If you have a puppy that is teething you might be noticing that your pup just can’t get his teeth off of everything.
Yes, this might be annoying but have no fear as we uncover and guide you on how to stop a teething puppy from chewing everything!
Why Do Puppies Chew?
Before we tackle how to stop a teething puppy from chewing everything, we first have to understand why puppies and dogs chew on objects in the first place!
Puppies and dogs alike chew simply because its a natural behavior for them! Chewing for puppies and dogs is a simple way to past time, much in the same way that watching tv is a past time for us.
What Is Teething In Puppies
When answering the question of how to stop a teething puppy from chewing everything you fist have to understand what teething is in puppies.
Teething in your puppy is completely normal, but if you’re wondering what is teething in puppies? Teething in puppies is the process where your puppy starts to lose his puppy teeth and is beginning to replace them with adult dog teeth
Puppies usually begin teething and bringing in their adult teeth between the ages of 3 months and 4 months, by the time that your puppy is 6 months all of your puppies adult teeth should have grown in already.
Puppies who are teething mainly chew because of their new adult teeth growing in, having to lose and grow new teeth can be an uncomfortable process so your puppy may result in chewing, nipping and more!
To alleviate the discomfort of your teething puppy and make teething an effortless experience we will uncover the proper steps to take so that your teething puppy has the smoothest transition as well as how to stop a teething puppy from chewing everything!
Helping Your Teething Puppy
Now that you know that your puppy is teething here are simple but effective ways to tackle the issue of how to stop a teething puppy from chewing everything and make better decisions when picking what to chew on.
Training Supplies
Before we start we have to first gather up the supplies we will be using to help teach how to stop a teething puppy from chewing everything.
The goal of getting these supplies is simply to ensure that we set your puppy up to be as successful as possible
Crate
The first training supply you will need is a dog crate if you don’t already have one. A dog crate is great especially when teaching your puppy to build good habits
Playpen
The second training supply you will need is a playpen for your puppy.
The playpen is a great training supply because you can let your puppy feel included while not allowing your puppy the opportunity to get into trouble in the house while you’re not looking!
Chew toys
We already know that chewing is a natural behavior for both your puppy and your dog.
It’s only right that before we can start showing your teething puppy what objects are and are not appropriate we first have to select appropriate chewing toys!
Picking Out Right Chew Toys
When answering the question of how to stop a teething puppy from chewing everything we recommend picking out a variety of different chew toys for your teething puppy.
That way if your puppy prefers chewing on a specific kind of material over the other you can satisfy your puppy’s needs.
The different kind of materials that they have for chew toys are:
Plush:
one way to begin tackling the issue of how to stop a teething puppy from chewing everything is to give your puppy suitable alternatives like plush
Plush is a soft material that allows your puppy to sink his teeth into and get gratification from tearing up something so soft.
One plush chew toy we recommend are go dogs just for me because the toy is soft and has many different soft options for your teething dogs needs “goDog Just for Me TRex with Chew Guard”
Puzzle Toys:
Puzzle toys are great because it makes your puppy work for what he wants!
If your puppy is teething the puzzle toy will provide your puppy with mental stimulation as well as the obstacle of figuring out the puzzle to get to the reward!
Some puzzle toys we recommend are
and
Pig Ears:
Pigs ears are great options for your puppies selection of chew toys, pig ears are great simply because as puppies they’re firm enough to keep your puppy entertained so your puppy doesn’t just gobble them up in a couple of bites.
Pig ears not only smell good but taste good for your teething puppy.
Some are packs with protein and of course like all chewing it also helps the teeth by reducing tartar in the gums and teeth a brand we recommend is :
Lucy’s Top Choice Whole Pigs Ears
Nyla bone
are another good option that sits on the harder end of the spectrum when it comes to chew toys for your puppy.
Nyla bones are not only good chew toys for hardcore chewers, but also helps with cleaning your dog’s teeth by scraping tarter off of them those tiny teeth.
the Nyla bones chew toys come in a variety of shapes sizes and even flavors to keep your teething puppy interested in his new chew toy!
