Puppy Chews Everything

I ditto the cage advice. You can probably find a pretty big one for like $50 and it's well worth it. It just takes time for a puppy to get, just like a child.

All puppies chew, but they must learn or you won't have any shoes or furniture in your house! I used a pop can, with a few pennies in it. Every time puppy was doing something unacceptable, I would shake the can at him. It is loud and scarey to a puppy. He learned pretty quickly. I also used it to train him not to go into certain areas of the house. After he had learned about the noise the can would make, I set one can in the doorway of the forbidden room...he avoided it like the plague! Good Luck!

Angela,

I just wrote you this huge response and somehow it got lost. Ok, here we go again:

Confine puppy in either a crate, in a puppy play pen or a small room when you are unable to watch puppy constantly. Give puppy only safe chewies in puppy's area. When you are able to watch puppy, have puppy drag around his/her leash so that you can get control quickly if puppy gets a hold of something he/she isn't supposed to chew or if puppy jumps on one of the kids. Puppy can't have a choke collar on if he/she is dragging around a leash so if you don't have one already, a nylon or leather buckle type or snap leash will work great.

Cascade Humane Society has a wonderful dog training class void of jerking, yelling and intimidation. It taught me a lot.

Lastly, remember that puppies and dogs love to chew so he/she won't grow out of this. The hard part is getting puppy to chew what is appropriate and to avoid what is not appropriate. Depending on the personality and temperament of the dog, leaving undesirable things alone may be quite a challenge for you to teach him/her, that's why a leash while running through the house is great and confining when you are unable to redirect the undesirable behavior is great. When my dog gets a hold of my shoe and chews it up, I know that it is my fault for either not putting away the shoe or for not watching her. She's a dog and dogs like to chew. My dog, knock on wood, is older and is no longer interested in eating up shoes or our daughter's toys but without reason, could very well decide to eat the couch one day if the desire strikes her. I love her to pieces but realize that if she gets bored or frustrated, she will do something to release that tension if I'm not there to redirect her.

Anyway, best of luck. Kudos to you for taking on a puppy with two little kids! You're much braver than I!! Enclosed is a site of a very good friend of mine who has a ton of free information, ideas and directions to great books on every possibly dog subject you can imagine. She is an animal behaviorist who I've not only known for years but have turned to whenever I've has issues that I just couldn't seem to 'fix' by myself. As dog owners, we're always learning I guess.

http://www.dogtrainingbasics.com/consultations.htm

Hi - I am a puppy owner too. I have a 7month old yellow lab. The best chew toy we have is a KONG blue rubber toy with a hole in the middle. You can fill it with treats and as the dog chews it he is rewarded. You can put peanut butter in it and freeze it. Will keep them happily chewing for hours. They need to chew they are puppies and are teething. Finally crate the puppy when ever you are not in eye contact with them. This is only needed through the teeting time when it is hard for them to resist chewing what ever they find.

Bitter spray was our lifesaver! You can spray it on anything or even right in your dog's mouth to keep him from chewing. Our puppy was even chewing on the drywall, and it stopped that instantly. You can get it at any pet supply store.
~L.

we have a new puppy to and she like to chew stuff to we love are kong ball you can't destroy it when you catch him chewing something tap her on the nose with what ever she chew that what we do and it seem to be working good luck

They have a spray called apple bitter that you can either spray in his mouth when he chews on something you don't want him too or you can spray it directly on the object which you have to do frequently to keep the taste there.. Also make sure he has plenty of toys to chew on ie: plastic/squeaky/stuffed all different kinds. Hang in there he will grow out of chewing everything and just use his toys.

my only advice is don't give it stuffed toys to play with . It maynot be able to tell the difference between its toys and your kiddos favorite toy...
We have a lab and when she was little we crated her at night and when we went anywhere... There were a few times she got ahold of something she wasn't supposed to have and gnawed on it. She would then get "spanked" with it, put in her crate and when she was released given HER toy. I could always tell when I walked in the house from her reaction if I was going to find something... She learned Very quickly and it is funny watching her get her pull toy if something is covering her toy up.
But not all dogs are quick learners. But just as with kids be constant with your reactions and let him know your alpha. Be watchful of his personality and be open to trying many different approaches to find the one that gets the message thru.

As a lot of others said, Kong toys are the best! We have a couple POWERFUL chewers and they have yet to destroy a kong. However, it was really hard to get them interested in the kong. A great idea is to fill the Kong with peanutbutter or yogurt along with some kibble mixed in then FREEZE it. In the evening or whenever you need a little time where puppy isnt bouncing around like crazy, give them the frozen kong! They can chew and lick it and it will keep them busy for at least an hour! Its has been WONDERFUL with our 8 month old german shepherd!