Short answer: dogs chew because it's a normal, hardwired behavior — not because they're being bad. Destructive chewing almost always traces back to one of four things: boredom, teething, anxiety, or simply never having been given something better to chew. The fix isn't punishment. It's giving your dog a safe, long-lasting chew he's actually allowed to destroy, plus enough exercise and mental work that he isn't looking for a project of his own.
I'm Preston, co-founder of Bully Sticks Central. We ship a lot of chews to a lot of people whose shoes didn't survive the year, so this comes up constantly. Here's what actually works.
Why is my dog chewing everything?
Chewing is normal dog behavior at every age. The American Kennel Club notes that chewing helps dogs relieve stress, keep jaws strong, and stay mentally occupied (AKC). The problem isn't that your dog chews — it's what he's chosen to chew. Figure out the driver and the solution usually picks itself.
Boredom and under-exercise
This is the most common one by a wide margin. A dog who's been alone for eight hours with nothing to do will find something to do. Baseboards, remote controls, and the arm of the couch are all excellent projects if you're a bored dog.
Teething
Puppies get their adult teeth in from roughly 3 to 6 months, and their gums hurt. Chewing is how they self-medicate. VCA Animal Hospitals describes this as a normal developmental stage that peaks in the first six months (VCA Animal Hospitals). Teething chewing is temporary — but the habits your puppy builds during it are not.
Anxiety and separation stress
If the chewing only happens when you leave, and it's focused on doors, window frames, or your personal items, that's a different problem. That's distress, not boredom, and it usually comes packaged with pacing, drooling, or house-soiling. Redirection alone won't fix it — talk to your vet or a certified behaviorist.
Nobody gave him anything better
A rubber toy your dog can't actually make progress on gets abandoned in about four minutes. Dogs want to consume what they chew. That's the instinct being satisfied. If the only consumable thing in the house is a shoe, you've got your answer.
How do I stop destructive chewing?
- Give him a legal outlet first. You can't take away a behavior without replacing it. Put a real chew in front of him — something meat-based he can work on for a while, not a squeaky toy.
- Manage the environment. Shoes in the closet, cords tucked, trash behind a door. Every successful shoe-chew rehearses the habit. Prevention is cheaper than retraining.
- Add exercise and mental work. A real walk, a training session, a puzzle feeder. Fifteen minutes of nose work tires a dog out more than a half-hour of fetch.
- Reward the right choice. When your dog picks up his chew instead of your slipper, say so. Praise it out loud. Dogs repeat what pays.
- Interrupt, don't punish. Catch him mid-chew on the wrong thing, make a neutral noise, swap in the right thing, and praise. Punishing a dog after the fact teaches him you're unpredictable, not that couches are off-limits.
- Supervise or crate when you can't. Especially with puppies. An unsupervised puppy in a house full of furniture is a bad bet.
What's the best thing to give a dog who chews?
The chew has to last long enough to matter and be safe enough that you're not standing there worrying. That rules out a lot of what's on the shelf.
We make single-ingredient chews — 100% real meat, no additives, no fillers, no rawhide. Every one is 100% natural, fully digestible, and ethically sourced from grass-fed American and Argentinean farms. Rawhide is the thing we deliberately don't sell: it isn't meat, and it doesn't break down the way a real meat chew does. The FDA has also warned owners about the risks of giving dogs the wrong kind of bone or chew product (FDA).
A few things worth knowing:
- Bully sticks are the default recommendation for heavy chewers. Dense, high in protein, and they hold a dog's attention. Here's the full rundown on bully sticks.
- Puppies can have them, with the right size and supervision — we cover that in our guide for puppies.
- Softer chewers and seniors often do better on something gentler like beef trachea, which is easier on the teeth and still fully digestible.
- Rotate. Dogs get bored of the same chew. Switching between two or three types keeps novelty in play, which is half the reason chews stop working.
Whatever you give, supervise the session and take away the last small piece before it becomes a swallowing hazard. That's true of every chew on earth, ours included. Everything we sell is 100% high-quality guaranteed — if a batch doesn't hold up, tell us and we'll make it right.
How long does it take to fix?
For a boredom chewer with a decent outlet and more exercise, you'll usually see a real drop inside a couple of weeks. Teething runs its course by around six months. Anxiety-driven chewing takes longer and usually needs professional help — the ASPCA has a solid overview of separation-related behavior if that's what you're seeing (ASPCA).
The mistake I see most often is people trying to eliminate chewing instead of aiming it somewhere. You're not going to talk a dog out of being a dog. Give him something he's allowed to destroy, and he'll leave your stuff alone.
Quick answers
Will my dog grow out of chewing?
Teething chewing, yes — typically by around six months. The urge to chew doesn't go away, though. Adult dogs still need an outlet; they just get less frantic about it.
Are rawhide chews a safe alternative?
We don't recommend them and don't sell them. Rawhide is a processed hide byproduct, not meat, and it doesn't digest the way a single-ingredient meat chew does. A 100% real meat chew is the simpler, safer swap.
Does punishing my dog for chewing work?
No. Correction after the fact doesn't connect to the behavior in your dog's mind. Interrupting in the moment and redirecting to the right item is what teaches the rule.
This post was last updated at August 6, 2026 22:31
