IS YOUR PUPPY CHEWING AND DESTROYING ITEMS IN YOUR HOUSE? VISIT LOSE THE LEASH DOG TRAINING!

Puppies chew slippers, toys, newspapers, and other objects for several reasons. First is simple playfulness. Growing puppies are supposed to explore everything in their environment. This fact stems from their ancient wild ancestry when they needed a broad knowledge of the properties of the objects in their world to survive.

And, puppies teethe. Between 4 and 6 months, the adult teeth begin to come in. During this time, puppies need to chew on tough objects to help the new teeth break through. Soft dog food is useless. Hard dog food will help, but the dog may seek unacceptable items (from our point of view) to chew on.

Third, puppies go through a “pre-hunting” stage during their growth. This phase occurs when a puppy is large enough to be interested in prey, but not able to catch it. In the wild, the adult dogs bring home large chunks of meat for the puppies which the puppies are supposed to eat. In the house, a puppy may think that the human pack members have left something lying around for the same purpose — to eat! In fact, if you scold your puppy for chewing an object left on the floor, you may puzzle the little one for doing something that is perfectly natural for him or her to do.

Source: Illustrated Dogwatching, by Desmond Morris, Crescent Books, New York, 1996, p. 109.