Does your puppy or dog chew furniture, shoes, cushions, bedding etc? Dogs are natural chewers. It relieves boredom, stress and teething pain in puppies.

Firstly, make sure your puppy or dog is getting enough exercise and play. How much is enough? This article will give you a rough guide.

Secondly, make sure you are involved in some form of positive reinforcement training. Training not only teaches good manners and essential behaviors, it teaches a dog how to learn in the best possible way. It "primes the pump", if you like. Foundational training makes other training more efficient and more effective when done in a positive and fun way.

So how do we stop the unwanted behavior of chewing?

We need to realise that it would be unfair to totally eliminate a natural and necessary behavior, particularly if it is a response to stress or boredom. That said, we do want to totally eliminate inappropriate aspects of that behavior. So the first step is to find an alternative outlet for this unwanted behavior of chewing. Get some good quality chew toys, and maybe some chewy treats. Don't leave them all out all the time, cycle through the selection day by day. Leave two chew toys out in the house all the time, particularly with puppies.

When you catch your dog or puppy chewing on the furniture, clap your hands loudly to distract, then redirect you dog or puppy onto a chew toy or chewy treat.

There is no point in scolding your puppy after the event, as it will teach absolutely nothing useful regarding the chewing. Also, if your dog is chewing your shoes, do I really have to tell you to put them away? I didn't think so...

With consistency and good timing, puppy will learn that some things are ok to chew, and other things are not.