Chewing Problem

I would give your pup more toys and bones to chew on to keep him/her busy. If your pup does this when you are not home you might want to put the pup in a cage when you leave but make it a postive thing. He/ she might get upset when you leave and chew on your house.

Hi A.,

couple of thoughts. You don't say how old your puppy is, or what kind of dog. These two factors (more so the age) can play a role in this kind of behavior. I have owned dogs my whole life and used to manage a pet store. There is a reason your puppy is chewing. You need to figure out what that reason is. for instance, puppies will chew because they are teething, or they are bored (these are ideal conditions - sometimes dogs will have other underlying psychological issues that can cause negative behaviors like this). Give your puppy lots of things to chew on, with different textures; pig ears, rope toys, cow hoofs, Kong toys, etc.

I very highly recommend crate training as well. there are so many positives to giving the dog their own 'bedroom'; it keeps them safe when you are out of the house, it gives them a place to be alone too.

Our dogs would go to their cage after their last trip to go potty at night, without our even asking. they knew it was bedtime and they knew where to go.

I do believe that obedience training is helpful too. It establishes you as the 'pack leader' - PetSmart has classes - check their schedule in your nearest store.

If you have any other dog related questions, I am happy to help. Send me a private message anytime.

Good luck to you! I wish we could have a dog or cat again... my husband is allergic :-( I'm so jealous :)

~J.~

Hi A.,

If you go to PetSmart they have an apple spray that is supposed to help with the chewing. You spray it on the objects that you don't want her to chew and they are supposed to dislike the taste or smell of it. We actually bought it when we got our puppy 2 1/2 years ago and sprayed all the things that we thought she may find interesting to chew, she never did chew anything. We then gave it to our neighbors whose dog liked to chew and it worked for them. You can also try spraying her with a water bottle everytime she starts to chew on something, it startles them and eventually they put together that whatever they are chewing gets them sprayed with the water and if they don't like it they will stop. You just have to be consistant and have patience. Dogs are smart, if they keep getting a negative response when they do something, usually they stop (in time). Your dog might also be chewing because shes bored. When you are home make sure that you are spending enough time playing with her. Puppies have a lot of energy and if they can't release it through play they will fing another activity (like chewing) to release it. A tired puppy is a good puppy. :o)
Hope this helps! Good Luck!

Hi A.,

I have had several puppies throughout my lifetime and my niece and sister in law breed dogs. Their recommendation for me were as followed:

1. Give them plenty of chew toys
2. If they are not being supervised they need to be in their kennel.
3. Puppy obedience school.

good luck,
H. S
Your Wellness Source
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My advice, when you cant watch her, she needs to be in a cage or somekind of enclosed area. When you catch her chewing, tell her to leave it, reward her with a treat.

This is a normal thing for puppies to do. They all go through it and need to be directed to chew something else. DO NOT give him an old shoe as they do not know the difference between old and new shoes and will assume all shoes are up for grabs! Go to the pet store and buy a NYLABONE. They are wonderful and dogs love to chew them. When he chews something else, tell him NO and then give him the nylabone instead. I would recommend a crate for when you are not home. They are not cruel, our dog loved hers--they consider it like a den and sleep in there. Good luck!