Hi, my husband and I have a 7mth old chocolate Labrador called Penny. We’ve had her since she was 8 weeks. She’s beautiful but driving us insane with all her chewing and constant attention seeking. This has become worse over the last few weeks while we are in lockdown over the covid-19. We try and reward good behaviour (treat based). We give her stuffed kongs, we rotate her toys but she just is not learning. We have stairgates and use them. She eats EVERYTHING! Our garden is wrecked! Along with our dining table and chairs. Any advice would be grateful. We walk her twice a day, I take her in the morning for my one walk and my husband takes her in the evening for his one walk due to the restrictions on our movements and the time we are allowed out of our house. Many thanks. Helen (going very grey!)
Hi Helen, sorry to here Penny is chewing everything! We bought Luna an antler when she was 6 months and we still have it at 10 months. She loves it and chews on it for at least half hour a day. We also have the heavy duty 'black' kong bone and tyre that she is happy to sit and chew on during the day. Another good treat is a yak chew, again she loved this and it kept her busy!! When Luna was 7 months we were still using rope toys soaked in water then frozen for her to chew on. Also freezing carrots for her as she loves then and would take longer for her to work through them. If Penny is anything like Luna she will still be teething a little bit at 7 months and the new teeth will be hurting cutting through the gums. Thats why we used frozen things as it helps cool them. Hope you can find something that works soon!
Hi Helen, and welcome to the forum. Seven months can be an awkward age for a young Lab. In many ways your dog looks very grown up, and in some ways they are. Yet in others they are still puppies at heart. Seven month old puppies often suffer from our expectations. We think and expect that they should be behaving better than they are. Chewing is often a big problem at this age. And its frustrating because everyone is telling you that your dog is done teething (true) and that chewing should stop by new. (Not so true) Garden wrecking can be a big issue for labs under a year old, we had the barest patio when our youngest lab went through her 'gardening' phase. But it does pass, and she no longer empties all the tubs or digs up the flowers. I know that's not much of a consolation while you are going through it, but your best bet outdoors is to fence off an area for her, or just lift everything you can, out of her way. There is more you can do. The fact is chewing (and other destructive behavior) is not just about teeth and mouths, but a lot about boredom. And smart puppies can get very bored indeed at this age. We often find that these kinds of problems melt away once the dog spends more of their time occupied mentally. This would be a great point for you to get your dog into a twice daily home training session, where you teach a brand new skill. Something that really makes your dog focus hard on the job in hand. The training doesn’t have to be anything fancy - tricks will do You’ll find some ideas in these articles. You can do them indoors. Teach Your Dog To Spin Entertaining Your Dog Indoors Teach Your Puppy To Touch Your Hand Let us know if you decide to give them a go! I’m also sending out some regular indoor training tips to members of my Training Tips email list. You can sign up to it using that link.
