Chihuahuas are absolutely adorable pets and like many other dogs, they have a tendency to nibble or chew on something they like to. You might often find that blankets are something that your Chi chooses most for nibbling. You might also find it nibbling on clothes, toys, sofa, chair, or anything that looks soft.
So, do you know why does your Chihuahua nibble on blankets? Well, one of the most common reasons for your Chihuahua to nibble on blankets is out of boredom or anxiety. Also, stress, fear and uncomfortable situations also cause such behavior. Also, allergies, teething pain, wound pain, hormonal imbalances, and parasitic problems can cause compulsive nibbling for your Chihuahua.
Have you ever wondered why your Chi is always trying to nibble on something? Have you tried to discover the reasons for its discomfort? Well, I have tried to bring out some facts and solutions that might help you prevent such behaviors from your Chihuahua.
7 Possible Reasons: Why does your Chihuahua Nibble on blankets?
Sometimes your Chihuahua can show affection through nibbling, gentle chewing, and mouthing. But, other reasons like anxiety and stress can also cause such behavior. So, it is better to figure out the actual reasons for your Chi to nibble on blankets.
Is Your Chihuahua Dealing With Some Teething Issues?
Your Chihuahua at an early stage (in the first six months) can nibble excessively on blankets due to teething. Teething can cause your puppy to feel discomfort and itch. And they try to relieve it by chewing or nibbling on things such as blankets.
Chihuahua Teething Symptoms:
Your Chihuahua might be having teething if it shows symptoms like these:
- Small baby teeth: You often find signs of your Chi’s adorable tiny little teeth when you look around.
- Blood spots on toys: While trying to ease the pain caused by teething, chewing on toys, your Chihuahua discharges blood.
- Lots of drooling: Teething Chihuahuas often drool more and you can see more saliva than the usual from their mouth.
- Even more chewing: Your teething Chihuahua tries to relieve the pain by chewing. You can give them chew toys and keep them away from destroying anything by chewing.
- Sore gums: Your teething Chihuahua will get inflamed and red gums and look really sore.
- Change in behavior: Your Chi puppy will be in pain from time to time and might even try to irritate you.
- Mild fever: Your Chi can face mild fever during this time.
- Misaligned teeth: Your Chihuahua can have a bit of a redneck look at the two teeth sitting together. This can happen until the milk tooth falls out.
Is Your Chihuahua Stressed or Anxious?
If your Chihuahua is stressed or anxious, then it can be more prone to nibbling. Like every other dog breed, Chihuahuas to have a different stress level. When your Chi is in distress, nibbling is its way to keep calm and relieve the stress.
Chihuahua Stressed or Anxious Symptoms:
There are some signs that might help you figure out if your Chihuahua is too stressed out, such as:
- Your Chi has a change in their appetite.
- Your Chi has lost weight loss or has faced other health issues.
- It’s being unusually quiet or even depressed.
- Your Baby Chi is showing destructive behaviors like chewing on furniture or clothing
- You find increased whining, whimpering, or barking from your Dog.
- It has become more clingy to you.
- Your mutt shows reluctance to potty in their normal spot, or peeing and pooping in the house suddenly.
- You find that your Chi is licking or chewing at themselves.
- Your Chi is showing aggressive behavior.
Is Your Chihuahua Hungry?
Hunger is one of the reasons related to your Chi’s chewing blanket and sheets. Well, sometimes, chewing and biting can seem adorable but you shouldn’t take the risk. Especially when your dog is getting older.
When your Chi runs all day, it is very normal to be tired and hungry. If it becomes hungry, it feels uneasy and tries to bite anything that is nearby. So, you should take this as a sign of hunger. If you find that your Chi is hungry, then do one thing. Please try to feed them immediately before everything goes worse.
What to do?
Apart from feeding them immediately, there are some things you can try as well:
- Don’t treat the signs of hunger as personality traits.
- Try to divert your Chi’s attention somewhere else.
- Try to give your dog some high-fiber food.
