bad habbit

Question
Hi, my name's Rebecca and I own two dogs. A silky terrier and a shih tzu. I love my dogs and I enjoy their company but I find thei bad habbits annoying sometimes and I would wanna teach them some manners. I wonder why my dogs love to chew on everything! just EVRYTHING. What causes that? boredom? or is it just a bad habbit? sometimes, they jump onto my bed and start chewing on my stuff which is real annoying and one day recently, I got so mad cause I found out that my phone's antenna has bite marks on it! What can I do to stop that habbit? They are pampered. I tried punishing them for chewing on stuff and they even chew on furniture. They are 9 months old. When they chew on something, they know they are in the wrong and they would hide away cause they are afraid I'm gonna punish them. But they still repeat the same mistake. What can I do? Pls help cuase it's getting annoying. Another thing, I've been trying to house train them.....been trying to tell them that peeing in the house is not allowed......a month back, they seem to know that I want them to pee outside and they did and I was very happy...praising them when they did it right......but recently, they're back to their old habbits again! peeing all over the place and even poop! it's getting out of hand and annoying...they know it's wrong but still........sigh.....pls help...I really don't know wot to do.......sometimes when you call out their names, they don't even care lolz....ahahaha.....it's like they are not that obedient and they are like "I don't give a damn" lolz......HELP!

Answer
Hi Rebecca!
I can tell you a few things.  I own a shih tzu.  Although they are loving, cuddly and sweet dogs...they are not the sharpest knife in the drawer (hehe).  They love to be loved.  They are often times aloof.  They will come when called IF they feel like it...but all in all, to me, their loving and sweet nature is worth it.  My little Charlie is now 3 years old.  It took a good year and a half to house break him.  This breed is noted to be very difficult to train.  I have six cats, and I do have to say that Charlie's behaviors and personality can be very cat like at times!  It took until two years of age to teach him to sit, lay, give paw, stay, ect.  He is the absolute best dog I have ever had and it took a lot of time to get him to where he is today!  I don't know much about silky terriers, but he may be learning habits from the shih tzu.
First thing...are they spayed/neutered?  This helps tremendously in behavior.  It elminates the need for them to mark their territory with urine and feces and it also helps calm them down a bit.  At 9 months of age, they have both reached sexual maturity.  Alot of the behavioral problems you are witnessing may be eliminated if you spay/neuter.
Next...when catching them chewing on furniture and other things, tell them "NO" and hand them a chew toy.  They will learn that they can chew on their toys and nothing else.
A dog trainer or puppy classes may be beneficial. This will help you learn tricks that will specifically work for your dogs.
Your dogs are still considered puppies, at 9 months of age, and they will misbehave, as this is what puppies do!  They will eventually calm down into the loving, sweet dogs they are.
I hope this helps,
Hilary