Chewing Problems

By Penny • May 11th, 2010

Chewing is among the most common problems people have with new puppies. Some common reasons as to why dogs and puppies chew are:

Boredom
Teething
Enjoyment – It’s fun to tear stuff up.
Inadequate or improper diet.

Dogs are inquisitive, especially during their puppy phase. Plus, they do not have hands. Think about how often one-year-old or two-year-old children exploring their new environment touch things. A puppy is not unlike a child at this age. However, since the uppy does not have hands, he explores with his mouth. This is a very normal behavior.

The goal is not to eliminate puppy chewing – that would be impossible, but rather teach the puppy which things are appropriate to chew on!

The key to addressing chewing problems is to strongly fixate the dog on chewing the correct items. If you can get your puppy to chew on the proper items 70% more than he does right now, they logically, the puppy is going to chew 70% less on the incorrect items. That coupled with other things like proper exercise, proper diet and making some of the unacceptable items less available and tasty to the puppy will help you and your puppy become successful at eliminating most of the chewing problems you are facing now.

By fixating a dog’s attention on the proper chew toys, it will be easier for the dog to make the correct chewing choice. Each and every time the dog makes the correct choice, he must be rewarded for doing so. The reward given to the dog should not cause the dog to stop chewing. It should only let him know that you are pleased with his choice.

How to Select Proper Chew Toys

Selecting the proper chew toys is extremely important. Proper chew toys should be those items that you want your puppy to chew on, therefore they should not resemble any household item such as shoes or house slippers. (puppies don’t know the difference between worn out shoes and new shoes), newspapers, tassels, (rope toys with knots tied at the ends look a lot like tassels on a couch, blanket, etc. to a new puppy), stuffed animals (stuffed dog toys look just like children’s toys and you puppy won’t be able to tell the difference). Fully plush toys are similar to carpeting, rugs and throw pillows.

The best items to select for puppy chew toys are ones that DO NOT RESEMBLE valuables in most homes. Some of those chew toys are: Nylabones and Kongs. If you find that your puppy isn’t attracted to the Nylabones, try soaking them for 15 – 20 minutes a few times a day in low sodium beef or chicken broth or bouillon to give them a greater flavor and palatability. Kongs, and other hard rubber toys that have a hollow center can be stuffed with peanut butter or cheese spread in the middle part of the toy and then frozen overnight. This will keep a puppy occupied for hours as he is licking the spread out of the middle of the toy.

These chew toys need to become the major source of interaction between your new puppy and all family members. When anyone greets the puppy they should give him/her one of the chew toys that have been baited with a tasty food treat. Games like fetch, using the baited chew toys, are a fun way to teach your puppy to associate the toy with good things.

If, or I should write,”when” your puppy finds an inappropriate object to chew on, DO NOT chase him in an attempt to get it away from him/her. This will only turn in to a game for your puppy and he will look for ways to play this game again in the future. It is best to call your puppy’s name and run away from him/her. This normally will cause your puppy to abandon the object and chase after you. Once the puppy comes to you, hand him an appropriate chew toy and pick up the inappropriate one – removing it from his reach.

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