uncontrollable urge to chew things to relieve the discomfort in their gums. Chewing facilitates the removal of puppy teeth and the eruption of the adult set 12 months of age.

• An unbalanced diet. If a dog does not have enough calcium in its diet, for example, it may try to compensate by chewing stones or plaster.

• Supply your dog with items that are safe and tough enough to survive being chewed. They should not splinter or break into pieces that can be swallowed

• Ensure your dog has regular exercise away from home at least once a day. Visit different environments whenever you can, such as pavements, fields, woods, parks and beaches

• Teach your dog what kinds of things are acceptable and unacceptable to chew

• Play with your dog. Short, frequent sessions are best – at least three times a day for atleast five minutes.

Toys and chews should not be confused. Toys are designed to be thrown, chased, squeaked and tugged during play. Most are not designed to be chewed. Chews are designed for nibbling and gnawing and are essential if you want your dog to chew acceptable items instead of your furniture. They should be given when your dog is settling down for a quiet time, either in your presence or on its own.

Suitable toys for your dog include a squeaky ball, rubber ring, teddy, ball on a rope and a frisbee. They should not be left down for your dog to chew once the game has finished. This will ensure the toys last longer and, more importantly, that you won’t have to take your dog to the vet because it has a blockage caused by swallowing toys or their component parts.

All dogs like to play on their own sometimes, so it is important to leave at least one ‘safe’ toy down for them to play with at any time. An excellent toy for this purpose is a ‘Kong’ (available from pet shops). A Kong is firm rubber toy that is hollow on the inside and can withstand lots and lots of chewing. If you stuff biscuits inside the Kong or smear some cheese spread inside,your dog will then work to get the food out and it will nibble, lick and chew on the toy for sometime. Kongs are also very good at stimulating play and chase behaviour, since they bounce unpredictably in different directions when they have been thrown.

This is a hollow, dimpled ball the size of a small football, with two holes bored into it. If you place small pieces of dry food inside (for example a portion of your dog’s daily ration) it will have to roll the ball around to get the food to drop out of the holes, which keeps it occupied for a long time.

Every day, provide your dog with one or two chews that it has not seen for a while. When you see your dog settle down to chew one, praise it gently

If you notice your dog about to chew something it shouldn’t direct a short jet of water from a small water pistol or plant sprayer and wet it on the back of its head. Your intention should be to startle your dog, not to hurt or frighten it.

If your dog looks in your direction, pretend the water spray had nothing to do with you. After a few minutes, direct your dog’s attention onto an acceptable chew and praise it when it begins to chew. The aim is for your dog to think that the correction came from somewhere in the environment, as a result of it chewing a particular object. Correcting your dog in this way is much better than telling it off and will mean that it will be less likely to chew unacceptable items when left alone.

The correction (water spray) will be most effective if it happens just as your dog is about to chew the object for the first time. If the correction occurs after it has already been chewing for a while, it will be too late. If you are too late, then distract your dog by calling its name excitedly or picking up its lead. Praise it when it comes to you and give it a titbit. Then watch carefully – your dog will probably go back to its new hobby, giving you a chance to correct it before it starts to chew again.