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How to Stop Your Puppy’s Chewing

Updated 01/08/2024: If you have a puppy in your life you know that puppies will chew on everything.  Your shoes, a toy, the furniture, pretty much anything they can get their months on.  Although this is normal behavior for puppies, it does not mean you need to let them use your furniture as a teething ring.

Join us as we explore ways on how to stop your puppy’s chewing.

Why do dogs chew?

Chewing is a natural behavior for dogs.  Most dogs will have the desire to chew all their lives. The instinct to chew can be traced back thousands of years when dogs had to chew through bones to survive.  That instinct lives on in dogs today.

Puppies chew mainly because their teeth are coming in and it hurts. Chewing helps relieve some of that pain. Puppy “teething” tends to be at its worst between 1 to 8 weeks and again at 4 to 6 months. Although puppies will outgrow the teething stage, they may continue to be a destructive chewer if not properly corrected.

How to Stop Your Puppy’s  Chewing

Obsessive chewing may be caused by other issues like separation anxiety, hunger, or being weaned before seven weeks old. Each of these issues will have different remedies. For the purpose of this post we are going to stick with teething as the reason for chewing since it is the most common cause of destructive chewing with puppies.

Although our 4 month old puppy has toys to chew, she prefers the table’s leg. She is very sneaky about it.  She will lay next to my feet during dinner. When no one is watching she starts chewing on the table leg.  You can see the damage she did in only a few days.

Black and white puppy next to chewed table leg in How to Stop Your Puppy’s  Chewing

The Puppy Blues – Dealing with a new puppy can be hard, especially if you are a first time puppy parent.  It’s common to feel like you made a mistake. Let’s face it puppies generally come untrained, can’t understand you and don’t know the rules of the house.  But it does get better. It’s important to understand that you are not alone.  Check out my post on Puppy Blues: Dealing with Regret to see how I managed my own puppy blues.

How to Stop Your Puppy’s  Chewing

Stop Your Puppy’s Destructive Chewing

In order to stop your puppy’s destructive chewing you need to use a three prong solution:

  • Prevention
  • Deterrents
  • Positive Corrections

1. Preventative actions

Keep the place tidy

The best way to stop your puppy’s chewing from destroying your belongings is to keep your puppy away from them.  Objects like shoes, furniture, electrical cords or children’s toys should be picked up and placed out of your puppy’s reach. 

Don’t forget to puppy proof your home before your puppy gets hurt. For a list of dangerous items and areas you might not think of, go to Puppy Proofing Your Home – 10 Silent Dangers

Limit where they can roam

Do not give your puppy the run of the house if they are unsupervised.

When we first brought Bella home we knew that with two young kids there was no way we would be able to keep the entire house neat all the time.  So instead we confined her to the kitchen.  It is the place where we spend most of our time, so it made sense that she should be there too. At night she was placed in her crate in our bedroom. She was only allowed in other parts of the house when someone was watching her.

Slowly, as she learned her doggy manners and became housebroken we started to open up other areas of the house for her to roam.  If she broke any rules like chewing on something she shouldn’t, she was then restricted back to the kitchen.

2. Use Deterrents to Stop Your Puppy’s Chewing

There are just some items that you can’t place out of your puppy’s reach, like the table or floor molding.  Yep, our previous pup Molly decided to chew the floor molding. For these items you can either use a barrier to keep them from reaching the object, a bitter tasting spray or my favorite, a water gun.

Yes, I just said a water gun.  Just a small one will do.  Another option is to carry a spray bottle.  Every time you catch them chewing on something they shouldn’t, spray them with a little water.   This option worked great for our Golden Retriever rescue who liked to counter surf.   However, it only works if you catch them in the act.

A word on deterrent sprays

Just like people, dogs have different likes and dislikes.  One bitter spray may have a different taste and smell then another one. There is no way of knowing which one will work for your puppy without trying them. With that said there are a few products that seem to work better than others.  While none of the sprays recommended work 100% of the time, these sprays have at least a 64% approval rating.

Deterrent Spray Options

PRO Anti Chew Spray For Dogs / Puppies – 68% approval rating

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PRO Anti Chew Spray for Dogs & Puppies by Emmy’s Best is the only chewing deterrent that is alcohol free. Although not as widely known as the Bitter Apple sprays, people who use Pro Anti Chew have a higher approval rating.  The PRO Anti Chew Spray for Dogs & Puppies by Emmy’s Best is available at Amazon.com

Pro Anti Chew Spray combines a patient bitter agent with Tea Tree Oil to discourage chewing.  They also include an interactive training program to eliminate chewing in 14 days.

