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Early on, puppies learn how to discover things around them by putting it in their mouths. Similar to babies, puppies tend to put stuff in their mouth to know what it is, to figure out what it does, etc. However, unlike babies, when puppies grow older, this can turn into a habit of destructive chewing. 

What is destructive chewing? The simple answer to that is chewing on things that shouldn't be chewed. You'll know your dog has a chewing problem when he chews on anything he sinks his teeth into be it your furniture, wires, your clothes or your shoes. If dog is chewing its bed, then that's also a sign of destructive chewing.

Destructive chewing can be bothersome especially since bacteria can easily go inside your pet's body through their mouth. If they gnaw on something that is poisonous, then they can get sick or worse, die. No pet owner wants this so once you notice something that isn't natural in your dog's chewing habits, take action and stop the habit. 

Ways on How You Can Prevent Destructive Chewing

1. Remove important things out of your dog's reach - This is simple. If you don't want your dog chewing on your clothes, then keep them in your cabinet and avoid leaving them on the floor. The same goes for your shoes and bags. When it comes to electrical wires and other household items, keep them out of reach by lifting them up. For wires, you can have them covered by plastic or have them lifted up so they aren't on the floor. If you also have fragile items near their reach, it's best to stow them away or put them on a higher shelf that your pooch won't be able to reach. In short, you have to make your house more dog-friendly or dog-proof.

2. Get your dog checked - Not all excess chewing can be called destructive chewing. In some cases, destructive chewing is only a product of an illness developed by your dog. To be sure, go to a vet and have your dog checked. This will allow you to understand why your dog keeps on chewing a lot of things even if they aren't puppies anymore. Also, you can ask for professional help when it comes to correcting their gnawing habits.

3. Teach your dog what to chew and what not to - A big part of stopping your dog's destructive chewing is teaching them what they are allowed to chew and what they shouldn't. To make this easier for you, when you catch them chewing on the wrong things, scold them and put away the item. You can also reward them when they chew on the right things, say, their toys. 

4. Give the right toys - Another way to teach your dog what to chew is to give them the right toys. Check on their stuff too because they might not have anything to chew when they are bored. The right toys shouldn't look like your things. This means that you shouldn't give a sock as a toy because they wouldn't be able to differentiate your sock from their toy sock. The same goes for clothes and bags. Don't give a toy that looks like them if you don't want them biting into your things. Moreover, when you pick toys for your dogs, don't buy the ones that can disintegrate. This is because your dog might break it into smaller pieces and might swallow them. When this happens, your dog might have to see a vet and get the item out of their throats or stomachs. 

5. Spend time with your dog - One of the reasons why your dog develops destructive chewing is because they are simply bored. To avoid a lot of boring moments, what you can do is spend time with them and try to do physical activities with them. There are many things you can do aside from cuddling them - you can play catch, jog with your dog, let them socialize with other dogs, anything that helps them become more physical. In this way, when they get back to your house, they wouldn't even think of gnawing on something and might just head straight to sleep. 

6. Watch your dog as they learn what to chew - Although not everyone has the time to watch their dog all day, this is still an important part of preventing destructive chewing. When your dog is close by, you would be able to check if he's chewing on the right things. If he's not, then you can easily correct them. 

These tips are supposed to be enough to help you teach your dog to stop destructive chewing. You have to remember that this kind of habit does not get corrected overnight so you might have to put in extra effort and patience when it comes to training your dog.

Many thanks to Robert Falconer-Taylor for an in-depth look over two days on how pain, nutrition and emotional states affect behaviour in dogs.  He gave us some fascinating insights into these topics which are areas often overlooked when considering behaviour and training but there was plenty of scientific research to back-up what he had to say.

We are very happy to be welcoming Daniel Mills back to deliver what is set to be a fascinating seminar on Puppy Development. This time, he will be joined by his colleague from the University of Lincoln, Lynn Hewison. We love Daniel's book Life Skills for Puppies (which we will have on sale at the event). This seminar will build on the material in that offering the latest scientific findings. It may well have implications on how we understand puppy behaviour and therefore training needs.

