Puppies are little rascals at the best of times. They mess up the house, destroy your belonging and chew the furniture to shreds. This article will show you in 5 easy steps how you can stop your puppy from chewing.

Step 1 is to get you dog to a vet for a full check up. Make sure your dog is healthy and that there are no medical illnesses giving her the need to chew.

Chewing is one of the most important phases dogs go through, it shouldn’t be banned totally, all you should be trying to achieve is to teach your dog what can and what can’t be chewed. You also need to teach your dog about items that are dangerous to chew – such as power-cords etc.

The easiest way to teach your dog the items that can and can’t be chewed is by using the “No” command. Use it anytime your dog starts to chew on something that it shouldn’t. After telling your dog “No”, remove the item it was chewing. Should your dog resist giving you the item, squirt a little water in its face and then take the item.

Don’t rush up to get the object from your dog as it will think you are playing. Slowly walk to the dog and remove the object it’s chewing. For objects that can’t be moved, consider using a spray deterrent such as bitter apple spray.

Don’t outlaw chewing entirely. Let your dog chew on items such as chew toys and bones, encourage your dog to chew these.

A word of caution, some puppies and dogs may react aggressively when you try to remove their latest “chew toy’ – so act with caution to avoid a violent reaction.

The 5 suggestions I’ve mentioned above work extremely well when combined with a little patience and consistency. Give your dog a chance to learn these and your chewing problems will be over for good.