• Nadine Whittal, dog trainer writes:
One of the main difficulties that new puppy handlers experience is that their puppies chew. They chew everything! Stories of destroyed shoes, disappearing underwear, mangled wires and standoffs over the expensive electronics are often heard during the first few lessons in puppy classes.
Here’s the thing. Dogs chew. It’s a natural thing that dogs do and has a number of benefits. Firstly, puppies explore their worlds through their mouths. This is very similar to human babies. At a certain stage in a baby’s development, everything they pick up goes straight into their mouths. They learn about their world through this type of exploration.
Secondly, it’s good for dogs to chew.
Chewing is a healthy adaptation that allows dogs to develop jaw strength, file down their teeth and clean their teeth. My own dog, Styx, has an overbite.
By providing him with an abundance of appropriately sized bones that he can chew, I have successfully avoided having to take him to the vet to get his incisors filed down or removed.
Whilst this is all great, it doesn’t solve the problem of the puppy chewing things it shouldn’t be chewing. Well, the solution is simple.
Do not leave stuff lying around that you do not want your puppy to chew. If you leave your expensive new cellphone within your puppy’s reach, then it’s your own fault that the puppy did the natural thing and picked it up.
Now, you won’t be perfect all the time and you will, at some point, leave something within your puppy’s reach and you will have to get it back. To do this, you absolutely do not lunge out at the puppy and try to grab it. If a person did that to you, you would run. The puppy will do the same. Rather find something tasty that the puppy might enjoy more. Get down on your haunches, call your puppy in a cheerful voice and offer the tasty alternative. When the puppy comes to get it, make a big fuss of him so that he feels proud for having brought you something. This will effectively make the idea of bringing you stuff a positive experience for the dog.
Further, have stuff lying around that your puppy would rather chew than the boring cellphone or shoe. Tasty and fun stuff. This may help to avoid the situation entirely.
So, to prevent chewing inappropriate belongings, provide your dog with alternatives and never yell, scream and lunge at the dog because you may just dig your cellphone’s grave yourself.
