Newf puppies, like all puppies, will chew. Puppies will also nip, and while puppy teeth may be small, they still can hurt, and still can do damage to flesh and furniture alike. Since you never want your dog’s teeth to impact human flesh, and preferably not to impact your furniture or your house, addressing teething issues is of paramount importance.

Puppies chew and nip for multiple reasons. As with human babies, they will feel discomfort as their teeth grow in, and to relieve this discomfort, puppies will chew. They also chew because dogs’ mouths are one of the main tools they use to explore the world and to interact with the members of their pack – and in this case, that means you. Chewing and nipping, then, are an essential and unavoidable part of the growing up and socialization process for puppies; our task, as dog owners, is to manage this process so the puppy learns what it needs to learn and that our furniture, and fingers, survive unscathed.

Early socialization – think “puppy class” – is an important part of educating dogs as to the proper way to use their mouths. Be ready, also, to intervene when your puppy engages in inappropriate chewing, and that means promptly redirecting your dog to something he or she is allowed to chew. And that means, of course, having plenty of puppy-appropriate chew toys available.

Keep in mind that it is a normal puppy behavior, and as such should not be punished or suppressed so much as properly directed.