We are very much looking forward to hosting Robert Falconer-Taylor again, in March next year.

The last time we hosted Robert was in Manchester.  For 2018 we decided to bring Robert further south so that more lucky people get to hear him.  Last time we found what he told us about EMRA (Emotion, Mood and Reinforcement Assessment) fascinating.  Because the emphasis has been purely on looking at dog behaviour and how to change it for so many years, it's easy to forget that dogs have an emotional life too and that these emotions can play a big part in a dog's propensity to learn. 

For Robert's next seminar he will share his knowledge of EMRA again and is adding a second day to talk about the effect of pain and nutrition on behaviour.  As with people, a dog's mental state is affected by being in pain or by what they eat.  We are looking forward to learning how to spot the signs that something internal is wrong and what we can do about it.

Thank you Denise Fenzi for a wonderful four days.

It was a hardy bunch who braved the elements to come and join Denise Fenzi with Dog & Bone in a particularly cold November but from the enthusiastically positive feedback it was well worth it.

Denise shared with us her techniques for motivating dogs to work with us.  In each of the two-day seminars she showed us how motivation needs to be tailored to the needs of the individual dog.  This involved partly seeing what most motivated the dog naturally and using that to create more motivators but also knowing when to calm as well as when to energise the dog.   

Her advice may have been intended primarily for a dog sports market but was invaluable for anyone training any dog.

We've had so many people telling us how much they enjoyed the seminar with Dr Ian Dunbar, whether they came for just one day or for all four.

Dr Dunbar, the father of modern dog training, is still very relevant in his ideas and always entertaining. He's also not afraid to bring new challenges to the dog world. In particular, he raised the issue of shelters and dog breeders bringing more training into what they do rather than focus on the dog's physical needs. This would give the dog's new owners a great start to having a family pet rather than taking on an animal more akin to livestock. Some might doubt how much change can happen, but Ian is clearly very passionate and has the dog's best interests at heart.

We've been getting some lovely feedback following our two two-day Open Paw events. 

We want to thank Kelly Gorman Dunbar and Clare Williams for all their hard work in putting the information together in a way that was interesting and clear to follow.  They explained the ethos and inspiration behind Open Paw, how it works in practise and how it can benefit any environment where dogs need to be kept in kennels.  Thanks, too, to Dayle Pierce for his help in answering questions and taking a team through their paces on the practical day.

We also want to thank Clare Williams and her staff for welcoming us into the National Welfare Trust centre in Watford and Helen MacFarlane and her staff for welcoming us into the Jerry Green Rescue centre in Thirsk.  It was great to get a chance to see the theory put into practise.

The lovely Ian Dunbar is coming back to the UK and the news was greeted with great enthusiasm.  Tickets went on sale on the 1st July and instantly sold like hot cakes.

If Ian is someone you're keen to see, don't leave it too long before booking.  It's going to be popular.

It was lovely sunny weather for our seminar with Professor Daniel Mills on the Human-Dog Relationship and Separation Anxiety. 

We felt very privileged to be given the latest scientific findings on this fascinating topic which, as Daniel demonstrated, is far more complex than may at first appear.

Thank you very much to Daniel for a very interesting day.

We are very excited to be bringing two very special two-day events to you in July, one in Hertfordshire and one in Yorkshire.

Kelly Gorman Dunbar, the originator of the Open Paw scheme, which transforms the lives of dogs in kennels, is coming over from America to speak in person about how it all works.  She's teaming up with Clare Williams, the CEO of the National Animal Welfare Trust (NAWT) to deliver this.  NAWT have been implementing the Open Paw scheme so Clare will be able to share invaluable information about how she has found it has worked in practise.  Day 1 of each event will be a seminar to give all the facts and details about the scheme and an optional day 2 will be on site at an Open Paw kennel to see the scheme in action.

Don't miss out on this great opportunity!