Posts Tagged ‘Dog Chewing’
How to Protect Your Valuable Furniture From Your New Puppy
Protecting new furniture doesn’t simply happen by chance, when dealing with a puppy.You must pay attention, if you want to avert your sofa cushions from getting chewed, or have the corner of your wooden table gnawed on.
Teaching a method, that still meets your puppy’s needs, is foremost for stopping puppy chewing.It is consoling for your puppy to chew on furniture as he is growing in new teeth.Your dog doesn’t do this because he’s bad.
To eliminate pain from teething, puppies gnaw. Plus they chew to relieve boredom.You can still allow your puppy to chew while using a method to stop puppy chewing, since allowing him to amuse himself is very important.
Make sure that you take inventory of things your puppy likes to chew on, and then buy toys with similar textures.
Buy plush toys, if your puppy seems to love tearing soft things, like pillows.You might consider buying a variety of hard, plastic toys if your puppy likes to chew on harder things, like sticks or rocks.These types of toys can be purchased at any pet store, or at websites like Petsmart.com.
After you’ve stocked up on a variety of toys it’s time to put them to work.Place toys beside furniture you are worried about. Put the plush toys next to the pillows.Place harder toys next to table legs and things like that.
If you have to, you might also consider limiting how much free access your dog has to your home as well.You might find it easier to concentrate on one room at a time, rather than the whole house, when teaching your puppy the things that are not ok to chew on.
Next, you will want to train your dog in what’s called replacement behavior.Look for when he is about to go and chew on something. When you notice your dog going to chew something simply say “No” in a firm voice and give your dog the toy that is the best replacement.
There is an added benefit of preventing your puppy from developing food aggression or becoming possessive of resources, because this method does not rely on punishing your puppy.
Your dog will learn that you accept his desire to chew on some things and not on others with repletion.Most dogs will be more than happy to chew on their toys, instead of your furniture, as long as you stay stocked up in toys.
It may take a month or two to train using this process.Be consistent; your furniture will thank you for it.