hey i got a black lab. he is 14 weeks old. that little bastard is chewing everthing up but my guns. i have kicked his ass and said no with no luck. how long does this crap going to go on? hes a good dog but digging and chewing are driving me crazy.

Buy the large dog wire cage, stick him in the cage until you can watch his every move, buy him several chew toys and make sure these toys are in the cage with him. I would recommend the medium size KONG for one, tennis balls, and one called the squeaker, after we bought our Lab the Kong, she still chewed a little, but it was reduced by 75% until she reached the 8 to 10 month old age, then she dedicated her chewing to the chew toys and the KONG.

Yup, that's good advice - labs are notoriously destructive chewers as pups - but they DO grow out of it. Mine stopped completely around the age of one and a half years.

With all dogs, it's consistency that makes them understand allowed and not allowed, so you might have to really devote yourself to working with the dog and watching his every move for a while. Find something he likes to chew, toy wise, and have a TON of it for him. Mine liked a nylabone and a Kong that I filled the gaps in it with peanut butter - kept him at it for hours. But, don't have a great variety of things he can play with - it'll confuse him as you teach him what's allowed and what isn't.

When he's chewing on something that's ok, sit with him, pet him, play with him...make him feel like he's doing something good. When he moves to something he's not allowed to chew, scold him (anything more than a shout or a tug away from it is counterproductive). Show him the "good toy", offer it to him or better yet toss it to get his attention as an alternative. When he starts playing with it and chewing it, praise him generously. Do this again and again for a few days. You really have to reinforce two behaviors - clearly and without exception what IS allowed, and what isn't, and that when he chews his toys he's going to be happy and when he chews something bad, it gets him nowhere.

Not saying this is easy, you're fighting his nature, but if you work at it a little and be patient with him, you can correct the behavior. It's always better to reward the right behavior than to punish the wrong.

The more toys he has to chew, the better.
Break down and buy a bunch of Kong toys (the black ones work best), and those plastic nylabones.
These seem to work pretty well with my "destructive chewers".

<must resist urge to comment on how much dog toys look like sex toys>

 

leave it to swingset!!!!....

colt!

i have always thought the same myself

My lab took a little longer to grow out of it - he's 3 now and just really laid off the destruction 6 months ago.  I didn't get him till he was 1-1/2 so that may have played a role in it.

Rawhides, and the high cost tennis balls at the pet store go over well.  The expensive ones really are worth it - they're stiffer and hold up a LOT longer than the cheapos at the dollar store.  Supposedly the felt is less destructive on their teeth.

Give em lots of love and positive reinforcement and they'll reward you with lots of love and affection in return.

Quoted: <must resist urge to comment on how much dog toys look like sex toys>

as i was scrolling down reading everyones posts, i have to admit that the sane thought crossed my mind. is that a bad thing...or just bad...

Quoted: Quoted: <must resist urge to comment on how much dog toys look like sex toys> as i was scrolling down reading everyones posts, i have to admit that the sane thought crossed my mind. is that a bad thing...or just bad...

You guys are just a bunch of undersexed pervs I think

Ive got a 2 year old black lab and a 10 month old black lab / boxer mix..... I found it works well if you literaly give them there own toy box..... We bought two wicker baskets from walmart and loaded them up with chew toys from balls to stuffed sqeeking animals.... When they did attempt to chew something that wasnt theres i got them used to the words " Thats not yours" and theyd walk away... Ive also learned not hitting a dog goes a long way.... They react better to a stern voice and shameing more then they do physical punishment... Point at them and tell them there bad with a stern deep voice any they will know they F---d up... The only thing in the house they destroyed, and im not sure which did it, but we left for the evening and left both of them loose in the house. usualy the 2 year old is fine by herself and will sleep but both out they got a destructive hair up there asses and tore up the kitchen flooring near the back door... i guess they wanted out... fixed the floor and scolded them both and they havent touched it since...

Quoted: Ive got a 2 year old black lab and a 10 month old black lab / boxer mix..... I found it works well if you literaly give them there own toy box..... We bought two wicker baskets from walmart and loaded them up with chew toys from balls to stuffed sqeeking animals.... When they did attempt to chew something that wasnt theres i got them used to the words " Thats not yours" and theyd walk away... Ive also learned not hitting a dog goes a long way.... They react better to a stern voice and shameing more then they do physical punishment... Point at them and tell them there bad with a stern deep voice any they will know they F---d up... The only thing in the house they destroyed, and im not sure which did it, but we left for the evening and left both of them loose in the house. usualy the 2 year old is fine by herself and will sleep but both out they got a destructive hair up there asses and tore up the kitchen flooring near the back door... i guess they wanted out... fixed the floor and scolded them both and they havent touched it since...

Great suggestion I forgot that one, but I suggested that  to the wife when we got Miss Chloe Blonde Babe and that was almost what happened, but I guess she decided our Lab had to have a longaberger basket for her toy box. So I was out the funds and the Lab, well she gets everything.

This might be off-topic, but its about the toy box.

My sister had her retriever trained so that he would even put his toys back in the box after playing.  
I thought it was cool idea to train the dog to do that.  Less mess to clean up, and no tripping over random toys in the middle of the night.

They just used a cardboard box, but anything will do.

Labs are awesome though.  
Dang apt. here doesnt allow pets...