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Stop Puppy Chewing

Your puppy is very cute, very fluffy and at times very destructive. How do you stop puppy chewing? To begin with you need to understand why puppies chew in the first place.

There are three main reasons for puppy chewing:

1. When they are ‘teething’ this happens during the ages of 14-28 weeks. The chewing is a natural occurrence & your puppy does this to help to soothe & to loosen the gums surrounding the teeth, this then enables the ‘baby’ teeth to fall out.

2. Chewing for exploratory reasons puppies will generally do this around 28-52 weeks of age. Human babies use their hands to explore & examine everything; puppies use their mouths and their teeth.

3. Stress management in your puppy can present itself in the form of chewing; this does not necessarily mean that they are anxious. Dogs & puppies alike know that when they chew it automatically calms them down.

To stop puppy chewing will require determination & patience from you. The important fact to keep in mind is that your puppy has no concept of what is valuable & what is not. They do not realise that chewing up their owner’s leather coat or shoes is not the same to chewing on a dog toy!

The plan to stop puppy chewing is rather than searching for ways to inhibit the actual chewing taking place, you need to teach your puppy what they can chew & what they cannot chew. In other words what is theirs & what is yours. To achieve this successfully your puppy needs to view their toys as rewards, an object that is very different than, for instance your shoes.

Begin with allowing your puppy access to only three toys; ensure that you make each one varied in its texture and in its shape. Play with these three toys regularly with your puppy, alternating them as you play therefore confirming to them that each individual toy belongs to them.

To encourage your puppy to keep itself occupied you could make one of their toys an activity based toy. There are numerous ones available especially made for puppies. The ‘Kong’ range are perfect, the ‘Puppy Kong’ within the range has been developed specifically for puppies aged between 2-9 months they are created by using a special teething soft rubber formula. Kongs are a perfect toy for promoting healthy gums & for encouraging good chewing behaviour in your puppy; the Kongs are available in three sizes small, medium & large.

You can also purchase a ‘Kong Stuff Treat’ to place inside the toy; it is chicken flavoured & has the consistency of a paste. You simply squirt a small amount either inside the Kong or smear some on the outside along the grooves or do both, your puppy will be occupied for hours & whilst they are busy with their toy they are not looking to chew anything else.

The best policy to adopt whilst you are working on your stop puppy chewing plan is to remove all valuable items & place them out of sight, at least this way your puppy will not be tempted to chew them up.

To stop puppy chewing when you cannot observe your puppy you could use a crate or a playpen to confine your puppy to a certain area, of course the crate or playpen can contain a toy for them to chew.

Whenever your puppy chooses to chew their toys praise them thus reinforcing to them the fact that this is the correct object to chew. Do not go too crazy with the praise though as this will distract them from their chewing.

When your puppy is just about to chew the wrong item, & it is a when & not an if, stop them by grabbing their attention with a firm ‘no’ not shouted just said strongly. Then immediately hand them one of their toys that they are permitted to chew, & praise them for doing so.

To stop puppy chewing with success you always need to offer your puppy an object that they can chew. If you are continuously disciplining them for chewing the wrong object but not offering an alternative, then the only thing you are effectively teaching your puppy is that they are wrong to chew completely. Your puppy will believe that it is wrong for them to chew at all or that they cannot chew in front of you.

Chewing is a natural part of growing up for your puppy & will be a part of their adult life too. All you wish to achieve is to stop puppy chewing of the wrong objects & to encourage chewing of the right objects.

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