We just got a puppy and it likes to chew up everything. Any suggestions on how to stop it?

Unless you want to remove his teeth, he's going to chew. You can try to minimize the damage by getting him chew toys but, he's going to chew. It's like babies and dirty diapers; it comes with the package.

If you *do* remove his teeth, he'll still gum everything.

try a marinade

As Erica at Close Quarters in Welborn.

http://www.closequartersfeed.com/

rope toys, rawhide (too much upsets stomachs), nylabone chews

Bitter apple might help keep him from chewing on the stuff that you don't want chewed. No guarantee though. Mine chewed up 5 Jackson Perkins rose bushes that were dowsed with bitter apple and cayenne when he was a puppy. Not sure why he liked roses so much but I gave up on them after that.

[This message has been edited by jrhmc (edited 9/24/2013 3:38p).]

Ice. Get a rag or some chew toy. Soak it and freeze it. That should get you through the teething part.

A chew toy of some type in every room that the dog is going to be in. A ton of praise and attention when he uses toys, not household items or your hands. Scream bloody murder if he puts his mouth on you. Try different textures of toys - some like ropes, some like antlers, some like nylabones, some like heavy canvas. I do not use stuffed animal types, because I did not want my dog to think my kids toys were hers. For that same reason, do not use anything of wood or leather since the puppy will then think wood and leather are meant for chewing.

Brush his teeth after he eats dinner or give a dental treat - some dogs chew on things to clean food off their teeth. Some dogs react to the anti-chew spray - my current dog likes it! The only thing that helped with chewing was substitution, correction, praise and time. The only thing that helped with digging was red pepper sprinkled everywhere she started a new hole.

Chew toys. Monitoring the dog so that he doesn't chew on things you don't want him to. Tell him "no", gently, when he's chewing on the thing you don't want him to (and you can discourage by coating it with bitter apple) and give him something that you approve of him chewing on, and then pet him and praise him while he's chewing on the thing you approve of. Dogs are smarter than we give them credit for; with a little appropriate reinforcement, he'll figure it out. Dogs also pick up on moods sometimes better than other humans do, so you want to make sure that you pay attention to what you could be telling the dog with your body language unconsciously. (For example, thinking it's cute when he's chewing on something even though you're telling him no, or taking out a bad mood on the dog and creating a fearful or anxious puppy.)

And most of all, don't punish the dog for doing something that is instinctual, any more than you would punish a human baby that is teething. A gentle "Not that, chew this.." and then say "GOOD BOY!" in a high pitched voice with a lot of happy wiggling and petting gets the message across much better than a smack on the butt or head. Potty training, if you haven't gotten there, can be addressed the same way. And I highly recommend crate training.

Beware of rope/string toys with strong chewers; if they shred it, the strings can get looped around a bend in their digestive systems and cut them from the inside. Something like a Kong Wubba is a good unsupervised chew toy where something like a hunk of nylon or cotton rope should only be played with as a tug toy with human supervision.

Dogs chew half out of comfort (either from pain or anxiety), and half out of boredom. Providing interesting things to chew on will get you at least halfway to the dog not chewing. The other half is making sure that you and the puppy get a LOT of exercise and that the puppy has a lot of interesting play opportunities. Puppies don't have a lot of endurance, but they 'recharge' their energy really fast. We haven't had a real young puppy in a while, but it used to take two or three short walks a day.

Big note on exercise: If the puppy is a large breed (dane, mastiff, anything larger than 90 lbs as an adult) you should probably wait until they are 2 y.o. before taking them running or jogging. Otherwise, you can cause permanent damage to their joints. Wait until the growth plates in their bones are closed. For smaller breed dogs, it's OK to jog with them as soon as they're past most of their growth, but start with lower distances and work up.

Get em nutted or spade.

Kong makes some good toys for durability and challenge. You can hide treats inside, and it helps keep their mind occupied when they are doing the boredom chewing.

Kong toys are good. We used to put a little peanut butter inside the ones our dogs chewed on. it kept them pretty busy.

Keep in mind also that some breedds chew. No matter what their age. Supervision is a must. Ours are now 5 and will still chew on anyting plastic they can find...and then urp it up at the most inopportune times.

Had the same problem... do a little online research for safe chew toys. I would stay away from the cayenne solutions. Some dogs have a real nasty reaction to that. Kong brand has some good things you can put peanut butter in and that worked great for us.

Kong is about the only brand mine isn't able to decimate.
Some of the fabric one look really cool, but he always, always is able to find a seam and within minutes there goes a 10 dollar dog toy.

TKD, I do the same thing. My dog goes nuts when I put the peanut butter on the inside of the three tiered looking kong toy.

We carry a line of dog toys from WestPaw Design that are made from Zogoflex. They're BPA and phthalate-free, non-toxic and FDA compliant (meaning it’s safe to eat off of.) We have lots of customers that have dogs that are able to destroy a Kong toy that aren't able to destroy these toys. However, if your dog manages to destroy the toy, the company will replace the toy or give you your money back.



Sponsor Message: Michael Trull | Grateful Dog Self-Serve Dog Wash | 979-693-0305 | College Station | www.gratefuldogbcs.com

What! My dog has destroyed 6 or 7 kongs in his 2 year lifetime. I don't fault kong for it...I don't know how much a poor toy can handle. His record for destroying a tennis ball is 90 seconds. One of those fluff toys? Maybe 3 minutes before it's fluff-tastrophe.

GratefulDog, what are your store hours?

[This message has been edited by PrincessButtercup (edited 9/25/2013 7:25p).]

PrincessButtercup, our hours are 10a-7p (Closed Tuesdays). And, that's WAY too many toys to be destroyed in that time. Sounds like your dog is the perfect candidate to try these out. Come on by, we'd love to meet you and the "Kong Destroyer".

Sponsor Message: Michael Trull | Grateful Dog Self-Serve Dog Wash | 979-693-0305 | College Station | www.gratefuldogbcs.com

We'll definitely come see you! I'll just have to check his schedule and see when works for him.

Gotta love Grateful Dog. Really great people, super great service. I will stop by to check on chew toys, too.

The only kong toy our girls can't tear up are the ones that hold treats. Fabric covered ones are eaten in minutes.

Be sure you are giving him enough attention too. Puppies will chew when bored as well.

Puppies often chew because they're teething. Try frozen baby carrots, numbs the pain and isn't bad for them. (I know they aren't really baby carrots)

Dogs are going to chew. But from what I have experienced and seen is that a lot of the time they are chewing because they are bored. Puppies have a lot of energy that needs to be burned off. If you take your dog on a walk or run it will help. Spend extra time playing with and training your dog now to sit, stay, heel, lie down, etc. You will be taking that energy and using it in a positive way.

I also agree with having chew toys around. The kong's are good and durable, though my dog went through several as a puppy (it did last longer than anything else we found). Also raw hides are good. They serve as a dual purpose of keeping their teeth clean and keeping them occupied. When it gets down to the small end be careful your puppy doesn't try and eat it whole and choke on it.

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When Buster was teething I massaged his gums and that would calm him down.