Newbie here

[SarahS]

These cute pups are hard work. Life is so much easier if she can burn off that energy in the park. Ours would come home and fall asleep for ages. So I would start with a couple of good walks. Try to stimulate her with toys. Engage in play with her and reward her when she brings you one of her toys - dont let her play with them all at one time. Keep shoes etc out of reach. Beware of cables. Make a real fuss of good behavior and try to distract her from bad behavior; if shes doing something naughty, get one of her toys and start to play with her. She'll soon realise that she gets attention when she plays with her toys. It must be really hard for you and it does take a lot of time to train spaniels, but do persevere as the rewards are so worth it. There are loads of good training books about, they were really helpful for me. Good luck.

Our previous dog chewed anything in his grasp until at least 18 months despite being trained to chew his toys etc. As soon as we weren't looking he would steal shoes etc. I never ever thought it would stop, and then suddenly it just did. We could leave anything out in the end.  But I think that was just growing up.  With our new puppy I use a crate and a dog gate. It is like have a crawling baby, move anything precious.  My house has never looked so clean and tidy as it does now. All the kids toys are upstairs, I have a new cupboard for shoes. No-one leaves anything out. It is lovely. 

[Elmo]

She knows this is wrong and what chews are hers because she will stop and run off when she sees me, but she still does not stop.

I dont think she will know it is wrong she just knows that when you catch her she will get in trouble. Im presuming you maybe shout at her but please correct me if im wrong Shes not associating you shouting at her with chewing the "whatever it is" but is associating you being there with the telling off so she has just learned to do it when your not there as she still thinks its ok and it feels nice.

[JaspersMum]

Hi and welcome.

We homed Jasper after he'd chewed through two other homes in 9 months, the last of those resorted to confining him in a tiny kitchen and not even letting him in garden because he dug it up.  Initially he chewed here - internet cables, tv aerial, the wall and anything he could get his teeth into. Like you I wondered what I'd done subjecting the family to this, thankfully my kids are older and old enough to put their stuff away but they still leave things sometimes.

It might be worth looking at diet - could be increasing hyper activity, also once he gets used to your routine and having something to do might calm him, together with general maturing perhaps look at one of the dog games books, things you can do at home without taking too long when you've got a young family too..

Jasper is now 2 1/2, he's my angel (most of the time) and those days of chewing the wrong things are behind us (he still runs off with socks though). Hang in there, she looks  you've just got to grit your teeth to find out what makes her tick.

[Ameliexx]

She knows this is wrong and what chews are hers because she will stop and run off when she sees me, but she still does not stop.

I dont think she will know it is wrong she just knows that when you catch her she will get in trouble. Im presuming you maybe shout at her but please correct me if im wrong Shes not associating you shouting at her with chewing the "whatever it is" but is associating you being there with the telling off so she has just learned to do it when your not there as she still thinks its ok and it feels nice.

I don't think she thinks that me being there means she will always be told off. If she has her own chews she stays in the middle of the room to chew them but if she has one of the kids toys she runs off and hides with it. I do not shout I ask her to drop it which she usually does and if she doesn't then I will take her out away from the situation.She is actually getting much much better now with this , and I have got her more toys so she has a variety of her own things.Someone also suggested cold carrots from the fridge to chew on.She loves them

[Doggone Mad]

I gave Hamish ice cubes to chew on when he was teething, as recommended on this site, and it did seem to help.  It was almost like it helped numb the pain for him.  At just over 6 months he is still a chewer, but there has been a huge improvement compared to when he was say 3 / 4 months old when he would chew everything & anything  .  The skirting board in my hall was one of his favourites and led to me putting tabasco sauce on it to stop him (again, suggested here) - it did the trick, although I temporarily have a rather dirty looking skirting board, but hey, it can be repainted.   He likes chewing his own toys now which just didn't seem to appeal to him in his mega chewing stage ! 

[Helen]

She knows this is wrong and what chews are hers because she will stop and run off when she sees me, but she still does not stop.

I dont think she will know it is wrong she just knows that when you catch her she will get in trouble. Im presuming you maybe shout at her but please correct me if im wrong Shes not associating you shouting at her with chewing the "whatever it is" but is associating you being there with the telling off so she has just learned to do it when your not there as she still thinks its ok and it feels nice.

I don't think she thinks that me being there means she will always be told off. If she has her own chews she stays in the middle of the room to chew them but if she has one of the kids toys she runs off and hides with it. I do not shout I ask her to drop it which she usually does and if she doesn't then I will take her out away from the situation.She is actually getting much much better now with this , and I have got her more toys so she has a variety of her own things.Someone also suggested cold carrots from the fridge to chew on.She loves them

Maybe when you ask her to 'drop' whatever she has, exchange it with something she can have, like a squeaky toy and praise her like mad when she drops her 'prize'.  That may help, and is a positive way of training.

Also, check out if you have any APDT puppy training classes near you - valuable for both you and socialising your pup 

[*Theresa*]

I  can sympathise with how hard it is. Unfortunately even though we have no kids me and my OH were slow to learn and I have lost count of the amount of socks, shoes, pens, pencils and anything else he could lay his paws on that we lost while Glen was at his worst.

I can only confirm it does get better and now he rarely chews anything he's not meant to and we can breathe fairly easily again now. 

[Elmo]

She knows this is wrong and what chews are hers because she will stop and run off when she sees me, but she still does not stop.

I dont think she will know it is wrong she just knows that when you catch her she will get in trouble. Im presuming you maybe shout at her but please correct me if im wrong Shes not associating you shouting at her with chewing the "whatever it is" but is associating you being there with the telling off so she has just learned to do it when your not there as she still thinks its ok and it feels nice.

I don't think she thinks that me being there means she will always be told off. If she has her own chews she stays in the middle of the room to chew them but if she has one of the kids toys she runs off and hides with it. I do not shout I ask her to drop it which she usually does and if she doesn't then I will take her out away from the situation.She is actually getting much much better now with this , and I have got her more toys so she has a variety of her own things.Someone also suggested cold carrots from the fridge to chew on.She loves them

If youve never told her off for chewing things she shouldnt she maybe just regards these items as high value...higher than her own. I agree with livercake about exchanging the items and praising her. What i do with mine is whenever he picks up something he shouldnt i encourage him over to me by saying "oooh what you got, come and show Mum" in a very excited friendly voice. He will come over wagging his tail and  because ive taught the "leave" command i can take it off him then i praise him a lot with a toy/treat/game. Its got to the stage he will pick up dirty socks and bring them to me voluntarily.....and of course i have to be sooo pleased to receive them

You really need eyes on the back of your head with a pup dont you

[Matthelen]

When we had Wilbur we too encountered the same problems.  In addition to all the good advice already given we also were advised to use a spray with a citrus content specifically to deter biting, just spray on object just before they go to bite.  About £2.  Also to give him ice cubes as it soothes their gums when teething and great to chase around the kitchen floor.  It does get much better  

[Ameliexx]

Thanks everyone 

[phoebesmum]

i agree that puppies are hard work!
at first the work came as a shock but now i have settled into the new routine and i have to say it is extremely rewarding!