My Dog is Chewing Me Out of House and Home
>> 7/31/09
Is your puppy chewing everything he or she can get their month on? Or do you have an older dog that is chewing everything in sight? This is common in dogs and is part of their nature to chew. Before you kill the dog (just kidding) or beat the dog (again just kidding), let's look at why do puppies or older dogs chew on things in the first place.
The Puppy
A puppy normally chews, especially on hard things, because they are teething. Just like any other baby it feels good on their gums and helps the new teeth to break through the gums. Now this is not to say that you are to let them chew on the furniture, your favorite pair of shoes or just anything. You have let them know that they cannot chew on your things. So give them things that they can chew. Like a hard rubber toys or the nylon chew bones.
I have found that a frozen treat works well. It not only gives them something to chew, it also feels good to their gums too. Here something that my dogs really love and some of them are 10 years old too, you know those trays that you make popsicles in try taking some of your dry puppy food and put it some water and then put the mix in to the Popsicle trays and place the trays in the freezer until they are frozen. My dogs prefer that dry food is still hard and not amalgamated (mixed in the water). It gives the puppy-sicle some flavor and they like chewing on the hard frozen dog food. You can use canned puppy food too. This will give him or her hours of chewing fun.
The Older Dog
Remember that it is in a dog's nature to chew and there three general reasons that a dog will chew on things:
1. It's fun, it passes the time, and it's a self-rewarding, self-reinforcing activity (for example, if he or she is chewing on something that tastes good.)
2. Chewing provides a nervous, bored, or lonely dog with an outlet for his or her emotions. To an anxious dog, the repetitive act of chewing is soothing - it's the dog's equivalent of comfort food.
3. Under exercised dogs often use chewing as a way of burning up nervous energy and giving themselves something to do.
Solution
1.Dog proof your home. This means taking whatever you don't want to end up in their mouth, and making it unavailable.
2. Prevent the dog from learning the joys of illegal chewing. The more times they manage to get a mouth of a forbidden substance the more readily they will target those items in future.
3. Don't set them up for failure by blurring the boundaries between their stuff) and your stuff. Do not offer your dog cast-off clothes, shoes, or towels to chew and play with: realistically, you cannot possibly expect them to be able to tell the difference between your current shoes and the one they have in their mouth that you gave them five minutes ago.
4. Give them lots of tasty alternatives to your stuff. If their environment is relatively barren of attractive, appropriate chewing objects, you cannot blame them for targeting your possessions. Remember, most dogs need to chew; if the dog is an adolescent (under three years) or a puppy (under one year), their needs will be even more pronounced.
5. Be more active with your dog. Remember dogs get bored just like we do, so you have to spend some time playing with too.
6. When you catch them chewing something that they shouldn't be chewing, DO NOT HIT THEM, make a loud noise. Like clap your hands or the thing I use is put some pennies in an empty soda can and rattle at them. It works for me. Then give something that they are allowed to chew on. There is a lot more that I could on this subject, but I am limited to space.
My Dog is Chewing Me Out of House and Home! by Keith Rowell
About the Author:
If you would like to learn more about dog behavior and training techniques, visit my website: http://www.dogsandmorestore.com
Technorati Tags: Training Your Dog Tips My Dog is Chewing Me Out of House and Home dog chewing dog training dogs training puppy chewing puppy dog dogs
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Keith_Rowell
The Puppy
A puppy normally chews, especially on hard things, because they are teething. Just like any other baby it feels good on their gums and helps the new teeth to break through the gums. Now this is not to say that you are to let them chew on the furniture, your favorite pair of shoes or just anything. You have let them know that they cannot chew on your things. So give them things that they can chew. Like a hard rubber toys or the nylon chew bones.
I have found that a frozen treat works well. It not only gives them something to chew, it also feels good to their gums too. Here something that my dogs really love and some of them are 10 years old too, you know those trays that you make popsicles in try taking some of your dry puppy food and put it some water and then put the mix in to the Popsicle trays and place the trays in the freezer until they are frozen. My dogs prefer that dry food is still hard and not amalgamated (mixed in the water). It gives the puppy-sicle some flavor and they like chewing on the hard frozen dog food. You can use canned puppy food too. This will give him or her hours of chewing fun.
The Older Dog
Remember that it is in a dog's nature to chew and there three general reasons that a dog will chew on things:
1. It's fun, it passes the time, and it's a self-rewarding, self-reinforcing activity (for example, if he or she is chewing on something that tastes good.)
2. Chewing provides a nervous, bored, or lonely dog with an outlet for his or her emotions. To an anxious dog, the repetitive act of chewing is soothing - it's the dog's equivalent of comfort food.
3. Under exercised dogs often use chewing as a way of burning up nervous energy and giving themselves something to do.
Solution
1.Dog proof your home. This means taking whatever you don't want to end up in their mouth, and making it unavailable.
2. Prevent the dog from learning the joys of illegal chewing. The more times they manage to get a mouth of a forbidden substance the more readily they will target those items in future.
3. Don't set them up for failure by blurring the boundaries between their stuff) and your stuff. Do not offer your dog cast-off clothes, shoes, or towels to chew and play with: realistically, you cannot possibly expect them to be able to tell the difference between your current shoes and the one they have in their mouth that you gave them five minutes ago.
4. Give them lots of tasty alternatives to your stuff. If their environment is relatively barren of attractive, appropriate chewing objects, you cannot blame them for targeting your possessions. Remember, most dogs need to chew; if the dog is an adolescent (under three years) or a puppy (under one year), their needs will be even more pronounced.
5. Be more active with your dog. Remember dogs get bored just like we do, so you have to spend some time playing with too.
6. When you catch them chewing something that they shouldn't be chewing, DO NOT HIT THEM, make a loud noise. Like clap your hands or the thing I use is put some pennies in an empty soda can and rattle at them. It works for me. Then give something that they are allowed to chew on. There is a lot more that I could on this subject, but I am limited to space.
My Dog is Chewing Me Out of House and Home! by Keith Rowell
About the Author:
If you would like to learn more about dog behavior and training techniques, visit my website: http://www.dogsandmorestore.com
Technorati Tags: Training Your Dog Tips My Dog is Chewing Me Out of House and Home dog chewing dog training dogs training puppy chewing puppy dog dogs
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Keith_Rowell
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