- Try to feed your Chi some vegetables which not only are good for their health but also will keep them full for some time.
Is Your Chihuahua Bored?
Sometimes, when your Chihuahua is bored, it can become lazy or disinterested. If you see that your Chihuahua isn’t showing interest in her favorite thing, like a toy/game/show, that means something is wrong. At these times, they can also demand your attention by barking or whining.
Symptoms To Match If Your Chihuahua Is Bored:
- Barking: Your Chi may bark at the world outside his window, whether it’s at the stranger at the door, or an insect, etc.
- General Mischief: Your bored Chi can try to create his own fun by turning your house up and down as a form of play.
- Destructive Chewing: To your Chi, chewing is fun! But if not controlled properly, it can cause more harm.
- Escaping: Your Chi can get bored quickly when left by itself in the same old enclosed space and try to flee that place.
- Hyper Greetings: If your Chi has been bored all day, then having its favorite person come home could cause all that pent-up energy to explode.
Is Your Chihuahua Dealing With Allergic Problems?
You might have noticed your Chihuahua licking, scratching, or chewing himself excessively. Sometimes this could be a sign that your dog is suffering from allergies and allergies are one of the most common chronic diseases in Chihuahuas. Your Chihuahua can develop allergies seasonally or can face them year-round.
Symptoms To Match If Your Chihuahua Is Dealing With Allergic Issues:
Here are some common symptoms of an allergic reaction from your Chi:
- Severe itching
- Scratching
- Excessive hair loss
- Skin redness
- Skin inflammation
- Dry, flaking skin
- Sneezing
- Runny eyes
- Rubbing face with paws
- Paw licking
- Whining/whimpering
- Reverse sneezing
- Scooting bottom across the floor
- Secondary skin and ear infections
Also, in case of food allergies, your Chihuahua may also face gas, diarrhea, constipation, vomiting, and slowed growth.
Is Your Chihuahua Suffering from Hormonal Imbalances?
If your Chihuahua is having hormonal imbalances, then it can cause a variety of issues it. Dogs are prone to hormonal imbalances like humans, and sometimes, the effects can be equally troubling.
Symptoms To Match If Your Chihuahua Is Suffering from Hormonal Imbalances:
You should try making an appointment at the vet clinic if your Chi exhibits any of the following signs of hormonal issues.
- Skin problems, such as hair loss or recurrent infections,
- Increased drinking and urinating
- Weight loss or weight gain
- Weakness and lethargy
- Excessive panting
Is Nibbling An Instinctive Behavior Of The Chihuahua Dog Breed?
For your Chihuahua, nibbling on something with its front teeth is an instinctive behavior, especially for puppies. This is not only an instinctive behavior but also is one of the most common teething behaviors. Your Chi tries to do anything that could help relieve the pain of teething.
If your Chi puppy is nibbling on you for whatever reasons, you should purchase some dog chew toys. The chew toys can help your puppy through the teething process.
What to do?
Try to show your dog that you are hurt by its nibbling by giving some reactions. Which should work as a message to him that such behaviors aren’t welcome. When your dog stops nibbling, praise it by giving gentle pats on the back.
You can try to purchase chew toys that hopefully will distract your dog from nibbling on you. Because the chew toys will give your dog something else to focus on.
Is It Bad For Chihuahua Pups To Nibble On Blankets?
Although it is normal for your Chihuahua to chew and nibble, it is something that you should not encourage at all. You should try to figure out why Chihuahuas nibble on blankets and whether nibbling is a good thing or not. To stop your Chi from nibbling, you should try to avoid putting your Chi in stressful situations.
Try to make your dog as comfortable as possible and show your love for it. It is better for you to show your Chihuahua affection and love every single day. In this way, it will grow to become a happy and well-adjusted canine that loves everyone.
Why Do Chihuahuas Like Blankets?
Have you ever wondered why Chihuahuas go under blankets? Well, your Chi often tries to burrow itself into blankets due to its natural instinct to hide, sleep, and relax in small spaces. And it makes them feel safe.
