Your dog is not wrecking the skirting board out of spite. Chewing empties a jaw full of restless energy, soothes a teething mouth, and settles a dog the way little else does. It is a need rather than a habit, which means the goal is never to stop the chewing — only to move it onto something you are happy to lose.

Why your shoes keep winning

They are always available, they smell overwhelmingly of you, and they are exactly the right give under the teeth. Most chew toys lose on all three counts: they live in a basket in another room, they smell of nothing, and they are either rock hard or fall apart in a minute. A dog picks what is nearest and most satisfying, every time.

Make the right thing the nearest thing

Keep two or three chews in the room where the damage happens, not in a toy box down the hall. Rotate them so they stay interesting, and stuff one with something the dog has to work at — a smear of wet food frozen inside a rubber toy will hold a dog far longer than a dry toy will.

Trade, do not scold

When you catch the shoe in the mouth, hold out the chew, take the shoe, say nothing. A dog who learns that giving things up produces something better stops running away with them.

Two things worth knowing

A puppy between roughly four and seven months is teething and will chew more, and that passes. And chewing that starts suddenly in an adult dog who never did it, especially alongside pacing or destruction near doors, is usually not boredom — that pattern points at distress when left alone, and it needs a different plan than a new toy.

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