Chewer

I've had my little Harley since he was 8 weeks old & ever since then he's been a real chewer! He's not really content unless he's chewing something. Also, every time he plays he mouths a fair bit. Never bites hard but wrestles a lot with his mouth. I've tried the yelping like a dog when he was a puppy & had his sharp teeth. Tried the firm "NO's" & ignored him for a few minutes before playing with him again but nothing seems to work. You can't touch him without him wanting to mouth or lick you! Not good with the little kiddies.

He is now 1 year old & is still the same. Is this common puppy behavior that he will grow out of or something that I can stop through better techniques??

Sounds like you are doing the right things and here is a link that will help

http://staffy-bull-terrier.com/stop_your_staffy_puppy_biting

Thanks with this also. I remember reading through this website when I first got Harley which is where I adapted the puppy yelping from. I'm taking him to a really good training group so I will also check with him on anything else he could advise me of with the mouthing.

Best of luck   

Hopefully puppy school will help

You could try giving him a stuffed Kong to stop his chewing other things

Deer antlers are also very good for chewers, try the link below:

http://www.leadingraw.com/natural-deer-antler-chews.html

Sazzle wrote:You could try giving him a stuffed Kong to stop his chewing other things

Thanks Sazzle, he has 3 different Kongs that he loves & he's figured them out to a TEE!! Gets the treats out in minutes. He's also got these flavoured plastic bones I have got from the pet store & he likes them. They're the only thing he can chew that will last. I put a lot of his destructive chewing down to boredom.

And thanks Kathy. I'll have a look at those.   

Not really used to the chewing thing but Flo does love those antlers  

My Ronnie is a real chewer.

He loves the stag bars I get them off ebay they are cheaper than shops. He also has a towel tied in a knot and a tea towel (for variety). He is also very keen on rope toys. A smaller puppy kong is another favourite toy as he can get that in his mouth and give it a good squish.

I have a large kong which I fill with webox in tubes(I know its not the best dog food but its great for filling kongs) with biscuits - cocktail sausage chopped up is also a favourite kong filler.

A small boomer ball is good for walks as they cant rip them to pieces and again can get in the mouth for a good squish. And a kong frisbee also a good chewing toy.

He is in a crate when I go to work if I left him out I would have no house left.

I have had to section off the yard so Harley can't roam right around the yard otherwise he'd chew everything to pieces too. Although I do have an outdoor setting with chairs that he's chewed through. I think I've got 2 out of 6 that you can sit on. Lucky it's an old setting!!! Harley also loves his ropes, tyres, balls & Kongs. He absolutely loves anything that squeaks but they never last long because he destroys them in minutes!!!

Does Ronnie also mouth your hands a lot when he plays Winnie?

Banes is 25wks, and he chews everything apart from the sofa, it's costing a small fortune on new toys etc, I found peanut butter really good for the kong, or a slice of cheese. He is getting better with mouthing. He licks a lot but that's just him being submissive but letting us know he wants attention.

Have you tried freezing the kongs to keep him interested for longer? We fill ours with natural yogurt and apple pieces, mushed up banana and peanut butter and they freeze really well.
Bane used to mouth and bite us a lot as a puppy, he still does when he gets really hyper and we still just have to tell him 'no' or 'enough' and ignore him until he calms down. It just takes some longer than others He's never shown an interest in furniture and things though.

Mika is a mad chewer, she'll chew anything. We got her a couple of stag bars and they were great. When they were finished we forgot to get a new bone and she ruined a couple of things so we got her a bone and a new chew toy and she's not so bad now but as someone said before it's down to boredom. She loves a good lick though but we don't mind most of the time