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Wow...sorry that picture is enormous! Apparently I don't know how to resize pics!
I can share how I trained Junior Mink, but this was stuff I did when he was a baby...10 weeks to four months.
When he was a baby, every time he went to chew something that wasn't a toy, I'd gently and cheerfully announce that it was time to get a toy and I'd lead him to his toy box. When he got a little older, I switched to using the "aght-aght" sound and telling him to get a toy.
He's four now and he has "key time" every morning and evening...he trots over to his toy bin, picks out his Nylabone keys, and settles own for a good chew session. :)
I don't know if we were just lucky or is his being a pretty agreeable golden retriever is a factor. Probably both!
My dog chewed my Cesar Milan book so I don't know for sure...
But what does she chew on? If it's shoes and stuff you need to just hide them until she grows out of it. I know there are some things you can spray on couches and stuff to make it taste bad, I don't know what it's called I'm sorry. Our dog used to chew the corner of this rug on the staircase so I poured red pepper flakes all over that spot... he stopped :) I think it's just a matter of being patient, providing lots of chewies and saying something before they even start chewing. If he so much as looks at your shoe give him a loud no! Good luck with your new pup :)
@Dandelion D: Is your dog chewing when you're gone? When we first got our dog, she would chew inappropriate things when we weren't around, even when we went to bed. So we would crate her at those times. Now she is good when we're sleeping, but we still can't leave her alone out of the crate because she will chew inappropriate things, even if we're only gone for 30 minutes.
I have a dog that would chew furniture, and i rubbed hot sauce on every thing and he stopped that. (i tried vinegar first and that did not work) As for shoes and other objects we just have to make sure the house is all picked up so he doesn't have anything to chew. Prolly not much help, but that's what I do.
So cute! I just say keep giving her toys as a substitute, find something she likes
@mink: I like the idea of getting her a basket with her own chew toys in it. We've been really selective about what toys she has since we also have a 3 year old and don't want her to get confused on what toys are okay for her and what toys aren't. Having her own "toy box" would help reinforce what's her's and what's not. Thanks!
@cvbee: She is crated when we are gone and at night. She's taken to the crate training beautifully. The problem is when she's allowed in the house. We keep things picked up and bedroom and bathroom doors closed so she has less temptation.
She literally will chew on anything at all. She loves shoes and it's not enough that we keep the ones we are wearing put away. If you stand still too long, sometimes she'll start gnawing on your shoe while it's still on your foot!
What about using bitter apple spray? Also, have you taught her "leave it"? The leave it command was really helpful in getting my dog to stop chewing things. She grew out of that phase by about 10-11 months, although she will still try to chew on the hearth pad in the living room when she is bored, which is super weird to watch. The toy box is a good idea, but so is rotating toys so that she has "new" toys often. Good luck! and I love the pic, she is super cute.
@belledowdy: We're going to get some of the spray and see if that helps.
How old is she? Puppies go through 2 teething stages, one around 4 months and one around 7 months (for the molars). She might just be going through her 2nd teething stage.
Have you tried getting her some elk antlers? They're like doggie crack and they don't chip off so they would be safe for a puppy to chew on. I also agree w/ PP about teaching her "leave it". Even if she is still in a teething stage, she will understand what's off limits and what's ok to chew on.
@BabyBoecksMom: She's about 6-8 months. Where do you get elk antlers??
Lots of chewy meat sticks, bitter spray on the furniture and a good, firm "no" command when you catch them chewing something they shouldnt
Oh and an update...We're working on "leave it" and she's getting a little better. But the other day she ate the bottom of her crate. Seriously...the bottom of her crate! Not a blanket, not a pad..the hard plastic bottom of the crate. In a matter of about 4 hours, she had it nearly three quarters gone!
I'm not sure what is going to make me go broke first... replacing all the things she chews or the vet bill from eating all of it!
@spaneshal: All good suggestions...unfortunately, all things that we've been doing with not much improvement from her.
