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Dog Training Article's
Name: Dealing With Your Dog's Chewing
By Jan Gribble © 2001
Puppies start to lose their puppy teeth around four months of age. By seven months your puppy should have a full set of adult teeth. During this period of time the chances are good that your puppy will experience some discomfort and try to alleviate that pain by chewing on things. Chewing is a normal behavior for dogs. Instead of discouraging your puppy from chewing, redirect his chewing to appropriate items.
Puppies should not be allowed the run of the house unsupervised while they are teething. It is your responsibility to ensure that the items your puppy chews on are acceptable and to do that you need to be supervising your puppy in the house. If your puppy begins to chew on a piece of furniture or other inappropriate object, simply tell your puppy 'no' or use a verbal correction such as 'aah' and redirect your puppy by calling your puppy to you. You can then reward your puppy's correct behavior by giving your puppy something different to chew on. Praise your puppy for chewing on appropriate items.
The objects you choose for your puppy to chew on should be safe. Don't use plastic items which might be fragmented and swallowed and don't allow your puppy to chew on old shoes if you don't want him chewing on new shoes.
You want to have about three different chew items available for your puppy. This ensures that whenever your puppy has a craving to chew, something will be handy for him to chew on. Too many different items may lead your puppy to believe that everything is a potential chew toy which is just the opposite of what you are trying to teach.
While some dogs won't chew much at all after they stop teething, it is more common that young adolescent dogs go through a second phase of heavy chewing, usually around one to two months after they stop teething until about eighteen months. If you have already taught your puppy what is and isn't a chew toy, this period of chewing will be much easier to control as long as you have appropriate chew toys on hand to satisfy your dog's chewing habit.
While puppies most often chew to relieve the discomfort of teething, adolescent and adult dogs chew for different reasons. Dogs chew to relieve anxiety and boredom and can also be inadvertently taught that chewing inappropriate items generates attention (even though the attention may be negative). Chewing is a normal behavior for dogs. Instead of discouraging your dog from chewing, redirect his chewing to appropriate items.
If you have a destructive chewer, the first step is to ensure that the dog does not have unsupervised access to your house. You can either crate your dog when you are not home or "chew-proof" a laundry room.
Also remember that you while you want to have appropriate items available for your dog to chew on, you don't want your dog to believe that everything in your home is a potential chew toy. Only leave a maximum of three chew items out for your dog at any given time. You can rotate which chew items you leave on a weekly basis.
Prevention is the simplest solution to chewing inappropriate items - keep your shoes and clothing picked up and safely put away from your dog. If your dog chews on furniture you can try using a deterrent such as Bitter Apple™, Tabasco sauce, the juice from jalapeno peppers, etc. applied on the furniture. For this to work you must first teach the dog that the product is an aversive. This is done by applying the product directly into the dog's mouth so that the dog has an immediate negative connection between the smell and taste of the product. Only use products that are safe to put directly in your dog's mouth. When using a deterrent, remember that you will have to reapply it on a regular basis until the dog stops trying to chew on the furniture.
Anytime you see your dog heading for a piece of furniture or chewing on something inappropriate, call your dog to you and offer an appropriate chew item. If your dog has already started to chew on the furniture, distract your dog with a verbal "aah" or a shake can tossed near, not at, your dog. Again, call your dog to you and offer an appropriate chew item. If your dog doesn't come when called, leave a long line or leash on your dog so that you can use the line or leash to enforce the come command. A leash or long line should never be left on an unsupervised dog. |
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