Why Does My Dog Bite My Shoes and Slippers?

If you've ended up here it's because your dog has picked up that lovely habit of chewing your house slippers or dress shoes. Something that seems fun at first, but that will end up costing us money.

There are plenty of theories about why a dog bites shoes or house slippers, even flip-flops if you leave them within reach. So let's run through the most important ones and see how we can prevent this behaviour.

Reasons a Dog Bites Slippers

To work out the real reason your dog is biting and destroying your shoes, we need to analyse the situation in depth. Look at these possible situations and see which fits your dog best.

Remember it could be down to a single reason or several, especially if it's a puppy, since puppies tend to bite everything.

Dog biting a house slipper

Boredom at Home

Boredom is the most common reason a dog breaks things at home or even barks, especially when we leave our dogs alone for several hours.

Excess energy combined with a lack of activity makes dogs look for alternatives to have fun and tire themselves out, one of which is chewing things around the house, usually furniture or slippers.

Gum Pain

Although it can affect adult dogs, this problem is generally thought of in relation to puppies. The appearance of milk teeth, or the switch from milk teeth to adult teeth, causes a great deal of gum pain.

Dogs ease this pain by chewing things, usually their toys or any shoes and slippers they come across. Very normal during the teething period, the switch of teeth.

Hunting Prey

Most shoes are made from animal leather, which attracts our dog, since it triggers their hunting instincts. And even if they're not made from leather, if they have laces or something that catches their eye, they'll make the best chew toy.

Dogs can see our slippers as toys or as prey, so the most fun thing will always be to hunt and chew them.

Puppy biting the laces

How to Stop a Dog Biting Shoes?

The truth is that, funny as it may be, it's a nuisance, since shoes usually end up completely ruined. And to be honest, shoes aren't exactly cheap…

The best way to correct this bad behaviour is to scold our dog when we catch them in the act — that is, right at the moment they're biting our shoe or house slipper.

A "No!" and a light correction, such as a light side touch (like in the dog whisperer), is enough. Once they let go of the slipper, we should take it away and give them a chew toy to play with instead.

This way they'll learn what they can bite and what they shouldn't bite. It's a matter of a few days for them to properly learn the lesson and stop biting shoes.

Precautions

Remember that shoelaces can be very dangerous, since if they break them off and swallow them, they could choke or develop serious digestive problems.

Stop your dog playing with laces or objects they could swallow, because they will.

Which Breeds Are Most Prone to Biting Shoes?

You'll be surprised to learn that absolutely every dog breed is prone to biting shoes, furniture or whatever they come across if they're bored, suffering gum pain, or want to play at hunting prey.

Even so, it's puppies especially who are most prone to biting shoes, since that's when their teeth are changing and the well-known gum pain kicks in.

Obviously smaller dog breeds will do less damage than larger breeds, simply through common sense (their teeth are far smaller).