This is a normal and necessary part of every dog's life. Puppies between the ages of 2 and 6 months chew to relieve the pain of teething. Dogs, in particular young dogs, are very oral when investigating new items. Young dogs, up to a year, also chew for teething reasons even though their permanent teeth are in. This is because the root has not fully set in yet.

Some dogs start to chew all of a sudden because of dental problems. A trip to the veterinarian will take care of dental chewing. What starts out as a dental problem or investigator chewing can soon become habit.

There are a variety of other reasons why dogs chew, from the dog being bored, to having fun, to relieving stress. The problem is not that a dog chews but what the dog chews. The problem occurs when the dog chews the couch or your shoes instead of his chew toys.

Until the dog proves he will chew only acceptable items, he should not be given free run of the house. The dog should be confined to limit the damage to your items or to himself. Confinement is not the cure to inappropriate chewing, but breaking the habit is essential and is a preventative measure that must be taken to prevent destructive chewing. Confinement also need not be permanent. It should be used until the dog is trained and trained to chew acceptable items only. Time and prevention will allow your dog to earn its way out of confinement. To help speed up the process, proper chew toys should be left in the confinement area.

Some dogs are very particular about the items they chew on. Instead of buying tons of the same type of chew toy, buy only one of a few different types of toy and see which ones your dog likes. Once you see what your dog likes, buy more. That way you will not expect your dog to use something he does not like to chew on. Once you discover which toys he prefers, lay them out for him in the house. But if your dog does have a chewing problem, supervise his activity when you are home. Supervision will prevent ingestion of toys.

The single most important thing you can do to teach a dog to chew appropriate items is rewarding the dog when he chews acceptable items. A lot of people believe their dog's don't like chew toys because the dog doesn't pay much attention to them. Just buying a lot of chew toys and presenting them to your dog is not enough. Teach the dog that playing with chew toys is fun and makes you very happy. Praise should be lavished on the dog every time the dog approaches and picks up the chew toy. Make the chew toy part of your play sessions, get inventive, tie a string to the chew toy and induce your dog to chase and pick it up. Make the chew toy more appealing. A good way to keep your dogs attention on a toy is to get a hollow type of toy like a Kong and place a tasty treat inside or put in some peanut butter or cream cheese. This will give your dog hours of chewing fun.

You may want to teach your dog to look for chew toys. While playing with your dog with the chew toys, put it behind the couch or under a chair and instruct your dog to "find it". When your dog retrieves the chew toy, lavish praise and attention on the dog. The purpose of this exercise is to teach the dog to look for his chew toy even though one is not in immediate sight.

Many owners come home to find that Fido has chewed something inappropriate. They angrily call the dog over to show him what he did wrong. Many times the dog will approach you, head down, tail down, body close to the ground, showing all the classic signs of being guilty. We then reprimand him because he "knows" he did wrong. Dogs don't understand the concept of guilty or doing things out of spite--these are human concepts, not a dog's. If the dog is not reliable when left alone with free run of the house, he shouldn't have free run of the house (See "Crate Training").

If you catch the dog in the act of chewing an unacceptable item, this is an excellent opportunity to correct and redirect. Your voice reprimand should be short, sharp and immediate. "Off, find your chew toy" is enough of a reprimand. Through your tone of voice your dog knows you're upset, but also will learn how to get out of trouble. Continue to direct your dog to his chew toy. Once he picks it up, immediately lavish praise on him. Within a couple of repetitions of this exercise, the dog will start seeking out acceptable items to chew on.

If your dog has chosen a particular item to chew on that is not acceptable, you may try booby trapping that particular item with something that the dog finds distasteful. Hot sauce or a commercial product like Bitter Apple might do the job. But the solution still lies in teaching the dog to choose acceptable items to chew on.