Prevent your puppy from chewing on the furniture with dog behaviorist’s tip

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By Chaitra Krishnamurthy

24 July 2024

Bringing home a new puppy is a huge responsibility and requires a lot of preparation. However, you couldn’t be prepared enough to stop your new pet from chewing on things.

Just like baby blues, a common occurrence among women after giving birth, pet parents experience “puppy blues”. Even though the condition isn’t permanent, you could reduce its impact on your well-being by teaching your dog the right behavior.

Dog behaviorist’s two tips to stop puppy chewing

All puppies chew on things while growing up. It’s a common instinct in dogs that’s possible to fix. The behavior does subside in most dogs with age, but it can be extremely dangerous when they are younger if not trained.

Aside from destroying valuables like your favorite shoes or couch, your pooch could feed on things that could cause health consequences. Therefore, it’s important to mend your dog’s behavior as soon as possible. Dog psychologist and behaviorist, Steve Del Savio, offers two tips to stop puppy chewing

Plenty of exercise and challenges

We get it. All you want to do when you bring a puppy home is snuggle and pet. But lack of exercise is one of the biggest reasons they turn to things to chew on.

The dog behaviorist says you must ensure your dog gets plenty of exercise as it helps the animal burn the pent-up energy.

“Make sure your puppy or dog is getting sufficient exercise. Instead of focusing on touching and petting and baby talking, let’s make sure the puppy or dog is getting enough exercise,” he suggests.

If you’re a working parent with little time to dedicate to your dog, get a trainer or consider a daycare to keep them active when you aren’t home.

@packleaderdogs

Where humans tend to make an error, in my humble opinion, is that they spend puppyhood focused on things like excitement, excessive petting, and allowing the puppy to invade their space. After a few weeks of teaching the puppy that excitement/arousal is preferred, affection doesn’t need to be earned, and the space of humans doesn’t need to be respected, a lot of bad associations have been created. That’s when I get the call about the mouthy puppy, the puppy guarding food/toys, the puppy who is too hyper, the puppy being destructive, and so on. I receive many comments and messages asking me when the best time to start training a puppy is. The answer always, “from the moment you meet them.” Whether it’s intentional or not, training is happening from the moment you meet a dog, especially a puppy. The puppy is learning right away if you are a leader or a follower. They are learning right away if you are calm or not. They are learning right away if your space is to be respected or something that can be invaded as they please. They are learning what they can put their mouth on and what they can’t. Most people spend puppyhood being excited, talking in a baby voice, and allowing the puppy to practice unhealthy behaviors. They see training as something you do for a little bit of time, when in reality, training is happening the entire time from the moment you meet the puppy. It’s just whether or not the human knows how to teach the puppy what to do and what not to do based on their psychology. That takes knowledge, time, and patience. Instead of focusing on petting, baby talk, constantly touching the puppy, and giving attention to mindsets that are not ideal, I suggest focusing on exercise (physical and mental), leadership, and giving attention/affection when puppy is calm or doing ideal behaviors we want to reinforce long term.

♬ original sound – Pack Leader Dogs

Teaching them ‘no’ command is important

A puppy wouldn’t know what it’s chewing on, it’s your responsibility to teach your dog that it has access to limited things – ones that wouldn’t hurt or cause health hazards.

So, if you catch your puppy chewing on something unacceptable, you should ensure it understands the “no” command and use the opportunity to redirect its focus to another thing that’s safe to chew on, like a chew toy or a bone.

However, don’t surprise your puppy with one too many toys as the dog behaviorist strictly recommends against the common gesture among dog parents. In another video, Steve talks about the ideal number of toys you should give your dog to reduce anxiety and distraction.

Steve Del Savio is a dog psychology and behavior expert with over 15 years of experience. He is the Owner & Founder of Pack Leader Dogs, who has turned his passion for animals and their behavior into a flourishing career in dog training, according to the official website.

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