Some great Nyla bones are
Benebone Real Flavor Wishbone Dog Chew Toy, Made in USA
and
Benebone Puppy Dog Chew Toy, Softer for Modest Chewers, Made in USA
Specialty Teething Chew Toys
Then there are of course the soft rubber chew toys that are made specifically for the issue on how to stop a teething puppy from chewing everything some good ones are:
and of course
which brings in a variety of different chew toys and pack it all into one!
Now that we prepared and understand the different kinds of chew toys you will need to get your teething puppy lets begin teaching your puppy what objects are and are not appropriate to chew on.
Teaching Your Puppy What Objects Are And Are Not Appropriate To Chew On.
When uncovering how to stop a teething puppy from chewing everything, we want to show your pup what objects are and are not appropriate to chew.
We want to do this early on so we ensure that your puppy doesn’t go out and about “testing” which objects he should chew on.
Using The Crate
In the beginning, we will be using your puppy crate initially to start managing your puppy so that your pup doesn’t get into any trouble without us knowing.
The easiest way to crate train your puppy is by making the crate a positive experience so that your puppy enjoys being in the crate.
For more information on how to crate train, your puppy read our crate training article here
The crate will play a major role in how to stop a teething puppy from chewing everything!
Once your puppy is comfortable being in the crate here are some rules to follow:
Limit Freedom
When you are going about how to stop a teething puppy from chewing everything you want to set your pup to succeed.
To do this First, to teach your puppy what your pup can chew on we want to prevent your puppy from practicing behaviors you don’t want your pup to do.
To do this and start building good habits while preventing bad habits from arising, you want to leave your puppy in the crate whenever your puppy isn’t under your direct supervision.
While leaving your puppy in the crate you want to give your puppy one of his chew toys, doing this will ensure that your puppy gets into the habit of chewing his chew toys instead of getting the gratification of chewing an inappropriate object.
Early on when tacking the issue of how to stop a teething puppy from chewing everything you want to limit the amount of freedom you give your puppy to prevent your pup from creating bad habits and making any bad decisions.
Play-Pen
Another great way to start teaching your puppy good habits is by using a playpen.
A playpen is a great way to let your puppy feel included in what you’re doing without allowing your puppy to chew things he’s not supposed to!
Essentially whenever you feel like laying down and not pay too much mind to your puppy you should put him in the playpen.
What goes in a playpen?
A chew toy, a puzzle toy, and a pet bed. you want to keep your puppy entertained in the playpen so that your puppy not only enjoys being inside the playpen but your puppy isn’t bored!
By providing your puppy with chew toys in the playpen you will start teaching your puppy to chew on his chew toys while being around everyday objects that you don’t want your pup to chew on like furniture.
Essentially what we are teaching your puppy is to get accustomed to chewing his toys while learning that objects such as furniture aren’t chewing toys.
What To Do If My Teething Puppy Chews Everything
We now know what to do when initially teaching a puppy what to chew on, but how do you stop a puppy that has already had a taste for furniture?
If your puppy has already been chewing on inappropriate objects like your furniture Here are some additional steps to take aside from the ones stated above.
Catch In The Act
When it comes to dogs and puppies they cant make the connection between something that your puppy did ten minutes ago and the punishment that you give your pup 10 minutes later.
Since dogs and humans don’t speak the same language you always want to catch your puppy in the act once you catch your puppy in the act you then want to practice the next step.
Redirect
So you caught your puppy in the act of chewing something he isn’t supposed to what do you do now?
Once you physically catch your puppy in the act of chewing an inappropriate object you want to redirect your puppy on to an appropriate object.
The simplest way to redirect your puppy is to say “no” in a firm voice, after taking your puppy off of the inappropriate object and then present him with your pups chew toy.
Essentially what we are communicating to your puppy is “no you can’t chew on the chair leg but you can chew on this instead” providing your puppy with an alternative outlet for his chewing behavior.