Our female Pom was and is a chewer and we have just had to find the right thing for her to chew on, she is quite finicky. Try the Nylabone Durable Dental Dinosaur Chew Toy. It has points/ridges that feel good on the puppies gums during teething. If she doesn't like the typical chew toy it might be that she doesn't like the flavor. There are hollow bones available that you can fill with peanut butter and freeze, keeps the pups occupied for quite some time.
I do also recommend the toy box idea. We have a basket of puppy approved toys and they take them out when they want to. It alleviates the question of what is and isn't okay.
As for the sprays I didn't find them very helpful. My pups actually loved vinegar, go figure.
@Dandelion D: She sounds like our lab mix when we first adopted her. Honestly - it largely just takes time and patience.
Crate her when you are gone (and take out the hard plastic bottem if she destroys it). Use bitter apple spray on furniture, carpets, etc that she likes to chew. When you catch her chewing on something she shouldn't, give a firm "No" and then immeadiately give her one of her toys as a replacement.
She'll learn and grow out of it - it just takes time.
If it makes you feel any better, during our Khloe's chewing stage, she ate two different patches out of our carpet, chewed off the corner of a baseboard, ripped up two different dog beds (before we quit giving them to her), chewed on one of the supports of our dining room table, ate DH's Blackberry, chewed a couple of cords, ate a flip-flop, etc.
But she is completely trustworthy now and we can leave her out all day and she doesn't touch a thing she shouldn't.
@Dandelion D: Our lab ate the bottom of his crate as well - actually the crate is my boss's. She got a good laugh from it, and I replaced the pan with a new one. He also ate a hole in the carpet when we left him in a playpen for a day (as the crate was at my parents).
Work on leave it, try the bitter apple spray (did NOT work for us), and constant supervision.
Our 2 year old lab mix still chews the corners of the molding at random, and has chewed a few DVDs while I was at work. The other dog, a 1.5 year old lab, is far from not chewing. He eats everything, from dog beds, to carpet, molding, shoes, pillows, boxes, etc. The only thing that works with him is constant supervision and crating when I walk away.
Our dog chewed everything too; the picture window window sill, every corner of the woodwork, shoes, a leather couch, blankets, pillows, about 5 throw rugs, baby dolls, a tree outside, etc, etc, etc. You should have seen what the yard looked like because everything she chewed had to come out eventually. Nothing worked for her! We have chewy bones, toys, etc. We taught her "leave it", she actually liked thehot sauce, bitter apple, etc. We had to just keep with the crating her when we were gone and monitoring her always. Eventually, she grew up (about 18 months) and just stopped chewing things.
After our 1 1/2 year old dog (that we got at 9 months old) chewed two holes in our brand new couch, we invested in that nasty bitter tasting spray. We also used to lay our barstools across the couch so she couldn't get on it when we weren't home. We had to be super careful to put shoes, books, ipods (yes, she chewed up one of those), cell phones, tv remotes (yep one of those, too), and all food/food related/food smelling items well away from her reach.
I really think that spray helped with the couch. She finally grew out of the chewing behavior at 2 years old, and we haven't had any problems since.
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FI and I are suckers for animals that need a home. In early December, we rescued a new puppy. She's super sweet and we love her but the problem is that she chews on everything! And I mean EVERYTHING!
I should mention that we are no strangers to dogs. We have both always had dogs. We have two other dogs and a cat currently. FI used to work in the k9 and animal control departments with the police department so he's excellent working with dogs. We both know a puppy is a lot of work and knew what we were getting into. She gets tons of regular exercise and we try to keep her busy and wear her out. She has a variety of rawhides and chew toys (none of which look even remotely like anything that she isn't supposed to chew on.) She has puzzles to get her treats out of. She's a very fast learner when it comes to everything except not chewing on stuff. She has an excellent temperment and is super smart. Her teeth are also in great condition.
We've literally used every trick in the book that we know about but nothing is working. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!! Thanks in advance!
Oh...and just because she's so cute, here's a pic of our Lily. She's going to be a huge dog. She is about 6 or 8 months old and here she is next to our 65 pound pitbull/chocolate lab mix: