Feb 4, Techniques on How to Stop Dog Chewing Everthing like Furniture, Shoes or Carpet

Before you learn how to stop dog chewing, you have to understand the nature of dog.

The dogs, same with human, are social animals. They live in a pack which can consist of 5-10 dogs or more. The pack of dogs has freedom to move from 1 location to another and they always have activities throughout the day among them.

Most of the dogs in current world are kept as pet. They are confined in a house with little freedom to move around and they have very less activities in the house. The dogs can be lonely and bored due to lack of physical activity. Therefore, they will develop dog behavior problems like < a href="http://www.puppy-training-at-home.com/separation-anxiety-in-dogs.html">separation anxiety in dog, excessive dog barking, whining and even dog chewing issue.

So, if you leave your dog to be alone in your house for a long time (eg: 8 hours), it is without a doubt that he will find something to entertain himself - find something to chew!

Picture shows a puppy that chews a pillow

Have a walk/jog in the morning to reduce his energy level. This is especially applicable to a working person who does not have choice but to leave his/her dog in the house for 8 hours. When your dog's energy level is low, the chewing problem will be reduced.
Seek help from housemates. If you are living with who is in the house during your working time, you may request the person to organize some activities (eg: play time) with your dog.
Use Bitter Apple Spray. Bitter Apple Spray is a chewing deterrent available for dogs. If you dog likes to chew on furniture, you may use the spray on the furniture legs or any potential chewing posts.
Buy your dog some chewable toys. Chewable toys are especially useful to prevent your dog from chewing on your household. But, if you want to keep things interesting, you may rotate the toys every few days.
Spend more time with your dog. As soon as you are free, spend more time with your dog will help him to get out from boredom and loneliness. Thus, it will help to stop dog chewing problem.
Correction of Chewing behavior. Whenever you are in your house, learn to observe your dog's action. The moment your dog want to chew on something, you should give him a warning with stern voice and serious face expression. This will let your dog knows that that action is not allowed. DO NOT punish your dog after damage is done as your dog does not understand the reason you punish him.
Picture shows 2 dogs are chewing a t-shirt.

Dec 13, Techniques on How to Stop Dog from Digging Holes in Your Garden, Lawn or Yard

Dog Digging problem can be frustrasted sometimes when you discovered there are holes every where in your garden.

If you are looking for effective ways on how to stop dog from digging, then you are in the right place. But first of all, you have to understand the reasons a dog or puppy digs.

Dogs dig for a few reasons as below:- Just dig for fun or discover what is in the ground
There is an unusual smell below the ground, may be there is an animal in the ground (eg: rabbit, rat or even insect)
Dig out of boredom or loneliness
Genetic-influence (eg: Terrier Breed)

It is not difficult to learn which categories your dog falls into. If you dog digs once in a while, most probably, your dog is just digging for fun to find out something in the ground. If your dog does it quite often, it is because he is bored. The reason a dog becomes bored is because he is lack of physical activities (eg: exercise and playing). So, you should spend more time with him and increase his physical activities.

If your dog is terrier-type, you should have known that terrier breed was bred to hunt underground vermin long time ago. But not to worry as genetic factor is not a major influence. Any dogs can still be trained to behave properly.

Personally, I think it is okay to allow your dog to dig once in a while, as long as he is not creating chaos in your garden. If dog digging problem is too much for you, you might want to apply the following suggestion to stop the digging behavior:-

Keep your dog supervised. Put your dog on leash and collar or dog crate when he is unsupervised. ONLY let him to access to your yard or garden when you are free.
If your dog likes certain areas in your yard, put some strong smell items like onion, garlic or pepper there. Your dog will not go close to that area again.
Divide your garden or yard into areas your dog can dig and can not dig. Depends on your preference, you may use wood or brick to build the boundaries. This may requires some work though.

If you do not have enough exercise with your dogs, your dog can be frustrated as he has too much energy inside. His energy needs to be released somewhere. So, the dogs will develop dog behavior problems like biting, chewing and also digging. Below are some suggestions that can help your dog's digging problem:-

Bring your dog for a daily morning walk for 45 minutes to 1 hour. It should be enough for most of the dog breeds. If you own a high energy dog breeds, you have to organize some physical activities again in the evening.
Buy some toys that are able to keep your dog occupied when you are not around. Rotate the toy every few days so that your dog will not get bored.
You may be also seeking help from family members or neighbors to play with your dog when you are not around. If you can afford, get a dog-sitter or dog-walker.