You want to practice this whenever your puppy is attempting to chew an object he isn’t supposed to.
As puppy owners are aware that many of what raising a puppy is about is redirection. Your puppy doesn’t know anything so it’s our job as their owners to guide our puppies and teach our pups what is and isn’t acceptable behavior.
Raising a puppy you will find yourself doing a lot of “ not this but this, don’t do that do this” you want to be aware of what your puppy puts his time and energy into.
The more your puppy practices a behavior the more it will become a habit.
My Teething Puppy Doesn’t Like His Toys
If you find that your puppy is just fixated on chewing your furniture instead of your puppies toys here’s what to do
First, you want to ensure that you are not giving your puppy access to all his toys all the time.
That means if you have all your puppies toys laying around for his choosing you want to pick all of the toys up.
Once you picked all the toys up you want to then give your puppy just one of the toys.
The reason for taking away all your puppy’s toys and just allowing your pup to only get access to one chew toy at a time is simply because the more your puppy has access to all his toys all the time the less valuable the toy is to your puppy!
That brings us to our next point
Rotate Toys
Now that your puppy’s toys are not being viewed as a commodity by your pup you want to start the rotate technique.
In short all you want to do every time you notice that your puppy is becoming bored of his current chew toy is simply swap your puppy’s current chew toy for your pups other toys that you conveniently picked up in our last step.
Once you show your puppy the new chew toy, make it enticing, wiggle the toy, make it “run” and show your pup how much fun his “old-new” toy is.
Essentially to your puppy, the rotated toy that you gave him will seem like new simply because your puppy no longer has access to all the toys whenever your pup wants.
Bonus
the steps above should solve the issue of your teething pup chewing everything but here are some ways to aid in deterring your teething pup from chewing everything.
Mental And Physical Exercise
Providing your puppy with sufficient mental and physical exercise will prevent numerous behavioral issues from arising.
You probably heard the phrase “a tired dog is a happy dog” well its true a puppy that is satisfied both physically and mentally will display significantly less behavioral issues.
That means less chewing!
Some good ways to provide your puppy with physical exercise and mental stimulation are playing fetch.
Playing fetch will tire your pup out giving your puppy physical exercise while having fun with you!
After your pup is tired from playing I recommend putting your puppy in the crate or the playpen and giving your puppy a puzzle toy.
Giving your puppy a puzzle toy after he has gotten exercise will provide your pup mental stimulation.
What happens next? Your puppy will probably take a nap after being both physically and mentally satisfied.
Build Good Habits
Now the last portion when teaching your puppy how to stop chewing on everything is to build good habits!
Let’s face it nobody wants to constantly tell their puppy to “ stop that, no, don’t do that” we all want our puppy to know, and the only way to ensure that your puppy “knows” what the rule is, is through consistency and structure!
Now that you have the tools to stop a teething puppy from chewing everything the next step is combining everything we learned into one and create a structured routine that will build good habits in your puppy
Structure And Routine
Everyones routine may vary and be a little different but overall you want your routine to be structured and consistent
Routine to Build good habits and stop chewing
7:00 AM Potty Walk
8:00 AM Feed
8:30 AM Crate with chew toy
10:00 AM Potty
10:30 AM Play / Walk
11:30 AM Play-Pen with Puzzle toy
1:30 PM Potty
Etc…
The whole concept is to manage what your puppy put his time and energy into.
As puppy owners are aware that behavior that gets practiced doesn’t go away over time it only gets stronger.
Continuously practiced behavior will ultimately become a habit so prevent your puppy from practicing behaviors you don’t want and give your puppy opportunities to practice behaviors you do like.
Conclusion
Consistency goes a very long way, especially with puppies.
You are essentially molding your puppy into the adult dog that your pup will become start creating good habits early on and prevent your puppy from learning bad habits!
This guide was created to simply help you and your puppy build better habits and take your relationship to the next level.
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