Dogs have strong jaw muscles and a natural tendency to chew which will vary from one breed to another. Training your dog not tochew or to at least practice his chewing instincts on the items you prefer him to is important not only for the dog safety, but also if you want to actually wear shoes that don't have teeth marks in them! Puppies have a greater urge to chew and a less picky about the objects of their desire. But don't let this discourage you, even young puppies can be trained to set their attentions only on what you want them to chew. The first thing in training your puppy is to keep items that he likes to chew out of reach. Typically this is shoes, socks, T-shirts and children's toys.

It's important to keep this stuff picked up and out of the way of your dog not only so that he doesn't have access to chew them but these can also be harmful to your puppy especially if he swallows a sock or part of your child's toy. Now that you've taken away all the fun things that you dog likes to chew on, you want to give him some things of his own that are okay to put his mouth. Some dogs like hard rubber bones and some like Rawhide you'll have to try them both with your dog to see which he prefers. real bones probably on a good idea because some of them can splinter and they can be a bit messy. If you really insist on giving a dog real bones and give him the large beef phones only - not chicken or pork bones.

Take a trip to the pet store and you see all kinds of special chew toys - bring your dog along and let him pick out something he really likes! You can also try some of those ball shaped toys that have treats In the middle. It'll take a while to work to treat out and thus his attention will be on performing this task and not showing up your shoes. When you do catch her dog chewing on something is not supposed to you need to train him to know that this behavior is not acceptable. Speaking to him in a sharp tone of giving him a mild tap and taking the object away can work wonders if you are persistent.

Yelling at the dog and hitting him or any other kind of harsh punishment will be counterproductive so it is best to avoid this type of behavior no matter how frustrated you are with your dogs actions. You might even want to try practicing by presenting your dog within an appropriate object and then and then practicing your dog skills at avoiding object. This object near him and when he makes a move towards it you can get from sharp tap or have the leash already on them and give a little jerk to let him know that it's not okay to take that object in his mouth. When using leash training, be sure jerked sideways so that you're not pulling on the throat muscles as this might cause damage to your dog. Although dogs next are strong, the front with their throat is can be delicate especially in small dogs.

Remember, this movement is not to punish her dog with physical pain but to gently inform him that his behavior is incorrect. Just like with any other training, training your dog not to chew it takes patience, persistence and kindness. He can be a bit challenging at first because you are training your dog NOT to do something as opposed to the typical training where you train your dog to sit or lay down and you are training him TO DO something.

Lee Dobbins writes for http://www.train-the-dog.com where you can learn more about eliminating problem behaviors in your dog.