Q:  I have a 3-month-old Shepherd/Australian Sheepdog mix. She is very chewy, and it is hard to get her to stop. Is she too young to expect her not to chew on me or my clothes? When she starts chewing on me or my clothes, I tell her no and give her a toy to chew. I am not sure if I am doing the right thing or if I am expecting too much right now. Also when is the right time to start training her? She is housetrained already.

A:  Your pup can indeed already learn not to chew on you or your clothes. You're doing the right thing in providing her with chew toys in the first place, as well as in redirecting her to a chew toy when she starts on you.

It might be that the chew toys she has don't appeal to her – different dogs have different preferences. Also, with very "chewy" or "mouthy" puppies, it often helps to feed all their meals in stuffable toys, such as the Kong. Make up a mix of half canned and half dry food, in an amount equivalent to your puppy's daily ration. (but subtract from that ration the food you'll be using to train your pup.) Stuff the mix into as many toys as needed, then partially freeze the toys. The hard work of extracting the food from the toy will help satisfy her urge to chew. As your puppy gets better and better at unpacking her food toys, you can freeze them hard to make the project more challenging.

Another good outlet for puppy mouthing is a gentle game of tug. With a young puppy, you must be very careful never to jerk the tug toy, whip it around, or lift the puppy as she hangs on to it, but she can chase and grab it as you move it around on the floor. And you can use tug to begin teaching her how to drop an item on cue which will help teach her to stop chewing when she has her mouth on inappropriate items. When you want her to let go of the toy, simply hold her collar gently in one hand and hold the toy still in the other. Be quiet and boring. As soon as she releases the toy, say "Yes!," release her, and move the toy around enticingly again for her to grab. She'll soon learn to let go of the toy as soon as you touch her collar, because she'll want to get the game started again.

As long as you are giving your puppy plenty of outlets for her need to chew, you can directly address her chewing on you and your clothes by giving her a time-out when her teeth touch your skin or clothes. Mark her mistake by saying, pleasantly, "Oops!" or "Too bad!" Then fold up your arms, turn your face away from her, and be still for 5 seconds. If she continues to chew on you during your 5-second social freeze-out, you may need to walk out of the room and close a door behind you instead of simply going still and ignoring her.

The above technique works because your pup is chewing you in play, and she wants to continue the interaction. It won't take her long to learn that putting her mouth on you interrupts her fun. You can expect her chewing of you to drop off sharply within a few days as long as you're consistent in your response.

Finally, you ask whether you can start to train your puppy now. Guess what – you already are! You're teaching her to be careful with her teeth, to direct her chewing urges to "legal" toys, and (through tug) to play with you politely and respond to your cues even when she's excited.

Such young puppies are learning dynamos. Take advantage by using reward-based, dog-friendly methods to teach her anything she can physically do. (Until she's full-grown, stay away from jumping tricks so you don’t stress her growing bones and joints.) I got my puppy when he was just shy of 9 weeks old. By 14 weeks of age, he was walking politely on leash down the sidewalk. He responded to his name and had learned to sit for his supper, lie down, stay, touch a target with his nose, and "gimme 5," as well as other manners behaviors and tricks.

You can accomplish wonderful things with such an early start! As a famous trainer has said, "It's all tricks to them." Enjoy teaching your puppy and she'll enjoy learning with you.
 

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