, it gets trained for this command. With time, it would listen to your “leave it” and leave scratching your floor.
8. Seek The Professional Vet
After adopting all the above practices, if the dog is still showing scratching or destructive behaviour, there is a serious health issue. Take it to the vet and follow his recommendations.
Conclusion
Dogs are good companions and need a comfortable living area just like humans. Stress, anxiety, excitement, poor feeding, and medical problems are the reasons your dogs scratch the floor. This makes the flooring appear ugly, and continuous scratching leads to worn-out dents & patches to the floors, which need repair. To get your dogs out of this habit, offer them a comfy place, keep them clean and offer them good feed, chewable and treat toys. In case of serious issues, contact your vet for special treatment