It is safe to use on furniture, clothing, shoes, flooring, and more.  This made in the USA spray includes an unconditional 1 year 100% satisfaction guarantee.

Grannick’s Bitter Apple Original Dog Spray – 64% approval rating

Grannick’s Bitter Apple Original Dog Spray is often recommended by dog lovers as a safe and effective chew deterrent. 

The original spray was invented at Grannick’s Pharmacy at the request of a customer whose dog became nervous before shows and would lick and chew his coat. 

This made in the USA spray has a combination of bitter apple and Isopropanol (rubbing alcohol) taste that deters chewing.

Grannick’s Bitter Apple Original Dog Spray can be found at Amazon.com

Tip: The sprays may not work the first time. It could take a few applications before your pup realizes that the item is always going to taste bad.

3. Use Positive Corrections to Stop Your Puppy’s Chewing

A positive correction is when you replace an unwanted behavior (like chewing on your shoes) with an acceptable behavior.  We have tried many types of safe chewables with varying results.  In fact she might love something one day and be disinterested in it the next. 

Here are a few that have worked for us.

Carrots

Our puppy loves clean fresh carrots. In fact, whenever she sees the carrot bag come out she waits patiently hoping for a piece to come her way. The downside to giving her carrots is that as she gets older it takes her less time to eat them. 

You can freeze the carrots to make them harder to chew and by default also take longer to eat. Whether fresh or frozen, make sure that you cut the pieces large enough to prevent choking (don’t use baby carrots) and limit the amount you give so it does not interfere with their main meals.

Hymalayan Dog Chew


Hymalayan Dog Chew is available at Amazon.com

What is it? These 100% all natural hard cheese chew snacks are made from Yak and Cow’s milk with a little salt and lime juice.  Made in the Himalayan Mountains they contain no preservatives and are completely consumable.    Because these tasty treats are so hard it takes a long time for my dog to eat it.   Although not completely made in the USA (since it is from the Himalayans) these treats are processed and tested in the USA.

Tip: Never allow your dog to chew anything into a small enough piece that they can choke on or create an obstruction if swallowed.

Kong

The USA made Kong comes in a variety of shapes and sizes. You can fill the inside of the Kong with a thin layer of  peanut butter, canned pumpkin, soft cheese or dog treats for hours of entertainment. Try freezing the filled Kong to make the filling last longer.

We have the original cone shaped Kong in large from our previous dog and small Kong for our puppy.  When deciding on which size Kong to get, check to see if the opening is too big for your puppy. Your puppy should not be able to get his lower jaw into the Kong’s opening. It may get stuck.

The Kong is a classic dog toy that has been around a long time.  Our first Kong lasted the entire life of our spaniel which was 15 years.  We still have it.  Most dogs love the Kong. The down side of the Kong is that it is a little difficult to clean.  Use warm soapy water and a bottle brush to clean out any food residue that gets stuck.

Size Matters

When choosing any toy for your puppy, consider the size of your pup compared to the size of the toy.  Small toys are dangerous for large puppies that may be able to swallow it or break it apart if they can place the whole toy in their month. Large toys may be impossible for a small pup to play with.

Everlasting Treat Bento Ball Starmark

Starmark Everlasting Bento Ball with Dental Treat in Orange

Everlasting Treat Bento Ball Starmark can be found at Amazon.com

The Everlasting Treat Bento Ball is a soft rubber half ball with a space for the Everlasting hard edible chew on one side and a pocket to add your own small treats on the other. The rubber is free of latex, vinyl and phthalates and is dishwasher safe making it easy to keep clean. The purpose of the toy is to engage dogs to chew on the soft outside while trying to get to the hard flavored chew inside. There are nubs on the outside of the ball that gently cleans and massages the gums.

Everlasting Treat with Dental Ridges

The Bento Ball we purchased came with the Everlasting Treat with Dental Ridges. Although not truly everlasting the hard chew does last awhile as long as it remains in the ball.  Once the treat is out of the ball it is fairly easily to eat. We love this toy because the soft outer ball is easy on our puppy’s teeth, while the hard inside satisfies her need to gnaw on something.

The first week Bella had the ball she kept working on getting to the hard chew on and off until she finally wore down the raised ridges on the chew.  If you have an aggressive chewer it may take less time to get to the treat. 

So, if you want to stop your puppy’s destructive chewing follow the three prong solution laid out in this post.  It worked for us.   

Replacement treats for the Everlasting Treat with Dental Ridges can be found at Amazon.com.

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