Most dogs go through at least one phase of chewing everything they can sink their teeth into. In most cases, this happens during the puppy teething stage when it feels good for the dog to put pressure on the teeth that are trying to poke through the gums.
While teething may be the most common reason for chewing, there are others, including boredom. Older dogs that are unhappy because they’re left alone for long periods of time may start chewing on household items that are lying around.
The best thing you can do is to pick up after yourself and your family. Don’t leave items lying around within reach of your dog.
If you are with your dog throughout the day, it will probably be easier to break the dog’s habit of chewing. The best thing to do is keep a vigilant eye and stop the puppy or adult dog immediately when he or she decides to chew on something.
Unfortunately, people who work away from home don’t have the opportunity to spend as much time with the dog, so it is a lot harder to break the chewing habit. The good news is that there are commercial spray products available that can help stop dogs from biting and chewing your favorite things.
There are many chew deterrent sprays available. The sprays work when the dog cannot stand the taste of them. The best advice is to purchase small bottles of the chew deterrent sprays. Not all dogs are repelled by the same tastes, so you may have to buy a couple of different products to determine which one your dog hates the taste of. Obviously, that is the one you want to use when spraying items that are within your dog’s reach.
Many veterinarians carry anti-chew sprays for dogs. They are also available at pet stores.
Bitter Apple is a common one. Bitter Cherry also works well. Another deterrent is NaturVet Bitter Yuck No Chew spray. Stop Chew spray also works well. By no means are these the only good sprays on the market. Finding the one that works for your dog is simply a means of trial and error. You’ll know when you’ve found one the dog doesn’t like!
Anti-chew sprays are formulated to be non-toxic to the dog, so you don’t have to worry that you are using products that could harm your dog. The commercial varieties of spray are a lot more user friendly than covering things you don’t want the dog to chew with hot sauce that can cause staining.
Chew deterrent sprays have an odor that humans cannot detect. The products will not cause any unwanted bad odors.
Remember that curtailing chewing is not the same as correcting the unwanted bad behavior. There are a lot of horror stories dog owners can tell about the day they forgot to use the chewing deterrent spray. There’s the rectangular coffee table that became egg-shaped. The woodwork around the door leading to the dog’s play yard has been turned into splinters. I’m sure a book could be written on the horrors caused by dogs chewing.
Related posts:
- Aggressive Chewing Puppies
- Should You Allow Your Dog To Chew On Sticks?
- Seven Things that Puppies like to Chew that They Shouldn’t
- Puppy Teething and Dental Care
- Bitter Apple Spray
