There are a lot of challenges that come with raising a dog, and certain breeds are predisposed to different behaviors than others. If you have a breed of dog that loves to chew, you may be in for a real challenge. There are a few things you can do to both stop chewing and mitigate its effects while it goes on, but you should never try to stop dog chewing altogether, especially with puppies, as it is a natural part of their behavior. However, you will probably want to get them to chew only on the things you give them, and in this article, we can give you a few tips to help that process along.
The first rule of raising a puppy should always be to give it lots of toys, and make sure that your patience never wears too thin. The first thing you will probably want to do is “puppy proof” the areas of your house that the dog will have access to. Puppy proofing involves removing items that the dog is likely to target as chew toys, either putting them out of reach or taking them to a part of the house that the puppy cannot get to. If your puppy still finds things to destroy and you need to stop dog chewing further, such as with the legs of furniture, most pet stores carry a bitter solution that you can apply to the furniture and discourage biting.
The best way to stop dog chewing, ironically, is to give them things to chew on. You should purchase several different types of toys (rubber chew toys, ropes, stuffed animals, etc.) so that you can see what your dog likes the most. Giving your dog toys will show it that it is encouraged to chew, but only on certain things. If your dog accepts a toy and begins to chew it, praise it or give it a small treat. If your dog chews on something it isn’t supposed to, simply scold it and give it a toy to chew on a few minutes later.
By using this simple philosophy of toys and positive and negative reinforcement, you should begin to see a decrease in your dog’s chewing (at least on furniture) within a relatively short period of time. It’s simple to stop dog chewing, it simply requires that you know a couple of tricks to make it easier.
