How can I help my puppy not chew and dig, and hyper?

First of all stop hitting your dog to discipline it! If you're "not into the squirt bottle method" try a soft but firm tap while saying "NO!" in a firm, authoritative voice. Secondly, exercise your pup EVERY DAY in the form of at least one walk. And for the chewing, get a bottle of Bitter Apple & spray it on the things you don't want her to chew on. It might also be a good idea for you to start watching "The Dog Whisperer" (National Geographic channel) & "It's Me of the Dog" (Animal Planet.) And get you & your dog into an obedience class ASAP.

exercise is a HUGE part of having a dog. daily, preferably morning, walks are entirely necessary if you want a well behaved dog.

my overly hyper dog did not start calming down, stop chewing and being hyper around 8 months, with 2 walks a day. he is a large breed though, so you will most likely see this sooner.

the chewing takes patience. CALM, ASSERTIVELY say "NO" when he chews on something bad, and hand him a bone or toy to replace the bad item.

digging can be a act out of boredom. again, exercise will take a lot of this bad behavior away.

if your dog gets proper walks and play time, he will take long naps. a tired puppy is a happy puppy and owner. exercise, discipline, and affection IN THAT ORDER = a good dog.

Exercise for about 45-60 minutes, but don't start agility until she is at least a year old, jumping too high can strain a puppies bones and muscles. I'd prefer walking or jogging for mellowing her down. Don't play with her inside, or she may think that's where she can get hyper and play. Play at the park or in your backyard. And when you tell her to release something, make sure she does. Make sure when you call her name, she comes. Make sure when your done playing, she's calm, submissive. For digging and scratching at the couch, discipline is the answer. The techniques I'd use would be removing her from the couch if she's on it and then instructively say "no". Always stay calm when you are disciplining your dog, never get mad. Hope I helped! Good job for adopting from a shelter!!! Hope you enjoy your new pup!

WALK HER!!!!!! That is the best way to calm a dog down and from what she does it sounds like she is bored. If she is a large breed like a golden retriever or lab,you should walk her at least twice a week for at least an hour, and with small breeds like westies you still need to walk them at least twice a week but for less time.

The with Discipline until she calms down the squirt bottle is the best method (sorry). Some shelters offer training classes,and pet stores like petsmart or petco do training sometimes too.

The key is to begin obedience training, add more directed exercise, not just walks or letting her outside, and supervisiing her constantly so you can provide a correction and redirect her behavior to a proper alternative.

If you find her doing something wrong, a simple and stern NO will do, once she stops the behavior, offer her a correct and this is very important, a MORE enticing alternative. Your redirection has to be better than what she is already doing or she will just return to the previous behavior.

well as you know adopting a pet, any pet, is a big responisbility. puppies can be especially hard the first few weeks or even months. a good way to calm your dog down, not only now but so it is housebroken when it gets older, is to introduce him/her to a lot of people. if your puppy gets too excited, have these people leave the room. your puppy just wants to play and is excited, and when he/she realizes people don't want to play he/she will more than likely relax, or become upset and start chewing things, in which case you must step in and chastise him/her. this is just one suggestion for one area of behavior, i'm sure there are other suggestions worth trying on here.

hope this helps

wouldnt you rather squirt water at her than hit your puppy?? NEVER use violence on an animal EVER!!!! you will end up with an aggressive dog,

try giving her a old pair of slippers that she can chew on, make a loud pitched noise when ever she does something she isnt suppose to and say "NO" keep doing it untill she learns, be persistant, its the only way, but please dont hit your puppy, its cruel!!

some people think that hitting their dog is bad, but I say no.

I hit my dog when she is bad, and she UNDERSTANDS the message i'm trying to pass along. I mean think about it. While your telling your dog to stop chewing the wood, or stop chewing the sock, HOW MUCH info do you think your puggle will digest?

simple solution for you...lots of exercise...take her outside for long walks and lots of play time...will do wonders for when she's in the house...she'll be alot calmer =)

Run that pup until she is dead tired! LOL