Does Your Pet Keep Destroying Your Remote Control?

After a long, stressful day handling any number of responsibilities, it can be a relief to grab your digital TV remote control and relax on the couch for a few hours. However, if you’re like many pet owners, this experience can often be marred as you wind up rummaging in your sofa cushions and checking under furniture for said remote. Eventually, you’ll find a stray button or even look up to see your dog watching you guiltily from across the room. It looks like your vision of reclining in front of the TV just disappeared: your pet has destroyed yet another remote. But why are all remotes seemingly destined to wind up as chew toys, and how can you handle this situation?

The answer to the first question involves some basic understanding of pet behavior: all animals, especially dogs, instinctively gnaw, peck and otherwise mangle anything they can find. For this reason, your remote control is instantly fair game to dogs, birds, and other animals, although most pet owners find that their cats are uninterested in the device. However, dog lovers are most likely to have trouble: canines are already notorious chewers, and TV remote controls are appealingly shaped like a bone and smell like their master to boot. Because of this, no-chew sprays and other tactics are unlikely to work. Moreover, every pet owner can likely attest that their pet has a sixth sense for searching out the things you need and will have difficulty replacing as their new chew toy, such as your digital TV remote control.

To try to discourage this, the best thing you can do is keep your pet occupied: chewing and other destructive behavior often occurs when your pet is bored or anxious. Try making sure they have plenty of their own toys and are getting enough attention and exercise. Training or encouraging them to recognize the things they can chew may also be helpful. However, for the best results, you should also try to make your remote and other attractive items less accessible by storing them on a high shelf or in a drawer. This trick will also help you in the long run: after all, if you teach yourself to keep your digital TV remote control in the same place, it will be harder for you to lose it.

However, if your pet has recently destroyed the remote, figuring out how to replace this device can be just as frustrating as discouraging your pet from destroying it. You could invest in universal television remote controls, but most people find that these do not work the same as their original remote. Fortunately, there is an easy way to find the best replacement remote controls: simply look on the back of your destroyed remote for the model number. Using these TV remote codes, you can easily find a device that works for you and your television, allowing you to unwind the way you had originally planned. More on this topic.