Choose a Dog

Does you dog busy himself with chewing up your shoes, books, remote controls, etc, while you are away from the house? If that’s the case, you will need to train your dog  to stop chewing your things right away.

It is easy to figure out why puppies and young dogs are potentially so destructive. So, we should  use this understanding to control our dog’s chewing problems.All  puppies go through a teething process and chewing things helps them deal with the discomforts of teething. Puppies and young dogs up to age 3 are definitely going to have more chewing urges than an older dog. However, a dog of any age may chew just to be doing something to  pass the time. Your dog may be doing some chewing just because he is bored or lonely and under-exercised. Although there may be various reasons for your puppy or dog to chew stuff up, it is something that you can control.

Check out these tips for helping stop dog chewing problems.

• The simplest way to dog-proof your house is to just not let your dog enter the house while you are away. If you prefer to keep your dog inside while you are away, make sure to keep those smaller chewable items he likes somewhere out of reach from your pet. Just by using your common sense, you’ll stop a lot of damage through the simple act of closing all the house’s inner doors. Keep your shoes in a closed closet. Be sure to keep your remote controls, cell phones, (anything that’s got that nice crunchy texture that he loves) out of reach by placing it higher up on a shelf. Likewise, be sure to put all your food away in a cabinet and not left on a shelf  he can reach. Of course, the bigger your dog is the higher you will have to put your loose things. Don’t forget, they can stand up to get at something tempting, so don’t leave anything you don’t want chewed on within easy reach.

• Give your pet a few alternative items to work out his chewing needs on.Get your pet some chew toys as a preferable alternative to your shoes. Among the various chew toys, I like the Kong best-it keeps my dogs occupied for a long time. the Kong is an odd shaped ball like toy with a hollow center that I like to put peanut butter into. Your pet will spend a lot of time trying to get  at the treat through the little hole in the Kong. Besides being a great chew toy, the Kong’s odd shape makes it bounce erratically, so it is a fun fetch toy, too. It is a good idea to have a variety of chew toys so he doesn’t get bored with only one toy. Now that he is chewing on an acceptable chew toy, the puppy chewing your stuff up will be much less of a problem.

• You should stop your puppy from chewing anything unapproved immediately whenever you catch him in the act. You should make a loud sudden noise, for instance clap your hands together forcefully, and tell him “no”. This serves to get his attention. He’ll wonder what he’s doing wrong. You want his attention, but don’t make it negative-no hitting or yelling. You want to correct him, but not by making him scared of you. Be sure to stay calm, go to your dog and remove the item he’s chewing on and replace it with your approved alternative-the Kong or some other chew toy. As he accepts the new toy in his mouth, give him lots of praise. He’ll start to get the idea that while some things are OK to chew on,  others aren’t. Your puppy has learned that praise feels good and treats taste good, so he’ll want to do things that earn him praise and a treat, rather than corrections. Just like us. Remember, you shouldn’t punish your dog for chewing something when you weren’t around. Don’t correct your dog’s behavior unless you catch them in the act of digging something prohibited. Dogs live in the moment, and of course won’t understand why you are mad if he is not doing anything wrong when you are correcting him. Correcting too late, will not help, and in fact will just serve to confuse your dog.

I hope you found these tips useful in saving some of your household things from your puppy or dog’s busy mouth. To read  many more tips and good advice to help you with training your dog at home, please click here www.BehaveDoggy.com.

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