Please help me occupy my lab!

[MNpurple]

Got a female black lab, just a shade under a year. She has an outddor kennel and a 3x5 indoor kennel which I leave her in if it is extremely cold outside. This week I went through my fourth dog bed in about 3 months and I have simply had it, stuffing all over. I tried plain old flannel bedsheets and these are ripped to shreds too. It doesnt matter if its inside or outside, within a couple days she has the thing shredded. I give her antlers to chew on during the day and she plays with them but its always back to her beds, some of which she has had since I got her on day one. I even come home at lunch and let her out to play.

What can I do????? I assume she is bored as I can leave her loose in the house for an hour or so at a time and she just lays on the couch so no seperation anxiety. Today the vet said pull all blankets and beds so that she doesnt swallow the stuffing, which will leave her on a hard plastic floor in her outdoor kennel and a metal tray in her indoor kennel. He said I need to get her going on other toys and then slowly introduce the pad again. Suggestions for toys, ideas, anything. I will not give her rawhide or soft chews when unattended, I have looked into the Kongs? What else? Would a cedar or straw bedding be better for her?

Not sure if it has anything to do with her recent horrible behavior but she's been to the vet 4 times in the last two weeks to get a large softball size bruise/blood pocket on her chest drained of fluid. Looks like it will be surgery next week.

Been a great last month.

[Eric Wettschreck]

Sounds like you have a bored dog on your hands.

Exercise, lots and lots of exercise will help.

My GSP mix is the same way. I've found toys that squeak keep him occupied forever. He goes through them fairly quickly but an armor plated brick wall could't hold up to my 120 lb dog.

[Bryce]

Get the black kong. They are indestructible. I would guess our oldest one is pushing 15 years. Been through 3 labs (2 of them included puppy stage), the lawn mower, and the snow blower. Part of the small end is now missing.

[IRISHSOBNO4]

KONG'S, fill them with peanutbutter and treats it will take the dog all day to get it out.

[311Hemi]

Sound advice given......remove anything the dog can chew up. At this point beds/blankets will not work for you. I went through the same thing when I first let my pup have run of the house at 1.5 years old. He would still tear up his bed so I took it away. He is now 2.5 and had a bed again...and does not chew it up. It wasn't until he was two that this happened.

Lots of exercise is what he needs! Kongs are great.

[Eric Wettschreck]

In case you're wondering why the exercise, a sleeping puppy is a well behaved puppy.

[S.D. Ice Angular]

I had the same problem with my Yellow Lab.

Good advice so far, I agree with the excercise method.Running in the deep snow also tires them out way more then just a walk. I think when my lab was a pup I spent probably two hours a day keeping her going. I know it is now winter but I have found that throwing the dummy in the water as far as you can so she can burn the most energy up. I still use this method today.

[MNpurple]

Right now I am at 2 hours a day of exercise. Before work its an hour walk/ball chase and after work an hour of walking/and chasing a dummy. When I am home in the evenings there is some training that goes on too. Much more and I will have to cut out everything else I do after work just to run my dog into the ground.

I bought the Black Kong today. What do you guys load yours with? I put a biscuit in it and smeared peanut butter around the inside.

[fishroger]

Hey Purple. Must run in the family, got Willy from the same litter. He had his sleep pad for about 6 months, finally one day he rips it open and pulled all the stuffing out. Its hard to figure, seems like one day they just get [PoorWordUsage] off at something and decide to do it in. Seems like they do that stuff when you dont pay attention to them. He likes to rip paper up too, must like the sound. I put straw in his outdoor kennel and he likes that alot,he likes too just lay in his kennel sometimes when its nice out. In his indoor kennel I put a cheap floor rug in there, he seems to like that to lay on. The exercise thing is good, little tough in the winter, but can still throw the dummy or a frisbee till your arm falls off. In the open water season I got him tired swimming at the local lake, had too drag him away from the water he wouldnt leave, but got him plenty tired. Good luck.

[firfyter]

I had a similar problem with my Springer. What I found to work best is to run him whenever possible, I took all bedding out of his crate, and I started letting him roam the house for short periods when we are gone. Kongs did not work for him. He has never chewed up anything up in the house while we were gone. Good luck.

[DrJ]

Hi Guys,The dogs from this liter sure love to chew. I've had the best luck with the kongs buying canned dog food and filling it up and then freezing the kong. Use a food thats not chunky seems to work the best. Its much cheaper than the canned peanutbutter stuff. Also it gives them a better treat than some of the other chews etc. It take about an hour for him to get it out since it's so hard he has to lick it out.Ozzie is inside our house most of the time but I put a heater in his house and it keeps it nice and warm. A guy in Big Lake invented it and it works great. At least it will be warm for her with no blankets or soft bed. All metal so its chew proof. I hope her chest heals up well. They will try to run through anything. Ozzie punctured his foot and the vet put him on some antibiotics and it cleared up. Have you tried that yet. Take Care Dr.J.

[grousehunter]

freezing peanut butter in the kongs will keep them occupied for a long time too. It seems like your dog is getting a lot of exercise from you so hopefully its just a phase. Young dogs never wear out though, think of how much they run/swim hunting and that barely tires them out