Dog Obedience Training Tips

Chewing is something every puppy owner must face. Puppies are like babies, it seems everything winds up in their mouths, and it can be quite a destructive habit. If your dog is chewing incessantly, there are some things that can be done to effectively curb his chewing enthusiasm, at least for things that he doesn’t need to be chewing on.

The first thing you need to know is what is your puppy or dog chewing on? If they are household objects, they should be taken out of his reach if possible. If the puppy is chewing on his feet or tail, a bitter chewing deterrent spray might be the right thing.

The next thing will be to figure out the cause of the chewing. If your puppy is teething, they are simply looking for something to work their gums on. You can buy treats and toys that are made for this purpose. You can even freeze the toy for a few hours for a lasting blissful chewing treat that will soothe irritated gums. This will also effectively distract your dog from chewing on anything else.

Dogs can chew on things for other reasons as well. If they are bored, lonely, or stressed they might chew as well. You have to provide some stimulation for your dog, much like a child. Also like a child, if you ignore your dog, he can find himself in trouble attempting to provide his own stimulation.

If you have times during the day when you cannot be there for your dog, and he needs to entertain himself, either tie him safely outside out of reach of anything but his toys, or put him somewhere he cannot chew anything but appropriate objects.

Be sure to give you dog the proper amount of obedience training every day, and be certain he gets the correct amount of exercise. Mental and physical stimulation go a long way to lowering boredom.

Never punish your dog physically. This will result in a greater amount of anxiety, and will probably make him chew even more. Avoid tug of war games, as this will only reinforce the behavior you are trying to discourage. Instead of pulling a toy from the mouth of your dog, distract them so they drop the toy, or teach them the leave command.

Be sure that your dog has plenty of different toys with varying levels of hardness and softness. This will also add variety to your dog’s day, making it harder for them to become bored. If you desire, you can put different toys out each day, and rotate them, so he has new things to play with on a regular basis.

All dogs and puppies chew, but when they are destroying your home and items, it becomes a real problem. When you have the tools to curb the desire to chew on household items, and allow your dog to learn that it is fine to chew their toys, while providing them with the physical and mental stimulation they need, then destructive chewing can be brought to an end.