Break Puppies Chewing Habits

Once you are the proud owner of a puppy as sweet as sugar, responsibility and caring for your pup also become a part of bringing up your pup. As your pup settles down and begins to familiarize himself with the new surroundings, chewing and gnawing on anything he can lay his paws on may become an exciting game for him. Training and teaching your pup good behavior in time is most essential in controlling the chewing habit.

The pup may not realize that everything cannot be chewed, so stopping him well in time before he gets into an incurable habit is recommended. There are many reasons responsible for the chewing tendency in the pup. It is therefore advisable to first find out the causes for chewing everything. Puppies go through teething process and they chew everything in sight to combat the pain in their gums. This chewing tendency remains until the pup is about eight to ten months old. It is recommended to examine the dog behavior if the chewing habit persists beyond one year. Once the teething phase is crossed and if chewing still continues than your dog may be suffering from boredom, depression, anxiety or frustration. Hence, identifying the reason may go a long way in curing the habit. Whatever the reason may be, never allow your pup to chew anything and everything! There are certain tips that can be followed to prevent the pup from chewing profusely.

It is advisable to keep the pup in a confined space while you are sleeping or not around. Restrict his freedom of roaming the entire house until he is trained. It may be a good idea to give the pup enough dog chew toys to chew on while he is confined, offer him positive reinforcement when he chews on his toys. Firmly refute him when caught chewing and present him with a chew toy immediately. Praise him as soon as he chews on the toy that way your pup will learn the difference between what to chew and what not to chew. There are different types of chew toys, like bones, rawhide, squeaky dog toys, etc. Alternate the toys on a weekly basis; this would give your pup a variety of toys to play with.

If the pup is lonely, frustrated or bored, ensure that you give your pup enough attention and provide him with lots of physical exercise and mental exercise like some puzzle game that stimulates his brain. Along with giving your puppy training for obedience and good behavior, play with your growing pup makes him learn simple fetching the stick tricks. Give him special treats to reinforce his learning. These activities may help in combating the frustration and boredom problems and also enable you to have a healthy and well behaved pup.

Keeping dangerous things like sharp items, electric cables, chemicals etc. out of the reach of your puppy can prevent both, chewing and accidents. There are deterrents available in the market like cayenne pepper or bitter spray that can be used on carpets, furniture and table legs this can greatly reduce the urge of chewing in your pup. Consistently and patiently training your pup with love and applying some of the methods mentioned above will definitely help.

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