Just got my first pup that I will train as my gun dog. He seems to be picking things up very quickly, but almost constantly tries to chew on everything. I've had dogs my entire life, but none of them have ever tried to chew on things as much as this one does. I have a couple of questions about trying to be proactive in stopping this behavior.
1. Should he have a Nylabone in order to have something "correct" for chewing or will that just reinforce his instinct to chew?
2. What age is appropriate to begin using an e-collar to prevent unwanted behavior? Tri-Tronics discusses using one for this purpose, but doesn't mention at what age.
He is an 8 week old lab and is doing great. I don't want y'all to think that I don't understand that chewing is a natural thing to do - I definitely understand. I'm just trying to figure out the best way to stop it from becoming a long-term issue.
Thanks for any advice!
1. Should he have a Nylabone in order to have something "correct" for chewing or will that just reinforce his instinct to chew?
2. What age is appropriate to begin using an e-collar to prevent unwanted behavior? Tri-Tronics discusses using one for this purpose, but doesn't mention at what age.
He is an 8 week old lab and is doing great. I don't want y'all to think that I don't understand that chewing is a natural thing to do - I definitely understand. I'm just trying to figure out the best way to stop it from becoming a long-term issue.
Thanks for any advice!