Need help with biting problem

Toby is our first puppy and he will be 8 months in a couple of weeks. One problem that we still have right now is that he's biting furniture occasionally. At first we thought he's teething, but now he has lost all his baby teeth and the behavior is still here. I always stop him right away by saying "No" and redirect his attention to his toys as mentioned in a lot of books we read. I am pretty sure that he knows that he's not suppose to bite on it. My guess is that he's doing it to get attention. I have tried the bitter spray and it didn't work at all. I tried ignoring him and he didn't stop either. At this point I am not sure what to do to correct the problem. Please let me know if I do anything wrong or if you have any suggestions to this. Thank you!

Dogs of all ages love to chew. When you see him looking longingly at your antique chairleg, try offering him a high value chewy, such as Merricks Bullysticks, dried tendons, or the durable Nylabone. When he sees that he is going to get something much better, he will probably back off the boredom destructive gnawing of your furniture. We are fortunate in that our girl has never been destructive, but we got her at six months and she had a good foundation of proper behavior from her breeder. We do make sure that we offer her a safe chew several times a day though, and when she tires of it, we just pull it up for next time. (Otherwise she will wisk it away and hide it somewhere for next time!)

He is exactly the age at which they most like to chew. Puppies for the first year tend to chew a LOT -- it isn;t just teething, it is how they develop their jaws (just like human babies test picking things up with their hands). If he is chewing and cannot be managed with bitter spray and toys then you will need to keep him from physically having access to the furniture. Some dogs will be chewers all their lives and hair around the house, some chewed items we value(d!), the occasional accident -- are part of having a dog and having the dog live with us. Just as kids tend to knock about a house a bit, so do dogs or cats -- it is simply part of the 'deal' I am afraid! Pets (and kids!) generally aren't a great idea for anyone who is really houseproud. :lol:

Generally the chewing subsides after age 1.

If you don't have a good manual for dog ownership, I'd really suggest buying one of Dr Ian Dunbar's books (such as his one on 'after you get your puppy'). A good manual will answer questions like this, which can be very reassuring , and also give a lot of excellent guidance on what to expect at different stages of a dog's life and how to work on aspects of training.

My 8 month old puppy has successfully chewed all four corners off of the same coffee table that my 5 YO chewed off at the same age 4 years ago.

After the first round, I had a professional come in and "rebuild" the corners of the table and you couldn't even tell....until the same four corners have been chewed off again. So, I will have it repaired again as soon as he is over this phase.

BTW, the repair work was fairly inexpensive. It's annoying, I know, but something most dogs will go through. This too shall pass! :xfngr: