So my puppy is 28 weeks old and his chewing has increased. That’s right, increased. These guys are definite heavy chews. I make sure to have some good rawhide around for gnawing on as well as a few other perfectly acceptable chews. The blanket, is not for chewing on, and he only tried to chew my boots once. As long as I have a chew within reach, and not too many scattered around, the chewing remains under control. He has learned what he can chew.
New developments; the love of whats in the trash and seeing if he can get it out and spread across the floor before we realize it. We have been really working with him the last couple of weeks to let him know that getting in the trash can is not acceptable behavior. We have a way to go, as he believes the smells in the trash are much better than us telling him to “leave it”.
The other thing he is doing is nipping at our heals. This, of course, is a trait that is bred into this type of dog. In his case it means; “I want to play! Give me attention!” He only does this when he wants us to spend time with him, of course, while I am carrying the laundry basket really isn’t an acceptable time for him to be doing this. As his energy has increased I am working on spending more time outside with him to allow him to ‘get it all out’. Its interesting how much puppies really are like toddlers.
I found a great site dogster where you can get all sorts of information. The one thing I love is that they have a weekly email that tells you what week your puppy is in and they give you a tip on what to expect or some other informative tidbit. If you haven’t discovered it yet, I encourage you to go take a look.