I have been thinking about this issue quite a bit lately. We have had two older puppies here and they LOVE our shoes. After housebreaking,I would say this is our most requested issue that people ask for help. How do you stop your dog from chewing your shoes? People never want to hear the obvious but it is easy. Pick up your shoes and put them away. EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. While I know if you have children that this can be difficult let’s talk about some ideas for stopping the chewing of shoes.
Why do dogs especially love shoes?
They smell the most like US, their favorite people in the world. Our feet perspire and while our couch might smell like us our feet smell the most like us. Dogs also love leather shoes best as it is pliable and feels good on their teeth and once you get past the tanning and leather dye, it smells like dog food. Yum.
How do we prevent this?
Well, again, picking up shoes is best. Or you can put a very strong deoderant in your shoe to mask your odor. You can put inserts in your shoes that smell of medicine and deoderant or you can spray the inside of your shoes with a mint scented breath freshener as most dogs stay away from anything with a mint odor. You can also try to spray bitter apple specifically on your high heels of your shoes. Most dogs despise the tast of bitter apple.
Tomorrow, I will share some tips on how to prevent your dog from chewing your shoes if you leave them out.