Knowing your dog and its habits is a great way to ensure a good and lasting friendship. But understanding your dog and why they do the things that they do will go even further to ensuring a stronger and more definite bond! A lot of habits and ways of doing things form when our pets or just little puppies and the habits that our pets get into often have a lot more to do with real reasons than just them being naughty or stubborn. Puppies are like young children – they will test boundaries and will try new things but they will never do with any bad intent.
A good way to learn about your puppies or dogs is to understand what is happening to them as they are growing up. As puppies grow into adult dogs they develop 42 permanent teeth which replace the 28 "milk" teeth. These milk teeth are gradually lost between 14 and 30 weeks of age. While these teeth are falling out there is no cause for concern and it is while these teeth are being replaced with the permanent teeth that puppies start to chew more. This increase in chewing is often seen as a problem and many puppies get shouted at and get into a lot of trouble when all they are doing is what comes instinctively to aid the growth of good strong teeth.
To prevent your puppies from chewing on your slippers or shoes, hard rubber or rawhide toys are made especially for dogs going through teething.
