Dog chewing can be a destructive habit, although quite normal in the puppy stages. A part of a puppy’s natural development is to chew things especially when teething, as it soothes their gums. Try offering suitable toys or treats specifically designed for play and developing teeth.

By the time your puppy enter into the mature stage as a dog, most have grown out of the chewing behaviour, while others can take a bit longer or never grow out of it. It may be difficult to know what to do to stop your dog from chewing everything in sight. It’s very disheartening to find a trail of destruction around the backyard when you arrive home.

Dog chewing that’s destructive in nature, may be a result of boredom, stress or being lonely. Dogs require stimulation during the time you’re away. Much like a child, when they are ignored they tend to get into trouble, if enough suitable activities or attention is not provided.

Things to consider when your dog has to entertain itself, remove items that your dog can easily obtain, place items out of reach or restrict your dog from a particular area so that they have only their toys available to them. Offer a chewy treat during the day or a treat with another food inside it. Providing your dog with mental stimulation is the key.

Try catching your dog in the act of chewing and firmly instruct your dog that this behaviour is unacceptable.

Offering mental and physical stimulation like taking them for a walk, practise obedience training that combines exercise and command teaching. Be consistent with your commands and offer rewards for good behaviour.

Physically reprimanding for dog chewing will do more harm than good and may increase their anxiety. Make sure you have an ample supply of safe pet toys to keep your dog entertained. Rotate them to give added interest.

When all else fails seek the advice from your vet who may be able to advise you about the correct use of a spray to stop your dog chewing the wrong things. This spray is made up of a bitter apple taste that dogs find disgusting and will quickly associate the bad taste with that particular item and leave it alone.

Ultimately you’ll need some patience, perseverance, a supply of safe toys and treats for your dog to chew, and long energy busting walks. By keeping your dog active, entertained and healthy together with some obedience training your dog should grow out of the dog chewing phase and you’ll no longer have to worry about what mischief they might be getting up to.