How To Stop Dog and Puppy Chewing

It is relatively easy to stop dog chewing and puppy chewing if you follow a few simple tips.

Dogs love to chew – and puppies love to chew even more. Use the tips in this article to help control and stop dog chewing in your house and keep your puppy chewing behavior from eating you out of house and home.

Keep Dog Chewing Toys Around

One of the best ways to stop dog chewing is to give your dog chew toys. That way she’ll have a positive outlet for her chewing behavior.

Stop Dog Chewing

Pick Safe Toys

Make sure your puppy chewing toys are safe. Avoid toys that come apart: your dog may swallow pieces. Don’t leave your dog alone with dog chewing toy unless you’re certain it will hold up.

Some dogs are stronger, more persistent chewers than others, so a chew toy that works for one dog may not work for another. And even a durable chew toy may fall apart with age, so periodically inspect your dog’s chew toys to make sure they’re still intact.

There are chew products that are made to be ingested. Experiment with these, and if they don’t upset your dog’s digestion, they might be a good option.

Vary Toys For Interest

Dogs can get bored with the same old puppy chewing toys. Keep a variety of toys on hand and rotate them so your dog has a “new” toy every few days.

Reward Appropriate Chewing

Because dogs like to chew, the chewing itself is rewarding. But you can make it even more rewarding. When you see your dog chewing something you want her to chew, say, “Yes” and give her a treat. This tip is especially useful for puppies and young dogs, when you’re working to get good puppy chewing habits established.

Prevent Mistakes

Bad puppy chewing habits are just that – habits. So it’s important to prevent bad habits from getting started. If you have a puppy or young dog, or a dog that is new to your household, don’t leave him unsupervised. If he starts getting used to chewing something he shouldn’t, it will be that much harder to train him to chew appropriately.

Don’t Turn Bad Chewing Into A Game!

If you do catch your dog chewing something she shouldn’t, it’s best not to show a reaction. Hand her a chew toy to work on instead. If you appear to become excited by her chewing, you may accidentally teach her that she can chew certain things to get your attention.

Consider Adding Extra Exercise

Sometimes dogs chew because it helps them burn off excess energy. So if your dog is chewing inappropriately, ask yourself how much exercise he’s getting. Or try increasing his exercise and see if that helps alleviate the chewing behavior.

Talk “Dog” To A Mouthing Puppy

Sometimes the thing getting chewed by your dog isn’t your stuff. Sometimes it’s you. Puppies use their mouths to play. But they also have to learn how hard they can bite without causing their playmates distress. As it turns out, they have a great way of teaching this to each other. If a puppy gets a bit too rough with a playmate, the playmate yips. This shows the puppy that his bites are too hard. If the yip doesn’t stop the too-rough behavior, the playmate will end the game and move away.

You can communicate to your puppy in the same way. Suppose your puppy is playing with you and starts mouthing your hand too hard. When you feel too much pressure, give a short, high-pitched “yipe!” and stop playing for a second. If the puppy doesn’t stop playing – if he continues to try to mouth you – fold your arms and turn away. Or get up and walk away for a few minutes until your puppy has had a chance to calm down.

Playing is very rewarding for puppies. This technique uses play as a reward to teach your puppy to mouth gently and learn acceptable puppy chewing or dog chewing behavior.