Balancing destructive chewing and encouraging Independence for 8 m/o dog?

[ck90]

Seperation anxiety is an ongoing issue with our pup, and after he stayed with my parents at their house over the weekend weekend, where he was allowed to roam everywhere without puppy gates/closed doors (including in the backyard) with no supervision, we realized that this type of independence is really helpful for him, and our fears of his chewing at home have caused us to stifle it.

He's a big chewer, and we're working hard on management and redirection, but those techniques require us to be around/him to be limited in where he can go. Right now he's in the living room most of the day, and while for several months we've left our bedroom doors open after work, when he goes in there we usually follow him to redirect when he chews on something. But beyond being exhausting, I think this helicoptering has made him even more reliant on us/resistant to being out of our sight.

How can we work to help him learn to be independent without reinforcing the chewing? We've "puppy proofed" our room to the extent that there's nothing dangerous on the floor, but he chews furniture so I can't exactly remove my bed... His chewing has gotten much better over time, and I don't know whether this would cause a huge setback, or if it will continue to slow down as he grows and I should just accept some chair leg bite marks as the cost of doing puppy business.

 

[jamescen]

@ck90 I think chewing is something that puppies naturally grow out of and there’s no way to really stop it other than puppy proofing and supervising. For that reason, we kept our puppy in a puppy pen or crate unless we were actively supervising her. Around 6-8 months, puppies’ teeth set in their jaws and they go through another teething phase. There’s not much you can do besides manage it. We gave our puppy a little more freedom at 10-11 months and when she did well with that, we graduated her from the puppy pen and crate at one year. She’s never really chewed anything except her toys.

I don’t think your supervision caused any problems, rather he is chewing because he is setting his teeth and that’s what puppies do! Anyone watching your puppy should do the same stuff you do so there aren’t chances for him to chew stuff. Restrict his access to the furniture and try again in a few months. I know it feels like a long time in the moment but it sounds like he isn’t ready to be free range yet. You’re not stifling him, you’re protecting him from being naughty and possibly ingesting dangerous objects/choking hazards. Once he is ready to be free range, he’ll have years of freedom. It will get better!