Nikko is getting close to 6mo by now, and he's definitely teething, and has been for awhile now. None of our furniture (so far!) has any teeth marks at all. He doesn't really ever even try anymore. Here's what we've been doing, a sort of compilation of advice we've gotten on YT combined with some common sense... hopefully you'll find something in it that will help you, whether you agree with all of it or not.
1. Buy bitter apple spray. Squirt it on anything you don't want her to chew on. Keep in mind it wears off after a while and you'll have to keep reapplying until the dog decides it's just not worth it to try chewing on that particular thing anymore.
2. Buy bully sticks and flossies (bully sticks that are shaped in a fun spiral). Experiment with brands - not all bully sticks are created equal... Nikko has some brands that will occupy him for an hour, and some he just sniffs at.
3. Get tons of toys. Stuff a sock with plastic trash, tie knots at either ends of a cut-off strip of washcloth/towel then wet it and freeze it, buy a kong and put her kibble in it, toss around an ice cube, make ice cubes with her kibble in them for her to eat, etc.... on top of whatever tug and squeaky toys you can buy.
4. Play with her with the toys, and the bully sticks, often. Help her give her jaws and teeth a workout if she's not doing it on her own enough. Play tug-of-war (just make sure you always win in the end, so she doesn't think she's stronger than you), play fetch, etc.
5. As soon as you feel safe taking her on walks, take her on nice long walks. Sleepy dogs are less likely to have the energy or the desire to chew on things they shouldn't.
6. Constant supervision... hey, you need to be doing this for potty training anyways, but it certainly does help for chewing as well. If she goes after something she shouldn't, replace it with an acceptable chew toy, praise her for chewing on the right thing, then grab the bitter apple spray to deter her from going back to whatever bad thing she was chewing on.
Good luck... teething's rough. Nikko usually sleeps through the whole night these days, but he must've had a tooth coming in the other day because two nights ago he whined for what felt like the whole night long! Aargh! I love him though, and I just keep telling myself that the teething will eventually end. And he will eventually be totally potty trained. Etc., etc. They're not puppies forever!
Lauren & Nikko |