Chihuahuas Like To Sleep under a blanket
Have you ever tried to figure out why your Chi likes to sleep under blankets? Well, dogs like Chihuahuas have got a thin coat and it feels cold very easily. So it tends to sleep under covers to maintain body temperature. In fact, it’s typical behavior of chihuahuas. Moreover, it can be caused by their childhood traits and health problems.
Since chihuahuas like to sleep under covers most of the time, as an owner, you should keep that in mind.
Chihuahuas Like to hide under blankets
As a small animal, Chihuahuas become easy targets for predators. So, for them, it was important to learn how to hide from bigger animals. This, when your Chi is fearful of something, it tends to hide under blankets.
To your Chi, the area under the blanket kinda works as a den or a cave. And they feel safe there. Also, your clothes and blanket carry your smell. And your smell always makes it comfortable when your Chihuahua is hiding under blankets.
Chihuahuas like to chew on blankets
You as a Chi owner might often have wondered why Chihuahuas chew on blankets. Your Chi may chew on blankets for several reasons, including anxiety, teething, hunger, etc. You should know that blanket chewing is a very common behavior and it can be stopped by taking the necessary steps.
You can buy chew toys, chew-proof blankets, chewing deterrent spray, etc. This should help them to decrease chewing on blankets. But, if things get too serious, make sure to get your pup checked by a vet in case you need to take any necessary actions.
Chihuahuas Like to dig in blankets
Do you know why chihuahuas dig in blankets? Well, Chihuahuas digging in blankets is something very common. Your Chi can get very cold in a house as it doesn’t have much body fat. So, your Chi is more likely to get cold than furrier or fatter dogs.
The best way for your Chi to stay warm is to bury themselves in a blanket or something similar. As an owner, you should pay attention to this. Your Chi’s fur and body fat are naturally adapted to keep cool in their native climate, Mexico which is a warm place. That’s why they can struggle to stay warm enough during wintertime.
How To Stop Your Chihuahua Harming Your Blankets?
For your Chihuahua, chewing is a natural behavior. There can be different reasons for them to keep on chewing. There are a few things that you can do to stop or reduce this habit of your Chihuahua:
- Pick up any loose objects that your dog might chew on: You can give your dog shoes, children’s toys and clothing so that it doesn’t hesitate to chew on anything within her reach.
- Treat objects that can’t be moved with a deterrent spray: For objects that can’t be moved, use deterrent sprays that are extremely bitter and add an unpleasant taste to stationary objects.
- Provide the dog with a wide array of chew toys: Give your puppy some chew toys to keep it from getting bored.
- Give a teething puppy ice cubes to soothe gum pain: You can use ice cubes to soothe the gum pains of your Chi.
- Crate your dog when you are unable to closely monitor her behavior: Give your puppy plenty of toys to keep it busy until you return home.
- Take your dog to the veterinarian for a check-up: If there’s an issue due to excessive chewing, a qualified veterinarian is the best person to advise you.
- Take a good look at the dog’s environment and lifestyle: Pay attention to your pup’s lifestyle. Sometimes bad habits can be corrected by making rational changes.
- Reward your dog when she is chewing on an appropriate toy: Encourage your dog to chew on toys by giving it some praise.
- Teach your dog the “leave it” command: Teach your dog the “leave-it” command and reward him when he obeys your direction.
Over To You
So, which fact have you liked the most? Are all these something that you already knew of? Or, was there something new that has helped you?
Have you tried any technique on your Chi? Which one was more helpful to you? And, which one do you want to try next to identify the reason for your Chihuahua’s nibbling on blankets?
Have I missed anything important? If so, please let me know so that I can update it. Are there any specific topics that you would like me to cover? Please do let me know in the comment section.
If you find this article helpful, please do share it with others.
Thank you!
Further Readings:
Chihuahua Puppy Teething Stages
Related Topics:
1. Why Do Chihuahuas Attach To One Person?
2. Why Do Chihuahuas Bury Things?
