Destructive Puppies

Control a Destructive puppy: There are many dog owners that have problems with destructive puppies and who wait until their houses and nerves are a wreck to finally say "Out you go" and take the dog to a pound or animal shelter and in turn animal shelters and pounds are full of destructive puppies. Puppies naturally have a need to bite at things at the ages of three months to seven months. Even though their jaws are not very strong at this age yet, their little baby teeth are very sharp and if you have ever been bit by one of these little fellows you understand what we are saying. If you want to avoid your puppy from destroying your stuff, make sure you provide him plenty of chewing toys and bones so he can bite into. Whenever your puppy chews on his toys and bones encourage him and praise him. Make sure to never give the dog an old shoe because otherwise the puppy will think you are giving him permission to chew at any shoe he finds. Dogs cannot differentiate between what is new and old. You can also restrict your dog from entering certain places of the house by putting up indoor gates for example in your bedroom or in the kid's playroom etc. If you catch your puppy in his crime, show him you are not happy with his behavior and offer him something else to chew on. A lot of dogs go through those terrible chewing stages or destructive stages if you will, between the ages of eight months to twelve months. Hunting dogs and retrievers are famous (or infamous) for this type of behavior. Their natural hunting instincts cause them to want to chew at things. If a dog doesn't have plenty of attractive things to chew at, he will go for yours, so your best bet is to provide him the right ones.

Questions and answers
Q: My puppy is fixed on biting the couch in the living room. What should we do to solve this problem?
A: You could try hiding behind the couch and then squiring water (with a water gun, or syringe) at the puppy. As soon as the puppy gets distracted, give him something else he can chew on right away. There are also other methods which include throwing something near the dog that makes a lot of noise in order to scare and distract the dog.