Puppy chewing is a common problem among pet parents. This is a completely normal behavior among puppies; so if you have a puppy who is chewing everything in sight, you are not alone. Puppies enjoy chewing on everything; hands, arms, clothing, furniture, toys and even shoes! Is there any way you can prevent puppy chewing or perhaps reduce it?
Why do Puppies Chew?
Why Does My Puppy Chew? For those of you who have experience with human babies, you notice your baby will put everything in her mouth to experience what it is. They use their mouth to determine texture, for example. Baby animals enjoy different experiences and this is often their way to experience items. Puppies do this as well. Puppies chew to determine if something tastes good, to see what the texture is and even to see if it makes any noise. The pain of teething is also eased by your puppy chewing.
How To Stop Puppies From Chewing
How Can I Stop Puppy Chewing ? You, the pet parent, should definitely be able to prevent or at least reduce your puppy chewing. You can do this by making sure your puppy has something he enjoys to chew on that is permitted by you. The most common toy suggested for this is the Kong. Kong toys have been specifically designed for chewing. They are available in a number of sizes to fit your dog or puppy. These are very rarely broken by puppy chewing and provide an excellent permitted activity for your puppy.
In addition to providing your puppy with a chew toy ; in order to prevent puppy chewing, you should discourage other items your puppy regularly chews on. You should prevent access to these items. If you are unable to prevent access to these items, there are sprays which are available to the pet parent to spray on the items which make them extremely discouraging to dogs.
Puppy chewing can be extremely frustrating to the pet parent. Implementing a behavior modification plan to discontinue the puppy chewing is key to eliminating this instinctive behavior. If you are experiencing difficulties in training your puppy to stop chewing, you should contact your pet behavior professional to assist you in implementing a proper behavior modification plan.
Learn more about training a puppy here.
Amber Johnson, Animal Behaviorist
Miss Amber Johnson has many years of experience with pets and is a licensed cat and dog nutrition and behavior specialist. She currently collaborates with PetPremium where she counsels clients in pet behavior and nutrition. The statements made in this article are the personal opinions of Miss Amber Johnson and based on independent experiences and could be different from the opinions of PetPremium Pet health Insurance or any other pet health insurance provider.