In order to protect your furniture from your dog’s jaw, we must first understand why dogs chew.
REASON 1 FOR CHEWING: TEETHING
Puppies need to chew in order to teethe and set there new permanent teeth into their jaw. (The teeth are set at about 19 months).
SOLUTION:
- You must chew toy train your dog. Give your dog appropriate things to chew on as the ONLY options.
- Marrow bones
- Frozen raw chicken wings (the bones are just fine as long as the meat is not cooked)
- Kong toys
- Nylabones
- Chilly bones (or a home made version)
- Ice cubes
- Puppy-proof your house. Get ?Bitter Apple? for electrical cords, woodwork etc.
REASON 2 FOR CHEWING: LACK OF EXERCISE
Large breed puppies need about 2 hours of aerobic activity a day. If a dog is under exercised they will try to work off some of that energy chewing.
SOLUTION:
Find a way to get your dog a lot of off leash exercise:
- Find a dog park
- Learn lots of indoor games (for example play fetch up and down the stairs)
- Look for activates that mentally stimulate your dog. (This can be exhausting too)
- Learn to play fetch
- Arrange play dates and puppy parties
(Even if you have a large yard puppies don’t tend to run and exercise themselves when left alone in the yard.)
REASON 3 FOR CHEWING: BOREDOM
If your pup is board he may well decide to pass the time chewing.
SOLUTION:
Find other activities to stimulate your dog and be sure they have plenty of ?good chews? all around:
Stimulation:
- Clicker training
- Kong toys
- Bustercubes
- Planet dog Frisbees
“Good Chews”:
- Nylabones
- Kong toys stuffed with biscuits
- Other stuffed toys
- Ice cubes
- Marrow bone (with some meat left on it)
- Frozen raw chicken wings