Chewing and Shredding
Chewing is a natural dog behavior that is actually quite helpful in keeping the dachshund's teeth clean and gums healthy. A puppy's need to chew becomes voracious at roughly five months of age, when she begins to lose her milk teeth and the larger adult teeth begin to break through the gums. As with human children, this time of teething is uncomfortable and produces a very strong desire and a real need to chew. Rubbing something firm against the gums helps the adult teeth to break through the gum layer and also helps to ease the pain and itchiness that goes with the whole process.
You'll want to provide your pup with many different choices of chew items: hard rubber chew toys impregnated with a taste to encourage chewing, toys with a hollowed-out area specifically for stuffing with delectable treats, knotted rope toys that are particularly fun to toss and thrash about, and sturdy, hollow shin bones or small knuckle bones that can be chewed on for hours, days, and weeks with much joy.
Be sure to keep items that you don't want your puppy to chew safely put away in drawers and behind closed closet doors. If your puppy chews up your new Jimmy Choo pumps (the color really wasn't right for you anyway) or your boyfriend's wallet (hey he had photos of old girlfriends in there), you have only yourself to blame. If your puppy can't access these items, he can't chew them.
Rotate your puppy's toys and chew items to keep things interesting. If your puppy has ten toys and chew items, you'll want to keep eight out and scattered around the pup's play area at all times. Each day, you can pull two items from your pup's collection and hide them in a cabinet and return to the mix two items that were hidden the day before. This way, your puppy will always be getting something new and different.
Leave a Bad Taste
If your puppy is chewing on things that you can't remove from his reach, such as the bottoms of kitchen cabinets, the tassels of an area rug, or a low windowsill, apply a “no chew” ointment or spray. These ointments and sprays can be found in most pet stores. They are harmless to your puppy but are very bitter in taste, and generally only a lick or two will sufficiently repel a puppy. You must, however, keep spraying or applying the area with ointment for several days or even weeks after your puppy has shown interest in the item to ensure that if he tries again (and dachshunds can be rather determined at times), he will get that same nasty taste.
The Shredding Instinct
Grabbing a towel and whipping it violently back and forth is a behavior harkening back to the days of your dachshund's “killer” instincts. If the dachshund stopped at just the thrashing, it probably wouldn't bother pet owners much; however, many dachshunds continue their play and proceed to absolutely shred — and thrash again — every piece of the item they are working on.
Favorite shreddable items are kitchen towels stolen from the oven door, oven mitts (same source), discarded socks (particularly good if they come from a smelly foot), underwear, bras, wet swimsuits … they're all good. In addition to destroying the item, the dachshund puppy can also be quite reluctant to give up her treasure, even to the point of growling, lying on top of the item, and snapping.
Supervise your puppy! Dachsie puppies are lightning fast, and they can be quite stealthy when it comes to snatching items to chew. Keep your eyes open, and don't ever think that what you don't consider a chew item would be (necessarily) unattractive to your dachshund.
To avoid confrontation, get your puppy's attention with a small treat. Now, ask her to do something good, such as sit or lie down. Offer her the treat. She will drop the item. While feeding your puppy and offering praise, pick up the item. Quickly follow this by giving her an appropriate thrashing item, such as a favorite rope toy.
