All dogs chew. They chew for all kinds of reasons. Puppies are teething so their gums are itching, they explore with their mouths (like babies do). Chewing is also fun and something to do; it alleviates tension and anxiety while exercising the jaws. Adult dogs sometimes chew out of boredom or because they are anxious or under-exercised.
As a puppy owner, your best bet is to manage your puppy’s environment so that he doesn’t have access to any forbidden objects, and to provide him with enough exercise and appropriate chew toys like KONG toys, or any other hard rubber toy that is safe to leave your puppy alone with. (Plush toys often have plastic squeakers inside that the puppy could choke on if he pulls out the stuffing.) You can encourage your puppy to chew on KONGs by filling them with yummy stuff like peanut butter or any other treat your dog likes.
If your puppy doesn’t show any interest in the KONG toy right away, try holding on to it and moving it across the floor, or putting something especially smelly or yummy inside. For really good chewers (hello Lab and Pit Bull owners), you can freeze the KONG first so it takes a lot of work and time to get the filling out. The more you exercise your puppy and interact with him, the less energy he will have to devour your Manolos. Whenever you’re not interacting with puppy, he should be confined in a safe and comfortable place like a crate or small playpen. Avoid letting him play with old socks or rags; It is not puppy’s fault if he can’t determine the difference between a sock or an old shoe you’ve let him play with and your brand new shirt. Remember, they all look like toys to your puppy.
So, how to control puppy biting and nipping? Ah yes, definitely not the most pleasant aspect of having a puppy. Puppy teeth are SHARP and no fun. Puppies are used to playing with their litter mates and it’s actually important that they be allowed to play bite so they can learn appropriate bite pressure and get good bite inhibition. However, it’s also important that they learn that teeth on human skin is not OK, especially if it’s anything more than just a soft touch (which is rare; most puppies chomp down when they get excited).
What seems to work with most puppies is to yelp, squeak, or to say Oops! As soon as the puppy takes his teeth off your skin and look at you in wonder, you can say YES! in a pleasant voice, and the reward for the puppy taking her teeth off is that play resumes. The yelp usually startles the puppy enough to stop chomping down, and I like it better than saying NO because it’s very hard for us humans to not use the word NO in anger and to not yell it, especially when puppy is sinking her teeth into your flesh. The object is not to scream and scare the puppy, just to alert her that biting skin is not OK and that taking her teeth off will get her back to playing and having fun.
Sometimes puppies get into a puppy frenzy where they can’t stop themselves or calm down enough to listen to you.. If you have a puppy you’ve probably experienced the "puppy zoomies," where he races around like a crazy dog and can’t stop himself. For those moments, if puppy sinks his teeth into your flesh and won’t let go, it’s better to remove yourself and leave the room, even just for half a minute, before you re-appear . Do not put the puppy in his crate or play pen for punishment; you don’t want him to associate the crate with punishment. It’s better for you to remove yourself so that the puppy experiences that when he bites you, what he wants (you) goes away.
Of course, redirecting the puppy to something more appropriate than your skin is also a good option. You can pick up a rope toy, a tennis ball, or a KONG and see if you can get the puppy to be interested in that instead. If you just drop the toy on the floor, the puppy might not find it as appetizing as your yummy hand that’s moving and waving; but if you pull the rope toy across the floor or move it quickly back and forth on the floor, it will have more appeal to the puppy. Anything that’s moving will generally be more exciting to a dog. Present the new toy to the pup and remember to say YES the second he takes his teeth off your skin. Getting the new toy will be his reward for complying and letting go of your hand.
