Problem behaviors
How to stop a dog from chewing furniture
The couch, the door frame, the baseboards and the remote are the four things our trainers hear about, and the first question is always who was watching. Nobody, is the answer, and that is where the method starts.
Last reviewed September 11, 2026 · by the Best Dog University Team
Why it happens
Teething, adolescence, boredom or anxiety, and freedom the dog had not earned.
A puppy under six months chews because its mouth hurts and because exploring is done with the mouth; that is teething and it passes. An adolescent between six and eighteen months chews with intent, anything at mouth height, because it has energy, a mature jaw and no job; that is the most common furniture chewer. A bored adult with no walk and no work chews for something to do. And an anxious dog chews the things near exits, door frames, windowsills and blinds, and does not settle on a camera; that is separation panic, not a chewing problem. All four share the same enabler: a dog left loose in a room, unsupervised, with the furniture as the only thing to do. Management removes the enabler while the alternative is built.
- Puppies: teething, passes by six months
- Adolescents: energy, a mature jaw, no job
- Bored adults: nothing else to do
- Anxious dogs: exits, and no settling on camera
- Freedom before it was earned enables all four
The method
Six steps, and the first one is the crate.
A camera on one unsupervised hour sorts the anxious dog from the rest before you begin. For the other three, the method is management, replacement and a job.
No unsupervised freedom in any room for a month: a crate with a chew when nobody is watching, a gated area when someone is nearby, a leash in the house for the first week
A legal chew always within reach, rotated so it stays interesting, and a frozen one for a teething puppy
Trade for anything illegal: present the legal chew, mark the drop, pay, and remove the illegal thing without a chase
A structured walk morning and evening and a job for the brain, a search for kibble, a training session, so the chewing has less energy behind it
A bitter spray on the favorite furniture leg as a backup, never as the method
Freedom earned one room at a time after a clean month, with a camera, and the room closes again after a mistake
The mistakes
Punishment after the fact, chasing, the wrong chews, and a crate without a routine.
Punishing a dog for a chewed cushion it destroyed an hour ago teaches it nothing about chewing and something about your arrival; a dog that looks guilty is reading your face, not remembering the couch. Chasing a dog with a shoe makes the shoe the best game in the house. The wrong chews, rawhide that swells, cooked bones that splinter, anything the dog can swallow whole, are a veterinary emergency; the chew is sized for the dog and supervised at first. And a crate without a routine, ten hours in a box with no walk and no job, produces a bored dog that chews the crate bed instead. The crate is the safe default while freedom is earned, and the walk and the job are what make the dog calm in it.
Adolescent chewing eases by eighteen months to two years in a managed dog and never in a dog left loose and bored.
- Punishment after the fact teaches nothing
- Never chase
- Safe chews, sized and supervised
- The crate with a routine, not as a box
- Adolescence ends; boredom does not
Proofing around Houston
Long days, long summers indoors, and a dog with no morning walk.
Houston's working days are long and the summer walk is early or not at all, so a lot of dogs are left for nine hours with no exercise and a house full of things to chew, and a bored adolescent in July in the air conditioning does what it does. The plan for a Houston summer is a structured walk at dawn, a job before the family leaves, a frozen chew in the crate and a midday break for the young dog; the crate itself lives in the air conditioning, never a garage. Our trainers build the crate, place and the chew rules into every stay, and the go-home session sets up the room and the rotation of chews in your own house.
- A walk at dawn before the long day
- A frozen chew in the crate
- A midday break for the adolescent
- The crate in the air conditioning
When to call
A dog that chews exits and never settles, or a dog that eats what it chews.
A dog that destroys door frames, windowsills and blinds and paces the whole absence on camera is panicking, and that is the separation anxiety plan, with a Platinum stay at $3,750 to build the foundation and lessons afterwards to set up the weekday plan. A dog that swallows what it chews, socks, stuffing, wood, is a veterinary risk and the management has to be total until the habit is gone. An adolescent that chews from boredom and has a handful of other habits is a Gold case at $2,500, where the crate, place, the walk and impulse control are built together. The destructive chewing page describes the program, and an in-home lesson at $220 sets up the room in an afternoon.
The programs
Programs for the chewer.
Gold for the crate, the walk and the off switch, Platinum for the dog that chews exits in a panic, lessons at home to set up the room.
Asked and answered
Questions people ask about this.
Why does my dog chew the furniture when I am out?
Because it is loose in a room with nothing else to do, and the couch smells of you. A crate with a chew when nobody is watching, a walk before you leave and freedom earned one room at a time stop it. A dog that chews door frames and never settles on camera is anxious, and that is a different plan.
Will my dog grow out of chewing?
Teething ends by six months and adolescent chewing eases by eighteen months to two years in a dog that is managed and given a job. A dog left loose and bored keeps chewing at five. The crate, the walk and the job decide it, not the birthday.
What chews are safe for my dog?
Ones sized so the dog cannot swallow them whole, supervised at first, and rotated so they stay interesting: rubber chews that can be stuffed and frozen, edible chews your vet approves. Cooked bones splinter and rawhide swells, and anything the dog can gulp is a veterinary emergency.
Does bitter spray stop a dog chewing?
Sometimes, as a backup on one favorite furniture leg, and never as the method. A dog with nothing else to do chews through the taste. Management, a legal chew, a walk and a job stop the chewing; the spray just protects one leg while they take effect.
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