Chew, chew, chew

Some folks think that when you say a dog is a "chewer" that it's a bad thing.  Not at all. It just all depends what they're chewing on, I suppose.  I personally think that if a dog chewed up your shoe or your tennis racket or a tube of lip gloss that you should be shouting "BAD HUMAN" because hey, if you have a dog you need to learn to pick up after yourself.

That's not to say that you have to clear your house of anything that isn't nailed down. But make sure you give your dog something tastier and more interesting to chew on than your shoe. I mean is that really that tough?  Not to negate the troubles of those of you with compulsive chewers or dogs with destructive chewing due to high anxiety.  But when I hear customers complain about a dog destroying things, 9 times out of 10 it's because they've got a young, teething dog or a dog in a temporary stressful situation and they haven't provided them with something appropriate to chew.  So many times I want to say "you idiot! Why would you think your 9 month old puppy would just know that the expensive leather boots you left lying in the entryway are any different than the cow ear you gave her yesterday.  Both are pretty beefy delicious."  But I don't - the customer is always right and all that crap.

Hiding out behind the coffee table with her antler stash

Okay, done with the lecture and back to a cute young dog who likes to chew.  I'd first like to praise Neah for being very appropriate with her chewing and thank her for only carrying around the goose down slipper that I stupidly forgot next to the sliding glass door when taking Langley out for a potty break and not chewing it open.

Enjoying the prize antler while trying to make sure Langley doesn't steal it

Neah LOVES anything that was specifically designed to chew on.  She doesn't even really chew on Langley's stuffed animals, rubber squeakie balls, or even some of Frodo's tough tug and fetch type toys.  But that girl loves antlers, bones, and Nylabones.  She'll drag one somewhere that she's least likely to be spotted by Langley, chew on it for a few minutes and then go root through the toy basket to pick out another to add to her pile.  When she was temping at a foster home in California, I hear that she would wander the fenced 5 acres and find every bone or stick that other dogs had left behind and then lay down on her pile of loot for a good chew.

Testing out the chewiness of a JW Holey Roller ball

Is she so perfect that she would never chew on anything inappropriate? No way.  She's a real live 10-12 month old dog and chewing is what they do.  But given the choice of a chair leg or an antler, she'll pick the antler everytime if you make sure she knows where to find it. She's no different than the majority of young dogs - if you set them up to succeed, how can they help but do anything else?