Your dog chews because chewing is one of the most satisfying, natural, and stress-relieving things a dog can do. It releases endorphins. It's how puppies explore the world. It's how adult dogs manage anxiety, boredom, and excess energy. The behaviour itself isn't the problem — it's the target selection that's the problem.
When your dog chews your furniture, baseboards, shoes, or remote controls, they're not being vindictive. They're not doing it to punish you for being at work. They found something to chew, it felt good, and they kept going. The solution isn't to stop them from chewing — that's a battle you won't win. The solution is to give them so many appropriate chewing options that your furniture becomes the least interesting choice.
Destructive chewing is usually a management-and-substitution problem, not a training problem. Puppies under 18 months and adult dogs in new environments or under stress will chew indiscriminately unless their environment is managed. That means supervision or confinement when you can't watch, plus an abundant, rotating supply of appropriate chew items — frozen Kongs, bully sticks, marrow bones, textured chew toys.
Leave it and drop it are the two training tools that close the gap. Leave it means "don't touch that thing" — useful when you see your dog approaching something they shouldn't have. Drop it means "release what you've already got" — useful when they're already mid-chew on something problematic. Both are emergency skills. Management is what prevents the emergencies from happening in the first place.
Most destructive chewing in adult dogs is a symptom: under-exercised, under-stimulated, under-supervised, or under-supplied with legal chewing options. Fix the root cause, and the furniture survives.
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It releases endorphins. A dog who chews is self-medicating stress, boredom, or teething discomfort. They're not doing it to annoy you; they're doing it because it feels good.
During teething, the need to chew is particularly intense and their gums genuinely hurt. Without appropriate outlets, furniture and baseboards become the chew toys of necessity.
The most common cause of destructive chewing is an unsupervised dog with access to attractive items and nothing better to do. If the shoes are on the floor and the dog is bored, the shoes will be chewed.
One tennis ball is not sufficient for a six-month-old Labrador. Dogs need an abundant, rotating variety of appropriate textures, chew durations, and challenges. Boredom with available options sends them looking elsewhere.
Dogs who are anxious — separation anxiety, environmental stress, major life changes — chew more. It's a self-soothing behaviour. Chewing the couch is a symptom; the cause is the underlying anxiety state.
Remove everything chewable from floor level. Close doors. Use baby gates. When you can't supervise directly, crate or pen. A dog who can't access the furniture can't chew the furniture. Management isn't a permanent solution, but it stops the practice while you build better habits.
Frozen Kongs, bully sticks, raw marrow bones, Himalayan chews, textured rubber toys. Rotate the options so they stay novel. A dog who has chewed for two hours on a frozen Kong has a physiological need met — they're not looking for the next thing to chew. Under-provision of appropriate chewing is the single most common root cause of furniture destruction.
When you see your dog approaching the coffee table leg: "leave it." When you catch them with a sock: "drop it." These commands don't replace management, but they give you real-time tools when management fails. Build them in calm training sessions first so they're available under the pressure of a real situation.
Leave it prevents your dog from eating garbage, approaching hazards, and picking up dangerous objects. Step-by-step guide to a reliable, reflexive leave it.
When they've already got the remote in their mouth, drop it is the emergency retrieval. A dog who reliably drops items on cue can be redirected from mid-chew to something appropriate — every time, without the chase game.
The peak teething-related chewing phase usually subsides by 6-8 months when adult teeth are in. But chewing is a normal, lifelong behaviour. What changes is intensity and ability to redirect it. Most dogs who have appropriate outlets and adequate exercise settle into acceptable chewing habits by 12-18 months. Dogs without appropriate outlets can chew destructively at any age.
Significantly. A tired dog has lower arousal and less energy to expend on destructive behaviour. Physical exercise plus mental stimulation — training, puzzle feeders, sniff walks — addresses the energy surplus that drives a lot of destructive chewing in high-drive breeds. It doesn't replace management or appropriate chew provision, but it makes everything else work better.
Mostly yes, with supervision. Bully sticks are safe and highly effective for meeting the chewing need. Raw marrow bones are excellent but should be size-appropriate and removed once small enough to be swallowed. Cooked bones are never appropriate — they splinter. No rawhide. Supervise with any novel chew until you know how your dog handles it.
Maybe. Video your dog in the first 20-30 minutes after you leave. If they're frantic, barking, pacing, and then chewing — that's anxiety-driven destruction. If they're calm, then eventually get bored and find something to chew — that's a management problem. The interventions are different: anxiety-driven chewing needs separation anxiety training, boredom chewing needs better management and more enrichment.
No. Adult dogs who chew destructively do so because the conditions for chewing still exist — they're under-stimulated, unsupervised, or under-supplied with appropriate options. Address those conditions and the behaviour changes. The principles are the same; adult dogs just have a longer history of the habit to overcome.
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