stoping a puppy from chewing.

United States
May 30, 2010 8:47pm CST
I have a seven month old Shi tzu puppy named Raven, mostly he's well behaved (well as well behaved as you'd expect for being only seven months old), but he chews on everything. Sometimes its amusing, but there is one huge problem. My cat Jessy. Raven chews on Jessy's ears! And Jessy just lets him. I honestly don't know what to do. I'm worried RAven's going to do Jessy some damage. I can't put hot sauce on the cat's ear to get the puppy to stop! My family says the cat needs to retaliate, but Jessy's far too laid back!
4 responses
@glistar (127)
• United States
2 Jun 10
I wouldn't be too worried about your cat, I'm sure Jessy can take care himself/herself and will give Raven a swat when he starts biting too hard. It's actually very impressive if your puppy has learned that if he wants to bite Jessy, he has to do it softly - which is great! It's good for puppies to learn what is appropriate biting strength when playing with other animals. If you ever get a chance to watch puppies play, one moment they'll be playing and the next one will yelp and stop playing because the other will be too rough. It's all part of growing up! As for the overall chewing situation, I wouldn't see it as a problem because puppies teeth and will they chew because it helps them with the pain. Just make sure you have toys for your puppy to chew on. If he starts biting you, make a loud terrifying noise to startle the puppy so he knows you DO NOT like being it and it's not okay. Turn away and ignore him for a bit and then come back offering him a toy to chew on instead. Right now is the best time to teach him that you only want him to bite on his toys and when he does, make sure to praise him and use the toys to play with him. Never let him chew on you or anyone else because it's harder to unteach a behavior than it is to teach one. And the most important suggestion of all is CONSISTENCY. This will show your dog EXACTLY what you allow and don't allow. Raven will quickly learn you mean business and wont praise him if he chews on you, instead, you will make an awful noise and ignore him. Also, when you praise him, do so lavishly so it seems like an AWESOME reward. Good luck!
• United States
7 Jun 10
My cat? swat anyone that would be the day. jessy let Raven chew his ear until it was red and inflamed and he purred the whole time. I think my cat is crazy.
@knewfy (82)
• United States
2 Jun 10
By far your best solution is the squirt bottle. Every time he chews the cat's ears use it. Eventually he will associate this unpleaantness with the chewing and it will cease. Furthermore your cat will probably begin to respond to the squirt bottle also and will go away from the dog when it get squirted. It should work. As for normal chewing, try to "puppy proof" your house. Get dangerous things out of the way, pick up shoes etc. And firmly "growl" at him when he is chewing something you do not want him to touch. And replace it with a toy so that he knows the difference. Play with him with his toys so that they will know that is ok to chew and tug on them.
• United States
3 Jun 10
Funny update, we had a long handled spoon that's made out of tough plastic, but my mom didn't like it. It kinda melted a bit when she was sauteing with it. Well we gave it to Raven. Now he chews on the spoon more than on the cat's ears! You should see him prance around with this spoon in his mouth and chase it when I throw it. Its an absolute riot, he's so proud of himself.
@o0jopak0o (6394)
• Philippines
31 May 10
well look for toys or stuff that he can chew, that always work for me. and i think your dog is "teething" this will eventually pass but stop him when you don't want it to get chewed
• United States
31 May 10
He has toys, but he likes the cat's ears more its actually funny except i worry about the cat.
• United States
31 May 10
Try a squirt bottle. I have two Boston's and when they were in training (before they would just listen to my voice) I would use a squirt bottle. When ever the dog is doing something you do not want, squirt the dog and tell him/her no. You will be surprised how effective a squirt bottle is.