Dog Chewing Everything in Sight? Remedies and Reasons a Puppy Chews

Written by Senior Editor Peter Gehr

Is your dog chewing everything in sight? Remedies and reasons a puppy chews. First of all, let’s be sure it’s understood that pups explore just about everything by chewing. One of the best ways to tone down that instant reaction from your little pooch is handling your dog as much as possible. The more human contact he has, the more he learns not to bite fingers, hands, etc. Your new puppy learns how hard he can bite from his mother. Prior to weaning, the mother often chastises her pups when they are being too rough with her nipples when feeding by a quick snap and growl. He also learns by playing with his siblings in play-fighting.

Dog Chewing Everything in Sight? Remedies and Reasons a Puppy Chews

Dog Chewing Everything in Sight? Remedies and Reasons a Puppy Chews

However, once the biting is curbed and he learns that it is not acceptable behavior, one of the next challenges is to stop him from chewing shoes, clothing or any chewable object left laying around.

Dog Chewing Everything in Sight? Remedies and Reasons a Puppy Chews

Puppies are born with the natural desire to investigate which often comes in the form of puppy chewing and digging. This can cause problems when your puppy “investigates” how your furniture can come apart, or digs up your garden. However, punishment is not always the best way to go when it comes to this misbehavior. You will find that reinforcing good behavior can be much more effective.

Puppy Chewing

First of all, when you first get a puppy you must provide him with plenty of chew toys. These will deter him away from the furniture, shoes, socks, flowers and all the other things you prefer him not to chew on. Provide him with a variety of toys to keep them interested and it may be beneficial to reward them when they chew on their toys. If chew toys don’t help, you can use commercial anti-chew sprays such as Fooey Training Spray to keep them away from your belongings.

Chewing is often a behavior associated with dog separation anxiety. You can lessen the problem by teaching your dog that you cannot provide him with attention 24/7. If your dog is constantly following you around, sleeping next to you in your bed… and destroying things when you’re not around, it may signal that you need to take action. Training him to sleep in his own bed or crate as well as exercising him and keeping him preoccupied before you leave may help him to feel more relaxed. It may also help to keep a TV or radio on while you are away. Easing into short departures and eventually longer departures will teach your dog that you will return and it’s ok to be alone for a while. Click here to visit the original source of this post

Dog chewing everything in sight? Remedies and reasons a puppy chews are actually similar to the remedies and reasons a human baby likes to chew everything. It’s all about discovery. However, your puppy needs to learn from the very beginning what is acceptable to chew and what is not. With new teeth growing at a rapid rate, teething problems can accelerate the desire to chew anything in sight. But one of the best ways to curb your puppy developing a bad habit of chewing shoes is to provide him with a better alternative. Dog chews are available and are made from animal hide and provide a great substitute to chewing anything else that you do not want him to chew. These are some basic guidelines, and I’ll be writing more on this topic so stay tuned.

8 thoughts on “Dog Chewing Everything in Sight? Remedies and Reasons a Puppy Chews

  1. O.K. Got the chewing down – now we need to figure out how to stop Chipper (daughters boxer) from digging everywhere in their yard……..
    Love your posts, they are very helpful.

    • Digging is often associated with boredom or lack of stimulation. Without knowing the full situation it’s not possible to make an accurate call on this, but it’s very likely that he needs some one-on-one, and this is especially so if he’s left alone for long periods of time. Thanks for the comment.

  2. My dog is now 1 year old and still seeks out things to get into and to chew up. She has 3 other dogs outside with her so she isn’t bored. I don’t know why she is the only one who chews everything up when she constantly plays with her brother who is the same age. test

    • It can boil down to personality, and may also be related to separation anxiety. If one dog is accepting separation well, and the other isn’t, it’s possible that the chewing is a result of that nervousness. One-on-one attention may help stimulate the dog with the chewing problem i.e. giving her some special time of reassurance her, and practice some exercises by training the dog not to stress when you leave home, or walk out the door. It’s that mental conditioning that may be the solution. Even though there are other dogs to play with, it’s not the same as spending time with the Alpha, the owner, who has become the mother/father figure to the dog. Hope that helps Shawna. Let me know how it goes.

  3. OK I read the article but still need some help, my dog is an 11 month old Beagle which we recently rehomed and have discovered that she loves to chew anything and everything, we have bought her some of the really tough chew toys and she just eats through them in a matter of hours the longest toy lasting 3 days, when I leave the house just to do the school run in the mornings I crate her up and leave her some jerky and toys to chew whilst I am gone for half an hour but as soon as she is out of the crate when I get back she starts chewing everything she can find. I have tried telling her no and replacing the object she is chewing with a chew toy but she just does not seem to get it and if her chew toys get a bit close to any family member whilst she is playing she will try and nip. I walk her everyday twice a day for more than an hour each time changing which throw toys etc I take with me and giving her lots of time off the lead so it couldn’t be boredom could it? I also have a clicker and treats which she responds to very well and I spend time each day playing with her and training her, I just need to know what I am doing wrong and how I can make us all happier. Please help!

    • Hi Emma. Thank you for posting your question, and I’ll do my best to answer. First of all, I’m going to assume that your Beagle may have never had any training in regards to her chewing habits. In that case, she has long term neglect in that area and it will take time to break that habit.

      It sounds to me like you’re doing all the right things, and the training and exercise are key elements to curbing and stopping the chewing. Beagles love to chew, let’s get that straight, and this is obviously no news to you :). However, they can certainly be taught not to chew your furniture and valuables.

      You may need to try using some bitter apple. This can be sprayed directly on the furniture that she chews to discourage her with the use of this bitter taste. It might be good to test the spray somewhere first to make sure it doesn’t stain what you need to spray. Wooden surfaces should be fine, however.

      I’m wondering if perhaps adding some focused training to help offer more mental challenges for the dog might also help. The aggression towards kids who are nearby when she’s mouthing and chewing her toys should not be tolerated, and some time out would be in order.

      Lastly, I’m thinking that she may need more time on the lead rather than “off the lead” as you mention. And, being that she probably did get away with chewing at her first home, the old habits will require patience and time to break. Good luck. I hope this helps.

  4. I have a 12 month old chocolate lab named justice we had her since she was 8 weeks old and she has a problem with chewing the baby’s toys and my shoes i have tried new toys cage timeouts and she still chews, this has been a problem since she was 2 months old we had moved to a new house where she has a huge fenced in yard to play in she rather lay down and chew how do i get her to stop chewing the babies toys and my shoes.

    • Hi Monique, You’ve made a great choice of dogs. As for the chewing: this is best addressed from an early age, but can be remedied. First of all, I’d suggest removing all chewable items, and only make available dog specific chews. He probably started chewing due to teething, or, he could also have been bored or unchallenged. Labs are very smart and need mental stimulation, attention and training. They love to please, and I’m going to assume that perhaps one of the above may be missing in his life. There are products available to discourage dogs from chewing. Take a look at this link http://bestpuppypost.com/category/dog-chewing/

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