Chewing

One of the biggest problems people have with their puppies is indiscriminate chewing. It is annoying to find your best shoes (and it is ALWAYS your best shoes) chewed beyond recognition. What you have got to understand is that the puppy is not being malicious. Puppies have GOT to chew. Just like the babies they are, they are teething.

Provide the puppy with his own (legal) chewies, and keep anything you do not want chewed picked up and out of the way. Electrical cords are a major hazard not only to your puppy's health, but also as a fire risk. Limit the puppy's access to a room until it has been puppy proofed. Puppies do not need or deserve free run of the house. I would recommend a crate for your puppy's protection when you leave the house or he is unsupervised. Those of you who do not see the need to puppy proof have unrealistic expectations, and are bound to be disappointed when something you treasure is destroyed. Yes, puppy can be taught that something is a "No, no", but until he has learned that lesson a few of your possessions will feel his teeth.

I would not recommend giving the puppy an old, cast off shoe. The puppy will not be able to discriminate between his shoe and your best shoe. Rawhide chews, Nylabones, large bones (you can buy sterilized bones at pet supply stores), tennis balls, and braided rags are safe alternatives. Make sure he does not whittle his chewies down to a small enough size that he could choke on them or swallow them and create a bowel blockage.

If your puppy starts chewing something he should not, remove the item, tell him "no, bad chew or bad teeth", and give him one of his own chewies. Then praise him for chewing the correct item. It is not enough to tell him when he is wrong, finish the job and tell him when he has got it right! Do not allow your puppy to chew on your hands or nip at your heels. This is a different behavior than teething. This is how he would play with his siblings to determine his place in the pack hierarchy. You are the pack leader, do not let him get the idea he can challenge you for the position.

His need to chew will taper off as he gets his second set of teeth well set in, but older dogs will still chew because they enjoy it. Set the ground rules early and everyone will be happy.