One of the most frequent question that gets asked on the labrador retriever chat forums has to be about puppies and chewing. I started the chat board almost seven years ago because my chocolate labrador retriever puppy was chewing everything in site. We were losing shoes, shrubs, socks and toilet paper at an alarming rate.
You have to give into the fact that labrador retrievers are aggressive chewers. My chocolate lab is seven years old and he still loves chewing but we got through the puppy phase and he is now content with chewing his toys and not everything else in the house. It takes awhile to get there but there are some things you have to do.
I like to call it Puppy Proofing Your House. Think about it, labrador retriever puppies or any other puppy for that matter is just like a small child. You don’t leave things out in your house that you don’t want to them to get into. If you have ever been into a house where they have a new baby who is just beginning to walk or crawl you will see gates guarding the stairs, locks on cupboard doors and doors closed. Why not do this for your labrador retriever puppy. After losing my daughters third pair of shoes in less than a month I put up an interior door to close off the shoes and boots when you come in the house. It was then that I had a moment of clarity. I need to puppy proof my house like I would if I had small children.
Here are some tips:
- Make sure you keep all of your doors closed to bedrooms and bathrooms when you are not supervising your puppy. If he/she cannot get into that room then they can’t destroy anything.
- Consider adding an interior door or even a toddler gate to block off places such as the basement, kitchen or foyer where you leave your shoes.
- Clear things off of tables that your puppy can reach. Put the remote control or cordless phone on a table or wall unit where your puppy cannot jump up and get them.
- Put your newspapers and magazine away when you are not home. There is nothing worse than cleaning up dozens of shredded magazines.
- If you have to, take the toilet paper off of the plastic roll and leave it on the sink counter. We lived three years of our lives this way and you get used to it. The toilet paper is not back on the rack and he doesn’t touch it.
- Don’t leave food or snacks sitting out unattended, they won’t last long
- Probably the most important, give your puppy lots of toys to chew on and reward them for playing with them when they do.
I think you get the main idea; a puppy cannot chew what is not there. Puppy proof your house and trust me you will be living a higher quality of life.
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