I'm sorry it has been such a long time since my last visit things have been crazy. We saw a behaviourist and things have greatly improved with Rolo's snarling and snapping not totally resolved but much better. I think more than anything our confidence has grown. At the minute our big problem is chewing. He has wrecked my oven knobs, skirting boards, bench arms, window sill, a magnolia tree I could go on! He is 9 months old please tell me it will get better. Here is a recent picture of him. https://www.flickr.com/gp/128783322@N05/82rV52 Kris
Re: Chew chew chew Oh he's gorgeous. His colour is lovely and dark like Juno's ;D Yes the chewing does get better - eventually it's just very hard when they are trying to destroy your home. My last Labrador used to strip the wallpaper off one of the walls in the kitchen. My dad replaced it on a regular basis (4 rolls of paper in total). In the end Mum decided to decorate the kitchen. The dog never touched the wallpaper again. we decided she was making a style statement ;D The Spinone I had was also quite destructive - he managed to destroy my kitchen door into the dining room. Not by chewing but with his claws. Have you tried spraying, I think it's Bitter Apple, on surfaces he chews? I know other forum members have used that tactic with success.
Re: Chew chew chew Bear in mind you have a teenage Lab, as my trainer said "Adult size, puppy brain" How they react to Bitter Apple appears to vary tremendously, Molly couldn't care less. Nice to see you back. Are you really asking me believe that handsome lad is eating your kitchen, ;D
Re: Chew chew chew Wow he's looking beautiful So glad to hear things are improving for you all, they are a constant work in progress aren't they..... Chewing is tricky, my spaniel is a chewer. He's crated when unsupervised and as if to remind me he managed to chew up my daughters Peppa Pig book after I left him for a few minutes "because he seemed dozy" - I was the one who was dozy!!!! Good job he's so lovely as he's NOT to be trusted ;D Best of luck, I'm sure like most things - this too will pass
Re: Chew chew chew Thanks for your comments. Yes he does look like butter wouldn't melt doesn't he? Bless him. My dad was in a car accident and is in hospital and so he has been having longer periods of alone time, never any more than 4 hours but more than he is used to. I suppose as Molly says adult size puppy brain and it's so easy to forget that. Pulling used to be such an issue UNTIL i stumbled upon Pets at Home stop pull harness. It's gently tightens as he pulls but it is so effective for Rolo he walks beautifully with it on. I am obviously aware that this is only an aid and when just walking with a lead he will revert to pulling again but it works for me. Kris
Re: Chew chew chew It will get better- but maybe not for a while. My last Lab was left for several hours every day and did a lot of damage, which I just shrugged off as a result of being left. Molly, my current dog, is hardly ever left alone (my son has her if I'm at work) but still managed to chew chair legs and skirting board and rip wallpaper! She stopped around 17 -18 months of age. Just beginning to think we might redecorate!
Re: Chew chew chew He is gorgeous, just like my Otis who is that lovely dark chocolate too. Thing is, it will be quite awhile before he stops chewing, I am sure it varies from dog to dog, but at two years, Otis has only just lost his real enthusiasm to chew, his is more movable stuff, milk cartons, shoes socks undies, the bitter apple stuff dosen't always work I am afraid. Invest in lots of alternative chew stuff, to save your nice stuff, Maggie x
Re: Chew chew chew Hi, I also went through this phase. Luka will be 2 years old already next week and he is mellowing out ever so slightly! he has finally lost interest in destroying my husbands reference books, seemed to always chose the expensive ones! Also i have been able to bring back my house plants as before he just ate them. He still loves to chew and chew wood but not furniture. I have Kongs, chew bones, deer antler, balls and other toys for him. He also loves porc and beef ears. He is happy to lie and chew one of these in the evenings. it has been since before Christmas that he just started to chill a bit more. It also was when we started going to the canine club and this has greatly improved his socialization and our working as a team. He is such a lovely dog and that's just it he is less puppy and more dog now. Don't get me wrong he is still crazy fun with tuck butt runs etc but he is more companion now and more confident. He was hard work at times around the 12-18 month old period, jumping, pulling and as the French say a fou - crazy! It's worth the wait as he is just the best.
Any thoughts on chewing the baseboards and rugs? It's easy to trade to things she can carry but if we are not looking she will chew the baseboard. We do use baby gates but now she is chewing that too!!
You could use a special anti-chew spray, but some dogs LOVE the taste. Or you could try rubbing Vicks VapoRub onto the wood (this is what I did). I also have a house-eater - a patch of wall in the laundry, one section of door frame, the odd baseboard, the corners of my coffee table, and the odd dining chair. I should have done the sprays from day one but I thought deterrence via toys would work...HA.
I don't know about the Vicks vapour rub....but we used the bitter apple spray.My dog chewed the skirting boards once,totally my fault for decrating too soon and leaving him for too long ( it was only 2 hours but it was too much in one go) I doused the whole area in the bitter spray ,built up his free time gradually and left him loads of other safe things to chew ....filled kongs and chew toys and we never had another accident x
Hi, I'm new to the forum. My 7 month old female lab was asked to leave the doggy daycare because she tried to chew the plastic sheets covering the chicken wire fence or tried to chew the lid of the poop bucket. She is pretty good at home, very little damage to our possessions. To have her described as very destructive is disturbing to say the least. Shouldn't a doggy daycare be prepared to address such problems? Does this sound like an extremely destructive dog? Your input is appreciated.
That sounds a ridiculous response by the day care place - they obviously weren't providing enough human interaction with your puppy, or appropriate things for her to chew. She's definitely not abnormal I hope you can find somewhere that understands puppies' needs.
Giving them good things to chew on may help. We always have nylabones and sterile bones around, but if we are going to be gone for a while we try to also give a big rawhide or frozen stuffed Kong. It dosen't stop everything but it does seem to help.
