Overview

Dogs love to chew, and that's not necessarily a bad thing. Chewing can be a great diversion for dogs who spend parts of their days alone, as long as it's not your furniture or shoes they're chewing on. The same training that goes into teaching your dog what's okay to sink her teeth into, also applies to making sure it's never flesh.

Again, the earlier a dog gets started, the better. But even if you're not working with a puppy, it's possible to inhibit biting and chewing.

Steps to inhibiting biting and chewing

1) Teach your dog to eat out of her chew toys. In order to extract the food, she'll learn to chew on the toy, and prefer that to a table leg.

• Stuff two-thirds of your pup's daily rations into hollow chew toys (we like Kongs) or other food dispensing toys (like the Squirrel Dude). To make the task even more challenging task, soak the kibble in water and mash the softened food into the Kong; it'll take longer for your pup to extract it.

2) Practice mouthing exercises every day. A puppy's first lesson in learning not to bite takes place while rolling around with her littermates. When she bites too hard, her siblings let her know with a loud yelp. You can do this too.

• For the first week or so, let your puppy mouth your hands. When her bites intensify, react with a yelp of pseudo-pain--just as her littermates would do--and freeze for a few seconds. Your pup should withdraw her mouth, and maybe even lick you apologetically. Forgive your pup immediately and resume play.

3) Redirect her mouthing. Never allow your puppy to tug, bite, or chew on clothing or hair. If she tries to mouth or bite inappropriately, gently take it away and offer her an appropriate toy, such as a chew or tug toy, instead. If she continues to try to bite inappropriately, use a brief (two-minute max) timeout to teach her you don't like it when she bites your clothes or hair.

4) Be sure to praise her when she is mouthing without using her teeth.

5) Eliminate all biting only after your pup is about four months old. At this point, if she bites you or chews on your pants leg, freeze and give negative feedback, as in "No!", for any bites. You can also give her short timeouts--30 seconds tops.

DogTime tip: Be gentle  [Continued]

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