Puppies for Sale. These were not your run of the mill puppies, these were yellow Labrador Retriever puppies, in my opinion the kindest breed of dog known to man. I took a brand new Lab puppy home that day. I am like many of you who are suckered into such rash purchases. We fail to realize the many training challenges that we must deal with in our puppy training. One of the those challenges is problem chewing.
Chewing is natural to puppies and itis very normal. Although chewing is normal, it is not acceptable, and it is critical to address chewing problems early in your puppy training to avoid a chewing puppy from growing into a chewing dog. Here are 5 tips to avoid unwanted chewing:
- Give your new puppy a number of chews toys to play with and to chew. Scented and flavored chew toys work very well with puppies. These can be found in any pet store. Always encourage your puppy to play with these toys during your playtime with the puppy and praise him for chewing on his new toys.
- Make sure to puppy proof the area where the puppy will spend most of his time. Keep anything that can possibly be chewed out of the puppy's reach. Make sure the chew toys are placed in the area.
- If you catch your puppy chewing on an item such as a chew or furniture, replace distract the puupy by giving him one of his chew toys and then praise the puppy for play with the chew toy.
- You can also use products such as bitter apple that taste bad to the puppy and will discorage unwanted chewing.
- As with any puppy training, consistency is important. It is difficult to keep your anger under control during this phase of training your puppy especially when your puppy is chewing an item that is important to you. Get your emotions under control, briefly scold your puppy with the all important command "No", immediately give your puppy one of his chew toys, and as he plays with the chew toy give him praise. Let a bit of time pass before praising him so the puppy associates the positive reiforcement with chewing the toy and not your new running shoes.
problem chewing during this phase of your puppy training..