New Puppy chewing issues

[PL Sportsman]

I have a 8 week old Black Lab puppy that is an aggressive pup that chews like crazy. This isn't my first lab I've owned but I have tried everything. Nothing seems to set get his attention to stop. He just comes back for more.

Any suggestions are much appreciated.

Paul

[Eric Wettschreck]

Fish gotta swim, bird gotta fly, wife gotta nag, and puppy gotta chew. The trick is to get him chewing on stuff he's allowed to chew on.

I know it's not always easy, but when you catch him chewing on stuff he's not supposed to (the couch, your leg, doilies, shoes, the kids, etc), remove it from him and immediately give him something he is allowed to chew on (bones, chew toys, etc).

[Kallista]

I always gave mine when teething, deer antlers to chew on, works great, nylon bones and you can freeze them so they are cold, and like the others said, take away what hes chewing on , tell him no of course and give him something he can chew on.. and praise him big time when he does for a few mins, he will learn in time.. They have those bones you freeze to, not sure how they work tho.. Ice clubs are fun for them too.. Hope that helps

[FrankGWP]

Do you mean chewing on you or your stuff? There are a couple "games" that you can play to teach a pup not to chew on the rest of the family.

Assuming that you mean chewing on stuff. I agree that you need to have lots of good stuff around that you want him to chew. I really like frozen, raw beef bones. You can get them in some grocery stores (usually already frozen) or at the butcher (usually not frozen yet). Frozen is key because (1) they last longer and (2) the frozen marrow is gone before it can thaw and make a mess.

Butcher bones tend to be way bigger. Since the pup is still little ask the butcher to cut the bones to size - two inches or so. The pup will gnaw out the marrow then chew on the bone. Its kind of a two for one because the bones sticks around.

If he is chewing on you sit on the floor with your legs crossed or straight out. Put the pup in your lap tail between your legs, pup more or less straight up and down, with his feet pointing away from you. He will wrestle - mine tried to eat my face the first few times. Love him up and say "settle down" in a calming voice. Do not let him go until he stops struggling/submits. Do this several times a day. I made sure that my wife also did this as he thought that she was also a littler mate/raw hide.

My pup learned that I was generally not a chew toy, but continued to chew on me when we were playing. I would force my hand back into his mount until it was clearly unpleasant for him and sternly tell him "no." These two techniques seemed to work great.

Have fun with the pup!

As an aside: did the pup spend most of its time outside and/or mostly with his litter, generally spending all his time with the other puppies before you picked him up? My theory is that the pups are treating you like they would their litter mates - no research to back this up, which is why I ask.

[PL Sportsman]

Thanks everyone for the information.

I have tried many different chew toys. Same issue. It is mostly an issue of chewing on the family. I have held him to show him I'm in control all the time.

Frank, I will try the sitting on the floor and see if that helps. That's a good technique

I've trained labs for many years but it's been 10 yrs since I had a pup though and never this aggressive. It will come with time. Thanks again for all the informaton.

The pup was with the litter all the time until the 7 week mark I brought him home.

Paul

[Kallista]

You can also ask your vet for oral cleansing gel to apply topically for control of bacteria and aid in healing injured or sore gums while puppies are teething.

It is super for teething as well, and its cheap too...

[FrankGWP]

Quote:

---

The pup was with the litter all the time until the 7 week mark I brought him home.

Paul

---

Same here. Hence the theory.

[trailratedtj]

another thing you could try is yelping really loud. Everytime he bites or starts chewin on you Yelp really loud the instant he does it. works evertime for me. The pup thinks he's causing you pain and some are startled by the loud "yelp".

just another thought

[Powerstroke]

I agree with all the stuff about replacing the undesireable chew object with a proper chew toy.

I also agree with trail that when my pup would bite me or one of the kids I would tell them to yell OW! very loud. Just like another pup in the litter would if they were caused pain. This worked very well.

Pups play fight and nip and pull at eachother without causing pain and thats how pups play, but people are more sensitive and they need to know that.

[Kallista]

Hey Andy.. package should be there tomorrow?

[Powerstroke]

Thanks Kali, it arrived today. The dog was very excited. Just the smell got him jumping like crazy. Now I need to find time to go grouse hunting!!

[Kallista]

Glad you got it, and i had the right address this time lol...

Have fun with them and him

[norm25]

Too bad puppies chew my wife bought me a german shorthair beautiful dog till it got ahold of her ipod nano chewed a couple of other things but that was almost the see you later staw. 7 months later my wife loves molly again and the chewing has subsided. Its a puppy be firm and strong with persistence it will come to an end.