Chewing + Household Destruction
Chewing is normal dog behavior, especially during puppyhood. We don’t want to make a dog stop using their mouth. But we can give that need a safer, more acceptable outlet for the whole family.
Start here
How to Teach Your Puppy or Dog to Stop Chewing
I use this video to show how management, timing, redirection, and reinforcement work together.
What to do today
1. Puppy-proof one useful area
Find a place where your dog literally can’t chew, like a playpen, bathroom or laundry room, etc. Remove cords, shoes, laundry, trash, children’s toys, remotes, plants, and anything small enough to swallow or likely to tempt your dog. Use doors, gates, and pens to contain your dog in this comfortable dog-safe area for short periods, so supervision does not have to be perfect every second.
2. Offer several safe ways to chew
Provide a variety of different textures and food-stuffable options that are appropriate for your dog’s size and chewing style.
If your dog has a favorite type of thing to chew or destroy (like your shoes or remote control), notice the properties of those items (shoes are chewy and leathery, remote controls are hard and crunchy, etc) and do your best to give them a safe, comparable item they’re allowed to chew.
Supervise new items, inspect them often, and ask your veterinarian about dental or ingestion risk. No chew item is completely risk-free.
3. Meet the need behind the behavior
Build in sleep, sniffing, play, enrichment, movement, and short training sessions throughout the day. The goal is not to exhaust your dog. It is to give their body and brain more appropriate things to do, especially if they’re chewing out of boredom.
4. Interrupt early and trade calmly
If the item is safe to approach, invite your dog away and offer something better. Avoid chasing your dog. If you’re concerned about taking an item away from your dog see the Resource Guarding page.
5. Notice the choices you want repeated
Reward your dog for settling with their own toy, walking past a shoe and ignoring it, or bringing an object to you that they usually want to chew. These small moments can be easy to miss, but they are the exact habits you are trying to build.
THINGS TO avoid
- Do not punish your dog for damage you discover.
- Do not chase a dog who has stolen something unless immediate safety leaves no alternative – even then, running AWAY from your dog often works better than chasing them!
- Do not attempt to take an item from a dog if they are freezing, growling, guarding, or likely to bite.
- Do not rely on bitter sprays or other gimmicks or aversive training tools.
Troubleshooting
My dog destroys things only when left alone
Use a camera to see what happens before the damage. Pacing, vocalizing, escape attempts, drooling, elimination, or destruction near doors can point to separation-related distress rather than ordinary chewing. See the Separation Anxiety guide and involve your veterinarian if distress is repeated or intense.
My dog grabs objects to start a chase
Reduce access to the usual targets and practice calm trades with legal objects when nothing is at stake. Reward bringing an item toward you. Chasing can make stealing more fun and can make a dog less willing to approach you.
My dog chews and swallows fabric, rocks, or other non-food items
Persistent ingestion can become a medical emergency and may have behavioral or medical contributors. Prevent access, and contact your veterinarian rather than trying to solve it with training alone.
Watch next
- How to Stop Your Puppy Destroying Your Property A broader prevention and household-management lesson.
- How to Train Your Dog to Be Good in the House Useful when the issue includes several household habits, not chewing alone.
Related training guides
Choose the next problem that is actually affecting daily life. You do not need to work on everything at once.
- House Training Build supervision, routines, and gradual freedom.
- Puppy Biting For mouths aimed at hands, clothes, and people.
- Separation Anxiety For destruction that happens during absences.
- Resource Guarding For freezing, growling, or conflict around objects.
Free, self-paced option
Want a little more structure?
My free, self-paced 30 Day Perfect Pup course is hosted with Pupford and includes short lessons on attention, household routines, crate foundations, recall, and other everyday skills. Use the sequence if it helps, or keep working from this guide. You do not need the course to begin.
Keep exploring
Read the research and welfare principles behind my approach, or return to the full training library.