LAUSR

Abstract Chewing is a behavioural element of feeding, but dogs also chew on or dissect non-edible items. This can cause considerable problems to owners if directed at household objects. Nevertheless, the provision of chewing material, associated risks and relationships with chewing behaviour and other owner-dog activities have not been investigated so far. The aim of this online survey was to explore how dog owners manage the chewing behaviour of their dog and whether there are relationships to other owner-dog interactions. Of our self-selected participants (1439 filled in the entire questionnaire), 94 % provided their dogs with edible chewing material (e.g., rawhide, dried innards, meat), 83 % provided inedible chew toys, 73 % provided chew toys filled with food and 51 % provided hard chewing material (e.g. wood, antlers). Edible materials were provided four to six times a week by the average dog owner. Regarding risks, 67 % of respondents stated that their dog never had a problem caused by the use of chewing material, whereas veterinary treatment due to a problem with chewing material was reported by 3.6 %. Chewing daily on soft household objects was observed in 2.5 % of dogs (other common objects for daily chewing: resting places 2.2 %, clothes/shoes 1.4 %); dogs up to one year of age did this more frequently (p