Most individuals know that canine groom themselves and ingest some fur by chance every so often, however what about once they’re consuming your hair? Vacuuming up stray hairs and even chewing the hair in your head is definitely head-scratching conduct out of your canine, and it may be onerous to diagnose why they’re chewing your hair. It could possibly be innocuous, or an indication of a deeper drawback it’s good to deal with. Let’s break down the quite a few potential causes your finest furry pal is nibbling in your hair.
The 7 Causes Your Canine Might Eat Your Hair
1. They’re Bored
First on our listing is easy boredom, which is probably going the most typical cause for canine consuming human hair. Bored canine stick the whole lot of their mouths, and hair has a novel texture that briefly stimulates them. This is perhaps as a result of they’re not getting sufficient train or in the event that they don’t have any stimulating toys round. Simply be sure you attempt to give your canine some further consideration and playtime once you discover recurring hair chewing.
2. They’re Anxious
Simply as in people, repetitive stimming motions like chewing assist soothe anxious or scared pups. Bones, rawhide, and different powerful dog-safe chewables are finest to fulfill this urge. When your canine is anxious and begins consuming hair, it’s best to gently redirect them to an appropriate toy. In the event that they interact with it in any method, give them heavy reward and a high-value deal with, as this helps rewire their mind to seek for that toy as an alternative of chewing on hair when scared.
3. They’re a Pet
Early in life, puppies have the enjoyment of discovering the world, and even essentially the most mundane objects appear magical or mysterious to their eyes. Hair has a novel texture and smells such as you, so it actually shouldn’t be any surprise why your new pet is interested in chewing your hair, whether or not it’s on you or elsewhere in your house. Usually, they develop out of consuming issues like hair, at the least in extra. In the event that they don’t, agency however mild redirection and constructive reinforcement are your finest instruments.
4. They Need Consideration
Canine catch on quick relating to doing stuff that will get our consideration, together with undesirable conduct like consuming hair. In the event you reliably give your canine consideration once they eat hair, even damaging consideration, that may gas future hair consuming. To interrupt the behavior, schedule extra frequent walks or outings to bond together with your canine. Even when you don’t exit exercising, spending high quality time by way of coaching or simply hanging out can go a great distance towards mitigating the problem.
5. They’re Hungry
Canine aren’t the perfect at telling edible from inedible, and when starvation strikes, almost something vaguely food-looking is honest recreation. Sure, even hair. A bit hair received’t harm their stomachs, nevertheless it’s not good for them to eat. To discourage hair chewing due to starvation, we advise formulating a mealtime routine to maintain your canine full and fewer more likely to graze for natural matter like hair.
6. They Have Pica
Excluding boredom and attention-seeking conduct, pica is a potential cause why your canine is consuming hair. Pica is a catch-all time period describing when dogs are compelled to eat inedible objects, usually due to an unidentified well being situation. For instance, IBS and anemia are two potential medical situations that may drive your canine to eat hair or different objects. Whereas tough to pinpoint generally, your vet may help slim down the potential causes to your canine.
7. Hair Chewing Has Been Strengthened
Like individuals however in a extra direct method, canine construct their conduct by way of observing and reacting to stimuli round them. Once they carry out a sure motion like consuming hair and one thing coincidentally good occurs, it may reinforce the issue. This extends to chewing shoes, furnishings, and different harmful habits like digging too.
Conclusion
Dogs do some very weird stuff sometimes, however when you look carefully, you’ll see that they eat hair for all kinds of believable if not comprehensible causes. Boredom is the most typical reason behind hair consuming, and it’s best to rule out behavioral culprits earlier than calling your vet about diagnosing pica because of a medical illness.
Featured Picture Credit score: svetlana_kuznetsova_ph, Shutterstock
