You walk into your bedroom, only to find your dog chewing your favorite pair of shoes. How do you save your shoes from your chewing canine and how to do you stop it from happening again?

Here are some steps you can take to correct inappropriate chewing and train your dog to chew the right things.

Encourage appropriate chewing

Make sure that your dog has appropriate outlets to satisfy his need to chew. Dog toys like kongs and balls may appeal to your dog.

Make sure to choose toys of appropriate size. Choose toys that they can chew and carry around, but make sure it is big enough that they can’t swallow it. Also, don’t confuse your dog by offering toys like shoes and socks. Give him toys that are clearly distinguishable from household items.

Redirect the behavior

Chewing can be directed onto appropriate items so as to prevent your dogs from destroying your things and keeping them out of harm’s way.

Do not take the dog away from the object or grab the object away from him. Instead, get your dog’s attention by giving him a light touch correction and direct his attention away from the object.

Never punish the dog

When you’re upset or angry, the dog feels threatened by your voice. Unleashing your anger on your dog won’t accomplish anything. Instead of eliminating the undesirable behavior, this may upset the dog and urge him to find other objects to chew on just to calm down.

Puppy proofing

Take responsibility for your own belongings. The key to protecting your things from your dog is to prevent access to them. Block access to rooms that have not been puppy proofed. If you don’t want your things in your dog’s mouth, then make sure to keep them in a closed closet. At times when he cannot be supervised, you might want to consider crate training your dog.