Destructive Chewing

Destructive Chewing

Most dogs have a natural desire to chew, it’s fun, it passes the time if and burns up nervous energy. Dogs are perfectly capable of learning not to chew your stuff – you just have to teach them what they can chew first, that’s all.

Your first step should be to dog-proof your home, even if you have the best-behaved dog in the world, there’s no reason to test her self-control.

Second, make sure the dog has plently of dog toys as tasty alternatives to chewing your stuff.

Then make sure you don’t blur the boundaries between her stuff (OK to chew) and your stuff (not OK to chew) by offering your dog cast-off clothes, shoes, or towels to chew and play with. Your dog can not tell the difference between your current shoes and the one she’s got in her mouth that you gave her five minutes ago.

When you catch your dog chewing something inappropriate, interrupt her by making a loud noise: clap your hands or make an “Ah-ah-aaaah!” noise. Then, immediately hand her a tasty and dog-appropriate chew toy and praise her as soon as her jaws close around it.

Learn more about how to deal with your dogs chewing problem and other dog behaviors, check out SitStayFetch.