Puppies can be cute, cuddly, and lovable. But they can also be quite destructive. Especially when left unsupervised. After raising dozens of puppies, I have learned some tricks that can help you maintain a good relationship with your puppy and keep your puppy from chewing up all your stuff.
Learning through experience
Our first puppy was a true learning experience. We did everything wrong. Our puppy ate an entire bookshelf of books. Our little bundle of joy got into everything and destroyed it all. He chewed up countless pairs of shoes. He even chewed a six-by-six-inch hole through the carpet of our rental!
That was decades ago. Since then, as a professional retriever trainer, I have raised dozens of puppies. And I would like to believe I have learned quite a bit over the years. We are currently raising a Lab puppy; he’s 11 weeks old and his name is Ink.
I am proud to say we have had zero mishaps so far. I don’t attribute this to him being a great puppy, who never makes mistakes because he often does. Rather, I attribute it to our years of experience and being able to circumvent many issues before they turn into problems.
Controlling destruction with crate training
I am a huge proponent of crate training dogs. It is vital for so much of their training and teaches them so many things. But one big perk of crate training is that it allows you to apportion time when you do not have to be supervising the puppy.
Leaving puppies to their own devices is just a recipe for disaster. When they are allowed to run around the house, they must be supervised. If left unsupervised, they are bound to get into almost everything. That is not because they are bad, but simply because they are puppies. It’s what they do.
As owner of a puppy, it is your responsibility to teach the pup what it can and cannot do as a good citizen of planet earth. Crates are very helpful with this teaching.
Give your puppy several smaller chewable toys while they are in the crate. This will encourage them to chew on things they are allowed to chew on, forming good behaviors for when they are out of the crate.
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Provide a large assortment of chewable toys
One way to make sure that your puppy is not chewing on things you don’t want destroyed, like your shoes or dining room table, is to provide a large selection of toys that they can chew on. Pick these toys carefully, as there are many puppy toys that when ingested can create terrible medical issues. String rope toys are one of the worst. The strings will literally wrap themselves around the dogs’ intestines and surgery is often the only way vets can remove this kind of blockage.
But good chewing toys like Nylabones or Bamboo bones or Benebones will disintegrate into very small particles that will create no issues for your dogs health.
When your puppy starts chewing on something that he/she shouldn’t, correct the behavior with a simple “NO” command , then take away the item they are not supposed to have, and replace it with a toy they can chew on. If you consistently do this, your puppy will learn that some things are not okay to chew and other things are okay to chew.
Isolate your puppy to one room of the house
Letting your puppy have full reign of the house is problematic at best. It makes it very difficult for you to observe them and gives your pup ample opportunity to get into things you do not want him/her into. We use a baby gate and block our puppy into one room of the house that has been moderately puppy proofed. We load this room with tons of puppy friendly chewy toys and the puppy’s crate.
Stubborn or hard-headed puppies may need more pressure to learn the lesson
Many puppies are very tractable or trainable. This means that they want to be good and long to make you happy, not mad. But some puppies are tough cookies. They are very stubborn or hard-headed and these puppies require you to be firmer to get your point across.
If your puppy continues to make the same mistake, say stealing your shoes to chew on, and you have given your pup a stern NO and replaced the shoe with a chewable toy and your puppy simply ignores your tries to redirect him, then you should pick him up and place him in the crate for a time-out for a while. Then let him out and try again.
Corrections when young will lead to less corrections as older
When owners bring their dogs to us for training they often say, “I cannot control this dog.” As professionals, we know that this problem did not start overnight. But rather started out small and got worse over time with little or no correction from the owner.
If you correct your puppy when they are very young, 7-12 weeks, you can easily make the corrections needed to mold your puppy into a model citizen. At this young age it is very easy to make corrections, and the corrections often do not have to be tough corrections. Puppies that are corrected when young don’t grow up to be problem dogs in the future.
But if you refuse to make corrections when the pup is little, because you don’t want to be firm with the cute little guy, then you will have missed the opportunity to make a very important lesson.
Remove stuffed toys when puppy starts ripping them apart
The last thing we do to control damage with puppies is that when a stuffed toy starts to get a small hole in it, we take that toy away and put it out of the puppy’s reach. We do not want the puppy to learn that he can dig and chew a stuffed toy into pieces. So, we take them away before that becomes an issue.
Final thoughts on is your puppy chewing up all your stuff?
Having a puppy does not mean that your stuff will be destroyed. With a little planning, a lot of supervision and firm, consistent corrections you can teach your puppy that there are things he can chew on and things he is not allowed.
If you are struggling or need additional help with your new puppy, you can email me (ottertailkennels@gmail.com). I would be happy to discuss your goals for your retriever and tell you about the programs I offer.
Until next time, happy retrieving.
Goedemiddag, wij hebben een labrador van 8 maanden oud, 2 x sessies gehad qua training. Luisteren gaat nog niet goed, zeker als er andere honden bij zijn. Met uitlaten alleen maar snuffelen en poep eten 😡. Als wij hem zouden castreren zou dit helpen. Horen het graag!
Hi, Thanks for reaching out. Castrating your dog, may help him calm down a bit, but to be honest the behaviors you mention are regular, normal dog behaviors. You can get more control and that would make your life easier. If you would have started with the control when your dog was younger (8-12 weeks) you would have better and faster success now. But since you didn’t, you will need to get some really good help to learn how to get control. Not all dog trainers are alike. If you look for a trainer that works with working dogs like retrievers, then you may find that the progress is faster.
While walking, you should have your dog on a leash with a chain or pinch collar, and you should not allow him to sniff the ground or eat poop. You need to control this and when he tries these behaviors, give a firm NO command, a sharp jerk on the chain collar and start walking again. It won’t be easy but if you are firm and consistent, you can make progress.