How to Keep Dogs From Chewing Without Bitter Spray

Without training, you might lose important items to a chewing dog.

Dogs chew to relieve anxiety, excess energy, stress and boredom. Puppies may chew because they are teething and need to exercise their jaws. Regardless of the reason, you may be quite frustrated with a dog that has whittled through a chair leg or destroyed your favorite shoe. You can purchase bitter-tasting sprays to coat furniture or items you don’t want your dog to chew, but you may not want to spray everything in your house. You might also find that your dog is so intent on chewing, the spray just doesn’t work. You have other options for keeping your dog from chewing, some of which take a little effort on your part.

Alternative Sprays

If you like the idea of a deterrent spray, you could trade in bitter sprays for a cayenne and water solution or straight hot pepper sauce. The problem with these options is that they only stop your dog from chewing the item you coated. Fido may simply switch from the table leg to the siding on the house.

Remove Temptation

One of the most effective ways to keep your dog from chewing is to clean up after yourself. Do not leave shoes, kid’s toys or other small, irresistible items hanging around at your dog’s level. You can also provide your dog with his own space -- a crate, kennel or other designated area -- to which he can stay while you are not home. Keep this area free of your items and full of allowed chewables such as rawhide bones and nontoxic, hard-rubber toys.

Dog-Friendly Options

When you catch your dog chewing, reprimand him immediately and offer a dog toy as an alternative. A loud noise, such as coins shaken in an empty jar, can interrupt his behavior and indicate he is doing something wrong. Disciplining your dog hours, or even minutes, after finding a chewed through chair leg is ineffective -- he won’t understand the relationship between past destructive behavior and your dismay. You can make dog toys more interesting to chew by choosing kinds that have room to insert dog treats or smearing them with a little peanut butter. The toys you offer should be clearly dog-oriented. Giving a dog an old shoe, sock or T-shirt just asks him to chew new ones as well.

Relieve Energy

Ensure your dog gets plenty of exercise. Proper activity helps relieve anxiety and nervous energy that he directs toward chewing. Research your particular breed of dog’s needs. Dogs are also social animals; you are his pack. Give him plenty of love and attention to prevent anxiety.

Considerations

Puppies teethe and will most likely chew something of value at some point. Be reasonable in your expectations and understand that part of dog ownership is teaching your dog the rules of the house. It may take him some time to get those rules down, but consistent, positive reinforcement will help speed up the process.

References

• The Humane Society of the United States: Chewing: The Whys and Hows of Stopping a Gnawing Problem
• PetFinder: Why Do Dogs Chew?