Chewing

[DogGoneGood]

Chewing

by Shara Slorstad
2008

One of the most common problems with puppies, as well as one of the most misunderstood problems, is chewing. Puppies may chew for a number of reasons and quite often owners will assume that all chewing is due to teething. Yes, all puppies will chew because they are teething, but it’s not the only reason!

Just like humans, dogs have two sets of teeth that come in. When a puppy is between three and six weeks of age they have their puppy teeth come in. When the puppy teeth come in, they don’t yet have their molars because grinding and chewing food is not yet necessary (puppies are still drinking their mothers milk). Once the puppy is about four months old he begins to loose his puppy teeth and his adult teeth come in. The molars are the last teeth to come in, and they come in around six or seven months old. This means that your puppy is teething from the time you get him up until he is around seven to eight months old, quite often longer.

Puppies chew to relieve the discomfort that comes with the new teeth. Because he doesn’t understand what is acceptable to chew on and what isn’t, this means many of your items (including your new pair of shoes or your couch!) may be destroyed. To prevent this from happening you need to be constantly supervising your puppy and teach him what is acceptable to chew on and what isn’t.

There are many toys available on the market that are made specifically to help relieve the discomfort your puppy is feeling from teething. Having plenty of toys available all around the house will give your puppy a chance to chew on the right thing (his toys) rather than the wrong thing (your couch!).

One such toy available is the Kong Puppy Teething Stick. Kong has a wide range of durable toys available that are good for both young teething puppies, as well as adult dogs. They are strong, durable, and built for specific needs in mind.

Kongs can vary in price, and quite often can be expensive, but in my opinion they are well worth it. The puppy teething stick can vary between $4.00 and $8.00 (depending on the size). You should always buy your puppies toys to fit the size of his mouth. They should never be small enough to swallow (and be a choking hazard, or become a blockage in the intestines) but shouldn’t be so big that the puppy can’t fit his mouth around it. If you have purchased a large breed puppy, this may mean you will have to discard old toys and buy new ones as the puppy grows. If this is the case, you may want to think about buying cheaper toys, if money is an issue. Keep in mind though; the cheaper the toy the more likely your puppy is to destroy it quickly.

There are a few types of toys I don’t highly recommend for puppies.

One of which is plush toys. There are many plush toys available that you can buy in pet stores (although you can find the same quality for much cheaper that is made for children). Many of these toys also include squeakers in them because most dogs love squeaky toys. The problem with these types of toys is that they’re easy to destroy. Small pieces can be ripped off and swallowed which can be dangerous as either a choking hazard or become an intestinal blockage. Many dogs will also pull the squeaker out of toys and swallow that, which has the same hazards as the stuffing or material except it is much harder so more likely to become a blockage or become lodged in the puppies throat. If you are going to buy your puppy these types of plush toys, I suggest that you use them as “supervised toy only” so that if the puppy tears it apart you can take away any pieces he may swallow.

Rope, or “tug” toys also have the same choking and blockage hazard. They are not indestructible and quite often the strings can get wrapped up in the puppies intestines. If you are going to purchase tug toys I suggest that you also use them only under supervision.


I suggest creating a toy box for your puppy (or two if you’re going to have “supervised only toys”; the first is left in the open and the second is put away where the puppy can’t get to it). Your puppies toy box can be made out of anything you’d like. Personally, my dogs just have a cardboard box with a lid on it because they like to play with the box itself (meaning; they like to play tug WITH the toy box). Having a toy box or two will keep your puppies toys readily available for him.

Now that you have several toys designed for your puppy and a place to put them it’s time to teach him right from wrong.

The method used to teach a puppy what is right to chew on and what is wrong is called “redirecting”. Most things you want to teach your dog right from wrong will use this method. Redirecting is taking the thing he shouldn’t have and replacing it with something he should (redirecting him to the proper thing to chew on). Keep in mind that your training is useless if you do not supervise your puppy every chance you get. When you can’t supervise he should be put in a room that is puppy proofed or in his crate.

“Puppy Proofing” is much the same as Baby Proofing. Your entire house should be as puppy proofed as possible. Basically this means keeping it as clean as possible and everything you don’t want your puppy chewing on that you can put away should be up and out of his reach. Things that are poisonous, like household cleaners, especially should be out of your puppies reach (even when he’s a full grown dog these things should be kept away). Many owners also use baby gates, or gates designed for dogs, in their household to keep their pup out of rooms that have many things he could get a hold of that he shouldn’t (or to keep him separated from other animals).

How to Redirect:
When you catch your puppy with an object he shouldn’t be chewing on (we’ll use a shoe as an example) you need to take immediate action. Use a firm tone and tell your puppy “NO” or “No Chew” (or whatever command you feel fit; I also use “leave it”). Take the shoe away from him and replace it with one of his puppy appropriate toys. Tell him “Good chew” (again, or whichever command you choose) and give him physical and verbal praise (pet him and tell him he’s a good boy for having the toy). You may also want to wiggle the toy around in front of him a bit and get him playing with it. Doing this will make it clear to him that you’re praising him for chewing on the toy, and also the play acts as a reward for chewing on the appropriate object.

