Q: I've searched everywhere for the answer to this question! I have a 1-year old brindle Great Dane. He's a very well behaved pal of mine, except for this one strange habit. Every night, right after I throw the covers over me at night to sleep he comes to the side of my bed, and starts nibbling my sheets/blankets. He goes into this strange trance, and starts nibbling. I have to yell at him a few times before he snaps out of it. Do you have any idea what's going on? Thank You!

A: At his age, your dog is probably still setting his permanent teeth in the jaw, which takes a lot of chewing. Labradors and many other large breeds commonly do this until around 2 to 2 1/2 years of age, often destroying a lot of property in the process. How long to expect it to last in a Great Dane, a breed that matures more slowly, I don't know. To control the damage, owners need to provide their dogs with good quality chew toys, and supervision.

Yelling can create new problems in your relationship with the dog. I would suggest offering the dog something else to do at that moment that the dog will find equally satisfying. Since the dog is chewing soft things, try a huge cotton Boodabone, and see if that will satisfy this urge.

When the dog starts to go through this type of chew toy quickly, then you'll need to step up to harder toys. Stick with the good toys. The cheap ones can cause harm to the dog. Keep an eye on how your dog handles toys. There is no toy that is 100% safe for all dogs, because of the different ways dogs use their toys. I like to give the dog a choice of textures in his own toys for chewing. That seems to help the dog resist temptation to chew other things.

Dogs can also have seizure behaviors with odd manifestations, and some dogs deprived of adequate nursing as puppies may seek things to suckle on later in life. In a seizure behavior, the dog would tend to be truly unaware. If you suspect something like that, you should see your veterinarian.

Otherwise, it's very important with young dogs to get their chewing behaviors strongly focused on their own toys by providing good toys and continually redirecting the dog back to those toys. This is your prime opportunity to form lifelong good chewing habits in your dog, and these habits help preserve the dog's teeth.