[alundy]

I know puppies need to be supervised constantly and I'm OK with that. Ours, if not monitored, steals shoes, relocates socks, and pulls kleenex out of the bathroom garbage to rip it up. She is 5 months old.

Of course I try to eliminate these 'temptations' by closing doors to those rooms, etc. My question is, as a dog gets older, do they stop wanting to do this stuff? I certainly don't want to have to crate her forever, so will she reach a point where she no longer wants take everything and rip it up... My train of thought is that if I simply remove temptations like garbage from the picture, will she ever learn that it is wrong to do those things? Doesn't she need to be disciplined (appropriately) to realize it's not OK?

[Cheetah]

What I do is just remove the temptations, unless I am there to correct the bad behavior. When I am home with Shippo, I leave my shoes and slippers etc. on the floor, so that I can teach him to "leave it." But when I am not here, he's crated.

[kellymac]

Our 10 month old still does the same things. Every trash can in the house is fair game to her. Not to mention, I now have no good tennis shoes. There is always something (or multiple things) all over the house on the floor. We tell her no and then take it from her. That usually works pretty well. As far as the trash cans go, we just simply close the doors and my kitchen trash can is now under the kitchen sink.

[sheltieluver]

Don't worry...you're puppy will eventually outgrow this behavior. In the meantime, she should be supervised at all times. If you are unable to supervise her tether her to something strong (kitchen table, etc) while you are busy or crate her when she can't be watched. Personally I would remove items she chews on (shoes, socks, etc) that she can get to. If you catch her with something she should not have, redirect her to something she can and praise her when she accepts "her" toys. Good luck.

[TheWriteKind]

I hope it gets better...My retriever will eat the couch or anything else that's soft and fluffy if she can get to it. She ate an entire couch and loveseat when she was a puppy. She's 2 now and will still eat the world if she's not crated when we're not there. When we are there, she doesn't eat anything she's not supposed to.

[Jessica&Crew]

A lot of that is attention getting behavior, and an attempt to alleviate boredom.

When dogs here act out I immediatly take what it has and I give it something it is allowed to have. As soon as the dog accepts the offered item a lot of praise is given.

You may want to look into some "busy" toys, like the kong.

[toniaxp]

Puppies like to tear up and chew on things its part of their "hunting" behavior and part play. Do you have any toys that are just for the puppy which may help.

[all4thedogs]

They do outgrow this. It depends on the breed, as to when. Provide your puppy just a couple of toys (at first), a chew toy (kong is great, bc its tough and can be stuffed with goodies), a ball or other play toy, and a soft toy (rope, stuffie etc). Everytime your puppy gets something he isnt supposed to, take it away, say NO, give one of his toys, praise. He will eventually get the idea!!