Chewing?

[catnapper]

I copied this from the post I wrote 2 days ago -- please do a search to find out these things.

The worst assumption you can make is that he'll outgrow chewing/nipping/biting.


Rule #1: Teach the kids not to wave their hands or scream/squeal/cry. To a puppy thats one big invitation to play.

Rule #2: never pull your hand away since that's a great way to get bit AND deep scratches.

Rule #3: If its nipping and biting from teething, redirect to something she can chew one - a bone, a toy, a kong thats got penutbutter and has been frozen. Ooooo they LOVE frozen peanut butter Kongs! The frozen feels good on their sore gums and they'll spend time getting the peanut butter out.

Rule #4: Many times they are nipping and biting for attention. Do NOT pay ANY attention to her unless she's being polite and leaving her mouth off you. Stand up, fold your arms across your chest, stare at the sky. You'll KNOW you're getting to her when she starts jumping up, biting your feet, grabbing the hem of your pants, etc. Whatever you do, do NOT acknowledge her. Do not push her down. No looking at her, no verbal corrections, no cries, no screams, NOTHING. Within a few minutes, she'll pick up on the fact that she's not getting anything from you. Most likely, she'll back off a few feet and sit down or wander off. Then you go up to her and offer to play until she starts to mouth at you again. Repeat, repeat, repeat. If you are truly consistent with this, she'll stop because she knows her mouth on you means she gets zero attention from you. This same technique works wonders on jumping up. To recap: NO attention. No verbal, visual, no touch. NOTHING! Pretend she's not even there.

Rule #5: Never play with her using your hands. People seem to think roughousing by quickly rubbing puppy's face is fun yet they are confused when the dog nips back. If you want to rough house, play tug of war.

Rule #6: NEVER clamp your hand over her mouth. I've seen people recommend it, but all it achieves is frustrating her, making the problem worse.

[ryan3757]

Thank you guys!

[VTJess03]

Chewing instinct also varies from breed to breed. Dogs that have been bred to carry things around (labs, for example), usually will have a longer chewing phase than others, and may never grow out of it, really. We had a pair of lab-mixes that would chew on anything hard (especially wood). It was worst up until they were about 2, and the one that lived longer was still chewing on occasion at age 16, when he got bored. If it's destructive, find some toys, like Kongs, to keep him occupied and keep his attention off the furniture, etc. (My mom and dad never felt like it was worth the expense to buy the nice toys, and they would devour a rawhide bone in about 1 day, so that got expensive too -- I think the Kongs or something similar are the way to go, personally). Crate-training him would keep him away from anything you don't want destroyed while unsupervised, and that would be a fine time to give him toys to chew on. Eventually, you should be able to convince him that it's preferable to chew on toys than furniture, etc. Good luck!

If it's nipping/biting during play, work on training that behavior away like the other posts have said.

[gardengirl]

Here are a few more tips that might help from my page on Chewing:

Do these things first to stop the chewing:

1. Pretend you are your dog by getting down on your knees and looking around your house. What do you see? Are there things on the floor that would be interesting and fun if you were a dog? How about shoes, pencils, paper clips, clothing, slippers, etc.?
WHAT YOU SHOULD DO: Pick up all objects from the floor and put them where they belong, or put them in a closet and shut the door.

2. Look around your house. Do you see a door that is open? What is on the other side of that door? Is it a closet with lots of cool things on the floor? Or is it a bedroom with sweet-smelling socks that are easy to reach?
WHAT YOU SHOULD DO: Close all doors that lead to trouble. The best thing to do is close all doors except for the room you are in. If your dog is having behavior problems, he should be supervised at all times.

THERE IS ONE MORE VERY IMPORTANT THING TO DO!

3. Look at the furniture in your house. Do you have furniture that is appealing to a chew-happy dog? Most furniture is. Are the legs made out of tasty wood? Does the sofa have an inviting, tempting upholstery (the cloth or leather that covers your couch)?

WHAT YOU SHOULD DO: Decide with all of your family that you will not leave your puppy alone in the house until he is grown up (maybe as old asa 2 years) and knows his manners. You will not leave him alone even for an hour. If you leave the house, you will put your dog into a crate, a pen, a bathroom or utility room, or leave him outside.

Give your dog things to play with and lots of acceptable things to chew on. Puppies really like interactive toys like Kongs, and food cubes as well. Don't forget to give your pup lots of exercise, too. Good luck, it will take lots of patience, but it will end eventually.