DOG Training TOYS

Chewing is among the most common problems I see as a dog trainer.

As with all problems, it is important to understand why your dog does what he does. When it comes to chewing, the answer is really quite basic: Chewing is a very natural behavior for dogs. Many dogs chew because they are bored. They chew because they are teething. Sometimes they chew because of separation anxiety or because they have been given inappropriate items to chew on by their owners. Dogs chew due to inadequate or improper diet and finally, they chew because they like to.
Remember, dogs are intelligent and are especially inquisitive when they’re puppies. Plus, they do not have hands. This is an important point. Think about how often a one- or two-year-old child exploring his new environment touches things. Since the dog does not have hands, when he explores he will taste and chew. This is very normal behavior.
The bottom line on chewing is that you are not going to stop your dog from chewing.
It is just not reasonable or realistic to expect otherwise. So, if you can’t eliminate this problem, what can you do? The answer is to redi¬rect it. In this chapter you will learn how to teach your dog to chew on the proper things, as opposed to improper items like your furniture, clothing, etc.
The real key to addressing problem chewing is to strongly fixate your dog on chewing the correct items. If you can get your dog to chew on the proper items 70 percent more than he does right now, then your dog is going to chew 70 percent less on the improper items. That, cou¬pled with things like proper exercise, proper diet and making some of the unacceptable items less available, as well as teaching your dog what not to…