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One of the things you may, or may not, be prepared for when getting a new puppy is its desire to chew. Often this can be quite destructive depending on exactly how you handle this situation.

Instinctively puppies often chew because they need to- not because they want to destroy your personal items. As puppies begin to loose their 'milk teeth' and get their 42 adult teeth they chew to help alleviate some of the discomfort they are experiencing. Overall, the best thing you can do is protect your puppy from potentially harmful situations and help set him up to be successful.

Below you'll find several ideas to help your puppy from being 'bad' and to help it through this stage of development.

• Give plenty of exercise and attention to relieve boredom which often leads to chewing
• Crate the puppy if you cannot watch it
• Use commercial sprays to alleviate chewing of household items- Listerine is also good
• Do not give the puppy old shoes or socks to chew on- it cannot differentiate old ones from your brand new ones
• Give your puppy toys of its own to chew on- it is also good to give these to your pup when he begins to teeth on you
• Give your puppy one of its toys when it acts as though it may chew something it should not
• Move items you do not want the puppy to get out of its reach- cover all power cords, remove pens/ pencils, plants (many are poisonous), books, etc.

With a little bit of planning, patience and caring, you can help your puppy through this stage.

Article written and reprinted with permission of: http://www.pedigreedpups.com/

Purebred Dogs, Puppies and Dog Breeders - "Your New Best Friend"

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