Biting

How to Get Dog to Stop Chewing Phone Charger

Your phone’s getting low, so it’s time to plug it in… but you can’t! Your dog is chewing your phone charger again! Why does this keep happening? Why does your dog keep chewing your phone charger? What should you do? What smells will deter a dog from chewing up your phone charger? And can they get hurt biting your phone charger?

Well, don’t worry, because this frustration is all coming to an end. Today, we’re going to answer all of these questions and an additional very important one: how to stop your dog from chewing up your phone charger! Soon, you’ll no longer have to live in fear of the dreaded dead cell phone! Keep reading for our article “How to Get Dog to Stop Chewing Phone Charger.”

Why Does My Dog Keep Chewing My Phone Charger?

How to Get Dog to Stop Chewing Phone Charger

Your dog keeps chewing your phone charger because they’re experiencing anxiety and biting on things releases endorphins that soothe them. They could also be teething (if they’re under six months old) or simply just feeling bored.

But regardless of the reason, this is a behavior that you need to stop immediately. Your dog chewing on phone chargers and its wires could be dangerous both to your dog and your property. Dogs have very strong jaws which can easily break through the charger, allowing your dog to swallow pieces that could become lodged in their intestines.

And if your dog is chewing on your phone charger’s wires, then once they’ve broken through the outer insulation to the electrical cord within, they could severely shock themselves. This could lead to burns around your dog’s mouth, shortness of breath, tremors, seizures, and even death. In addition, they could easily start a house fire.

Under no circumstances should you ever let your dog bite on wires or your phone charger, even if they’re not plugged in or you’re no longer using them. Ignoring or allowing the behavior in any way gives them the idea that it’s acceptable, and soon they’ll also be searching for other items to bite on which also grab your attention and smell like you.

You’ll find your dog is chewing your cell phone, chewing your tablet, or chewing on TV remotes. All of these pose similar safety and health hazards to your dog and your home, in addition to allowing the underlying issue (your dog’s anxiety) to go on unaddressed.

To stop your dog from chewing on phone chargers and similar items, you’ll need to begin using behavioral training right away. Skip to the last section now where we’ll go over how to do that.

What Smells Deter Dogs From Chewing on Phone Chargers?

A smell that deters dogs from chewing on phone chargers is a 50/50 mix of water and distilled white vinegar. Combine them in a spray bottle, spray them on a cloth, then wipe a small amount on the charger and along its wires.

Check to ensure that there’s no breakage on the wires or the charger itself before wiping and if so, replace or repair them first.

You’ll still, however, need to address your dog’s underlying anxiety which is causing them to chew on phone chargers in the first place. Deterring them with this mixture will help (although not all dogs will be stopped), but the problem which was causing it will still be present and will just begin showing itself in other spots.

Skip to the last section now and we’ll explain how you can take care of that using behavioral training.

Can My Dog Get Hurt Biting My Phone Charger?

Your dog can get hurt biting your phone charger. They could easily break through the insulation wrapping to the electrical cord inside and shock themselves, with death being very possible. Even if the worse is avoided, they could be severely and painfully shocked.

Signs of this would be burns around your dog’s mouth, an elevated heart rate, seizures, muscle tremors, and shortness of breath. Your dog could also break the plastic of the charger and swallow pieces, leading to painful intestinal blockages.

How to Stop Your Dog from Chewing Up Your Phone Charger

To stop your dog from chewing up your phone charger:

  1. Keep your phone charger’s wire as elevated and hidden away as possible.
  2. Use clamps so that the wire doesn’t hang loose and stays snug to the wall.
  3. Make sure that your dog has a chew toy so that they have a proper outlet.
  4. Inspect your phone charger and its wires for any damage or breakage and replace or repair if any is found.
  5. Make a 50/50 mix of water and distilled white vinegar in a spray bottle.
  6. Apply this mixture to a cloth, then wipe your charger and its wire down with it.
  7. When you see your dog chewing up your phone charger or sniffing around it, give a calm but firm “no” or “stop” immediately.
  8. Do not clap or yell, as your dog is doing this almost certainly due to anxiety (chewing releases endorphins and soothes them), and responding like this will only make things worse.
  9. Send your dog into a time-out in their crate or a closed-off room with no toys for 10 minutes.
  10. Let them out, then immediately redirect them to their chew toy if you see them sniffing around your charger or its wires again.
  11. When they choose the toy instead, give them pets, praise, a small treat.
  12. Have anyone else in the home also follow these steps.
  13. Be patient and consistent.

These steps will go a long way towards getting your dog to stop chewing up your phone charger and its wire, but you’ll still need to take care of the underlying issue: their anxiety. Failure to do so will just lead to the problem getting worse and continuing to show up in other areas.

And to properly cover that, we should first quickly talk about what makes dogs tick, and has for thousands and thousands of years now. You’ve probably heard before that dogs are pack animals, and that in every pack there is a pack leader.

Well, when your dog responds to anxiety by chewing up your phone charger and other things, they are showing that they don’t fully trust you in this role.

If they did, your dog wouldn’t seek out things to chew on that smell like you. They would trust that you can handle everything and that there’s nothing to be concerned about, even if you’re not home. They would not engage in other types of destructive chewing. And they would happily all of your commands — happily — at all times.

You’ll be better off for obvious reasons, but your dog will be the real big winner here. That’s because you’ll have freed them of all that stress and worry they’re currently lugging around on their little shoulders 24/7.

So it’s an absolute win-win for everyone. Terrific, right?

“Absolutely. So how do I do any of this then?”

You should watch an excellent free video series which is on this very subject — how to be your dog’s pack leader — by a renowned trainer named Dan. In his series, he explains everything you need to know in ways that are very easy to understand and teach to your own dog, and he gets right to the point so that you can start seeing these critical changes in your dog before things get any worse.

Start watching Dan’s free training series now by clicking here. And don’t worry, because no, you’re going to have to yell or be mean. Dan uses only 100% humane and loving training methods at all times. Not just because it’s the right thing to do, but also because it’s the fastest way to achieve permanent changes in your dog’s behavior.

I’m sure you’re ready to stop worrying about your dog biting your phone charger and other things, so I’ll let you get started now. Best wishes with everything, and thank you for reading “How to Get Dog to Stop Chewing Phone Charger.”