dog behavior training

Chewing is one of the most natural things for your dog to do. Destructive dog chewing is the problem, especially when it’s our stuff that she’s developing a taste for!

Destructive chewing can often signify underexercise, boredom or loneliness. Exercise has a part to play in all of these, but it doesn’t solve the problem quickly. Really she has to be taught not to chew the wrong things and to stick to her own stuff.

Prevention is the first step:

• Keep all the tempting objects that you can out of harm’s way, and be careful you don’t get reminded the hard way that she can jump or reach up to table edges.
• In effect, especially with puppies, you need to “dog-proof” some areas of your home.
• Books, glasses, garbage, remote controls are all nice and crunchy for those sharp teeth.

Above all, make it clear which things can be chewed (her toys or dog chews) and which things are off-limits.

Giving your dog cast-off clothes, towels, slippers or shoes is going to confuse her and cost you both money to replace the item and time in reinforcing the rights and wrongs for her.

Focus her attention on her own toys. The younger she is, the more toys she might need. Keeping one or more toys in reserve and rotating them say every couple of days can help as it makes some variety, especially with a younger dog.

Try not to leave her on her own for too long if you are at home. Play with her and through this you can keep watch for any problem behavior.

It’s fairly certain that at some point she will chew something she shouldn’t. At that point a loud interrupting noise such as a clap of your hand or a firm vocal sound that she recognises as one of the telling-off type will stop her for a moment. Then by giving her one of her own toys or a dog chew quickly, and praising her when she reacts positively to the new item, will reinforce which of the dog chewing behaviors are acceptable to you.

Repeating this process as each incident occurs should solve destructive dog chewing fairly quickly.