How to Get your Puppy to Stop Chewing!
by Dan Salb
There’s nothing as wonderful – or as exhausting – as a new puppy! It’s like turning a mini Tasmanian Devil loose in your house – one that messes, chews and destroys until he simply falls over for a nap! Then, once he’s refreshed, he potties on the nearest carpet and chews the leg on your antique table!
Sound familiar? I get so many calls from new puppy owners – desperate to start obedience training their cute whirlwind. And everyone is shocked when I advise AGAINST formal training for puppies!
Obedience training classes for puppies is like algebra and statistics for preschoolers – the information is fantastic, but the audience is just NOT THERE YET! There are puppy kindergarten classes – but these are primarily a place for the pup to play and socialize, sort of like taking your preschooler to the park to burn off steam.
Worried your house won’t survive the puppy months? Never fear! There are simple things you can do, at home, TODAY – that will help transform your wild pup into the dog of your dreams!
First of all, if your pup is messing and chewing all over your house, all day long: STOP WHAT YOU ARE DOING AND GO PURCHASE A DOG CRATE! This is NOT jailing your dog, this is containing a young pup who doesn’t know right from wrong – for his protection and for the protection of your home!
Having a young pup running loose in your home is comparable to dropping off a Dennis-the-Menace type toddler in your kitchen, then going to your room and taking a nap. Just take a minute and envision the ensuing disaster. Dennis immediately pulls all the food out of fridge and lower drawers, starts playing with the cutlery, turns the water on and lets it over-flow the sink, then starts screaming when he jabs the fork into the electrical outlet. And who’s responsible for this horrific disaster? The 2-year old child - or the adult who left him unsupervised? {Hint: it’s NOT the kid!}
Your puppy is that Dennis-the-Menace toddler! He needs to be safe – which means unless he is DIRECTLY supervised he’s in his safe, comfy crate. At all times. Period.
The crate should give your pup room to stand up, turn around, and lie down – but not much bigger. Pup’s won’t mess on their bed, so they’ll wait to relieve themselves until you take them outside – which you’ll do promptly EACH and EVERY time you remove them from the crate. [See my Housebreaking Article]. Larger crates can be made smaller until the pup grows into the full space.
Puppies explore the world with their mouths. It’s the natural way for them to learn and discover, very similar to a baby. The pup doesn’t understand the difference between a rubber bone and your new i-phone – they both taste good!
This is where your CONSTANT VIGILANCE comes into play! You understand the learning equation: Action plus Memory equals Desire. Every action the pup takes creates a memory. If it’s a good memory he’s more likely to repeat the action, if it’s a bad memory he’s less likely to repeat it.
Think about that equation. That means if you simply take away the i-phone and replace it with the bone, you’ve created a POSITIVE memory! Pup has gotten YOUR attention AND he’s gotten a bone! Uh-oh, your i-phone is now in constant danger! (Yes, keeping your phone safely out of danger’s way is smart, too – but can you guarantee to ALWAYS have it put away? And how do you put away your baseboards?)
To follow the equation, you need to create a NEGATIVE memory. This does NOT mean you harm or scare your pup – just like beating a toddler for reaching towards the bleach, hurting your pup is ABUSE.
Instead, you create a simple negative memory. Take the phone away, say “NO” sharply, tug on the leash sharply, or flick his nose with your finger, or spray him with water – whatever feels most natural to you. Then give him his toy, and when he starts chewing on it, scratch his ears and give him POSITIVE attention.
See how that works? Chew on the phone – negative attention. Chew on his toy – positive attention! Constant Vigilance is the key – when you can’t give him that, put him in his crate for some quiet time.
One last note about toys – it’s a natural thing to give your new baby so many toys you can’t take a safe step. Don’t. Like small children, too many choices will leave Pup bored. Give him one or two toys at a time, and rotate them to keep them interesting!
