Teething?

I´m trying to traing my very naughty 4 month old puppy but I already discovered that yelling and spanking is not the way. She answers better to rewars. At first I thought rewars would always have to be dog cookies or things like that but a caress will also do the trick.

First of, your puppy should not be spanked for any type of misbehaviour. Try to put away (or hide) as many cords as possible. Secondly, confine his play area by using 'Pet Containment Pen' available at Pet Smart. Have appropriate toys around him with treats inserted in the toys. This will divert his attention from chewing chords. Petsmart dog trainers would help you select the toys. Also, what I found helpful was a 3 pack DVD on PEt training from Pampermypuppy.com for approx. $40.00. Hope this helps. Spanking puppy will not resolve anything. Moreover, overly spanked puppy will grow into a squarmish dog. You may correct this behaviour by firmly saying no. If puppy is 8 weeks or above, consider a puppy imprint class.

Did your Mother spank you for chewing when you were teething? I think not! Neither would she spank you for touching something to find out what it was. All young animals chew so his breed or whether he's purebred or not have nothing to do with it. Babies including us humans chew not only because they are teething but because it's how they 'investigate' the world. It's up to you to teach him what he's allowed to chew and what is forbidden but spanking him isn't going to teach him that! Hitting a dog doesn't 'teach' them anything. All that will do is make him either afraid or when he's a bit older 'retaliate'. There's no point 'disciplining' him at all if you don't catch him in the act. He'll think it's for the last action he did, and if that action is 'coming to greet you' he'll be afraid to approach you! Discipline isn't punishment, it's a way of teaching him the rules but remember he's a dog. He only knows dog language and hitting isn't something a dog does. A quick grab of the neck is how older pack members and Mothers discipline their young, they use the mouth but you can use your hands. Firstly you need to make sure that he can't get at anything he's not allowed to chew if he's alone. Puppy proof the area and don't let him have too much space. If you have a strong toy he can't damage or swallow leave it with him other-wise leave the area clear. When he's with you, he needs to be watched and as soon as he starts looking as if he's interested in chewing something, call him away and give him praise when he comes and something he can chew. If he gets it in his mouth then A firm No and a quick 'grab' to distract him then a toy given immediately will teach him more than yelling and hitting. If he picks something up tell him drop it but don't chase him for it. Make him come to you if you can and again replace it with a toy. He'll soon realise that when he wants to chew it must be his toys. Make sure you buy strong toys, and encourage him to play with them. Shepherds have very strong jaws and teeth and can chew through the toughest leather as if it were paper. Good luck!

I have a german shepard mix who is about two years old and he went through a really bad teething phase. He used to chew on not only his chew toys, but also any headphones from my ipod, used kleenexes(gross), and worse of all our pet turtles! We have several box turtles that live in our back yard and they generally take care of themselves but when my puppy started teething he would find the turtles and chew on their shells. For a while it was pretty bad and every turtle we have now sports battle scars. We would yell at the puppy and he would look guilty and he knew that what he was doing was wrong, but unfortunately that didn't discourage him from continuing to chew on the turtles while we were not there. I think the only thing to do is to wait until your dog grows out of it. It seems like our dog went through his teething for a few months, bt then after that he was fine and he does not chew on our other pets anymore. In fact he completely ignores the turtles, but apparently they have not forgotten what he did to them because, I swear, the other day I saw one of the turtles bite my dog's foot. Revenge is be sweet.

NEVER spank a German Shepherd for chewing. Chewing is a natural behavior for puppies, so you're telling him off for doing what he would normally do in the wild. Try distracting him with something good, like his very own chew toy. When he reaches for it and chews that on his own, praise him, reward him and make a big fuss of him for being a good boy. German Shepherds are very bright, intelligent dogs and they respond much better to praise and reward, so always show him what you want him to do and then praise him when he does it. You'll end up with an excellent pet! I have two male German Shepherds - one is 11 and the other is 10 months old - so my puppy has only just finished his chewing phase. He only ever chews his own toys but it took a little bit of encouragement and reward to get him to understand that.