As we all know, labs CHEW, duh, I can't seem to find the right chew toy to keep my l0 month old lab busy. He goes after my pillows, blankets, etc. We have tried kongs, Nylabones (not interested in those), bully sticks (can't give him too many of those, he does like them tho). He loves to carry around my pillows (bed and couch pillows), but also has destroyed the corners of the pillows by chewing on them. I have a basketful of dog chews, and he doesn't care about them.......Does anybody have any suggestions what else keeps their labs busy at home while I'm doing my own thing. I would love to hear what your labs chew on while at home......thank you!!!
Hi have you tried yak chews or antlers. My pup was a terrible chewer, table legs, chair legs, door frames, stairs, I could go on! But if I gave her one of these she loved it.
I second the yak chews and antlers. I also get chicken filled bones off amazon. We used to give bully sticks but they only lasted about 20 mins and sometimes caused upset stomachs. The only thing that really seems to work is rotating out the chew toys/bones. I only bring them out when absolutely needed so they stay super exciting or else our pup would get sick of everything we offered. I feel your pain!
Just curious what you mean by doing your own thing. Does this mean going to work or going out and leaving him on his own, doing things around the house or just when you would like to relax. For our pup we use different things in different circumstances. If you mean going out and leaving him on his own then why does he have access to pillows, cushions and blankets and things like that which you wish him to leave alone. If you have stuff to do at home can you not include some training while you are busy. Just simple stuff like letting him watch you or be nearby, but teaching him to settle. It works for our pup well and when he realized I'm doing 'boring stuff's which doesn't interest him, then he takes himself off to his comfy place. Sometimes I give him one of his interactive toys or a stuffed and frozen Kong if I really need him to settle. He never just has a Kong with a smear of stuff in it or dry or fresh. It goes too quickly. Part of his daily food, soaked, and a few mashed veggies, then well frozen, keeps him occupied for about 45 minutes to an hour. You say your pup likes to not only chew on soft furnishings but likes to carry them around. When we first got Hero, he did stuff like that and naturally everyone found it funny so he reacted by doing it more. Then he would do this when bored and natural human instinct was to rescue stuff but we did it the wrong way and wasn't long before the behaviour set. So change of tactics, we removed the cushions, diverted to other stuff like a game or training and learned no matter how hard to do, to ignore the behaviour. Now he doesn't bother because he's not getting the response. Hero tends to go to chew destructively if he's bored so I try to occupy him or make his toys more interesting. If having to leave him on his own, he has a crate and a gated off area where we can leave an assortment of toys and Kongs. If in the house I sometimes hide his Kong's or a bit of his daily kibble in different 'ok' places and this keeps him occupied finding them. As a Labrador naturally likes carrying things in his mouth we have also tried to train him to help during the day by finding safe things he can carry and bring to us. Eg. If I need to sweep something up in the kitchen he will get the little hand brush and bring it. He gets really pleased with himself for doing this. It wasn't easy to train this but by only working on this one thing to start with he has learned that it's much more rewarding for him and he's doing stuff with mum. More importantly all these things are stopping the destruction of the things we want left alone. Chewy toys alone are not enough for him. Hero is a dog that responds well indoors to mental stimulation. At 8 months we have got our own issues to deal with, and things are not perfect, especially as the outside world is such a challenge at the moment with some anxieties going on, but keeping Hero settled indoors helps. Sorry for going on a bit but it's hard to suggest ideas without the bigger picture on what is doing your thing and what your actual expectations are of your 10 month pup.
A lot of pups seem to have times when they need to chew on something that is softer. I find the best toy for this is the Kong Wubba. They are made of very tough fabric and puppies generally love them. Having said that, dogs are like toddlers and toys soon lose their novelty value. The answer is to rotate them. So have a box that your dog can't reach and put away toys that they have lost interest in. You'll be surprised how pleased they are to see them in a month or two . Be careful with antlers, vet's don't like them as they are very hard and are associated with a higher incidence of fractured teeth than other toys. However, dogs love them, and if your dog crunches through and swallows pretty much anything else, including the walls and furniture, I'm not going to judge you for resorting to antlers. Make sure your insurance covers dental treatment though! Advice to deny access to your soft things (pillows etc) is good too.
Traditional Kongs have always been a firm favorite with our dogs - although the current big hit is definitely the Wubba. You might find this of interest - it looks at lots of different toy options
We bought an antler about a month ago and our now 7 month old lab absolutely loves it and actively looks it out.
There are a couple of companies that make artificial antlers, that have ground antler in the nylon, so they aren't as hard. Nylabone is one company, I don't recall the name of the other. We use these instead of real antlers.