What You Shouldn’t Do:
You should never let emotions get the best of you when training a dog, and this applies especially to redirecting your puppy from chewing on inappropriate objects. Many people let their emotions take over when they catch their puppy chewing on something they may hold of more value than others. Your puppy doesn’t, and never will, understand that your favorite pair of shoes holds more value to you than your old dirty sneakers. Your punishment should always be firm and fair, meaning it should always be equal no matter what you catch him chewing on. Being over emotional when you catch your puppy chewing on something can be damaging to his training. You should never yell and scream at your puppy and you should never hit him. If you do this it will only teach him to fear you and be insecure. Fear in dogs can be a dangerous thing that, over time, can develop into “fear aggression” which means the dog will react aggressively (snap, growl, bite and even maul) when he feels threatened. If a dog has been beaten and yelled at he will perceive a persons angry emotions as much more threatening than they may even be at the time. I should hope you understand this anyway, and love your puppy enough to never want to hurt him!

Remember, if your puppy is chewing on something of high value to you that can easily be put away (for example: your favorite pair of gloves) it isn’t his fault that he’s chewing on them but rather yours. You should have put your gloves where he couldn’t get them and they wouldn’t be destroyed! Getting emotional at your puppy isn’t going to solve anything; prevention solves the problem from ever occurring in the first place!

One mistake many people make is giving their puppy something that is of no use to them anymore (for example: socks) as something to chew on and play with but then they expect the puppy to not chew on the same thing that is new and still of use. If you give a puppy your old pair of holey socks he’s not going to differentiate between the old socks you gave him and the new ones you still wear sitting in your laundry basket. He’s going to chew on both.

This also applies to plush toys (yet another reason why I think they’re ridiculous as a dog toy). If you have plush toys you don’t want your puppy to chew on the solution is simple; teach him that all plush toys are not acceptable to chew on - don’t buy him his own plush toys to chew on! He’s not going to be able to tell the difference between his plush toy, and yours.

Other Reasons for Chewing:
Yes, the most common reason for chewing is teething but there are also other reasons that result in chewing. There could be a medical problem that causes your puppy to chew. This could include problems with his mouth, or even a problem in his brain. Dogs can develop neurotic behaviors that may show up as chewing, licking, or obsessively chasing (I have a dog that chases light and shadows. This is a neurotic behavior that is caused from a chemical imbalance in his brain). However, it is fairly rare for puppies to show neurotic behavior, especially at a young age. More likely the chewing is a result of teething and or boredom.

When dogs are bored they become destructive (or at least, what we as humans think of as destructive behavior. The dog thinks it’s a fun game). The two most common destructive behaviors resulting from boredom is chewing and digging. Usually it’s easier to determine if this is a result of boredom in an older dog who is past the teething stage in life.

If your puppy is destructively chewing and you’ve been constantly supervising him and redirecting him to the right object to chew but yet there is still no progress, take a step back and observe your daily schedule for your puppy. Then ask yourself a few questions.

Is he receiving enough exercise?
Is he receiving enough attention?
Is he receiving enough mental stimulation?

How much exercise, attention, and mental stimulation your puppy requires will be based on your individual puppy and his breed. If he is an intelligent, athletic breed like the Border Collie he will require a lot more of your time than a breed that requires less, like the Great Dane.

If you suspect your puppy may not be receiving enough attention, figure out a way to give him more. If you are working 8 hours a day and then coming home where you need to clean the house, make dinner and help the kids with their homework this leaves very little time for your puppy. Before you even got the puppy you should have examined your lifestyle and determined whether or not you had the time required to raise a puppy into a functioning canine member of society. What’s done is done though, and now that he’s here he’s here to stay.

Rearranging your schedule and evenly distributing the work required for the puppy amongst the members of your household can assure he is receiving the attention he needs. You should have a pretty solid schedule in place for your puppy that you follow on a daily basis. Dogs are creatures of habit and will come to expect things to happen at specific times of the day if they’ve had the same thing happen every day before at the same time. Let’s say you get up every morning and first thing you do is take Fido outside at 7:30am. If, for whatever reason, you don’t take Fido out one morning at 7:30am he won’t understand why, and may end up peeing on your rug as a result. This applies to everything you do with your puppy every day. As the dogs gets older he will not rely quite so much on a strict schedule as he did as a puppy, but as a puppy that strict schedule can help keep your household functioning properly! Missing a meal time can result in your puppy getting into the garbage or stealing food off a plate. Missing his morning walk can result in him peeing on the floor. Missing a training session or play time can result in him becoming bored and chewing up your couch.

This is why a schedule is important. Also, if you have a strict schedule in place it will help your puppy from making a mistake in the first place and training him to be the dog you want him to be will be a lot easier on you!

For more information on Boredom see "How to Avoid the Dreaded Boredom".