Ideas to keep my lab from chewing her bed? (labrador, veterinary, toy)

[Why_Am_I_Here]

She is 1 1/2...I have placed chew toys, but she still seems to chew the bed. Mostly pulling out the stuffing.....

[subject2change]

At 1 1/2, many dogs are still chewers. Most outgrow it by age 2 or at least 3. Give her an old blanket to lie on for now, she'll be fine without the added cushioning. She'll probably chew it too but hopefully not so much it will be unusable. Eventually she can earn the priviledge of having a bed again.

[dogpaw]

Find something to spray, like bitter apple, on the bed that doesn't taste good to her to keep her from chewing. Or put her bed up until she is out of the chewing stage.

[Jessiegee40]

Good luck is all I can say. The lab I have now has not chewed up ONE blanket or bedding. My last lab eat every one. I can't tell you how many dog beds I bought for his crate. Also used up tons of blankets, comforters, etc. I hated to make him lay on the plastic bottom of his crate but I sure do miss all the "bedding" that he chewed up. Maybe some of that bitter apple spray. Just guessing.

[Three Wolves In Snow]

Labs are notorious for chewing things up. I have two lab mixes. The boy chewed more than I care to list again, when he was younger.

What I did to change all that was to teach him and show him that everything in the place belonged to me, NOT him.

First though, the dog has to respect you before he'll respect, "your things".

Once he does, then you can start telling him that everything is yours. That dog bed is NOT his, it's yours. You are just letting him use it.

Those toys are not his, they are yours. You allow him to play with them.

You can start by doing something very simple. Instead of leaving toys around all day, pick them up, put them in a tub or box or some sort of container and put them out of his reach.

Every morning, take out one toy for him to play with. Just one. Let him play with it. (If you have a multiple pet household and he gets aggressive about his toy, guarding, growling, etc, take the toy away from him.)

At the end of the day, you take that toy back, put it in the container, (let him see you do this), and put it up.

The next day, give him a different toy, (one toy), and let him play with that all day.

This establishes that you are in charge of the toys and keeps his interest in the toys because you switch that toy out every day it's like a brand new toy to the dog.

With the bed, keep it up until night time. When it's time for bed, take the dog bed out, put it on the floor and allow the dog to lie down on it. If the dog starts to chew, you take the bed away.

It won't take long for your dog to figure out that you are in control of all those things and that if he chews on his bed or whatever else, he loses it.

You also need to give him something to chew while you're gone during the day. Best thing would be a Kong and fill it with some treat. Make him work at it. Keeps him occupied, keeps his interest up and lets him chew...because labs LOVE to chew ESPECIALLY when they are bored. (Also give him a heck of a lot of exercise when you are around. If you have a back yard, spend a good hour out there running around, playing fetch, whatever, keep him active and burn off that energy. He'll be less inclined to chew the bed and more inclined to flop down on it and sleep.)

But yes, the bed, I went through two dog beds before I figured it out with my own mix. The girl never really bothered to chew much, (they are mixes and I think they are mixed with collie...apparently she's more collie than lab), but again, like I said, the boy....omg! REALLY DOG? My computer mouse? My a/c adapter? My books? My money? MY bed! (On and on and on goes the list.)

I don't know about you but the dog beds I get are not cheap and after the second one I realized it was time to put my foot down. The bed is NOT a toy, it is for lying and sleeping on, period. If he cannot respect that, he does not get the bed.

He now sleeps on his little dog bed and doesn't chew it at all.

[Cecilia_Rose]

When my Rottenweiler child was young she used to chew the corners off all my throw rugs. Dipping them in oil of cinnamon put a stop to that. Smells great. Tastes like really hot red hots. Oil of cinnamon is used in candy making.

[LuvABull.Denver]

When you catch the offender eyeing something NOT to be chewed, give them a stern "NO" or "Ah-Ah" whatever noise distracts and hand over an acceptable chew toy. For an extreme chewer, Kong is the way to go!!!

Now, timing is EVERYTHING with this...I love the above ideas that everything is mine and I will give them a toy today...a bed tonight, etc. I think it is fantastic and will work! If you have a chewer that will go after other items if the bed is taken away, then you will have to step up your game and use other tools such as the Oil of Cinnamon (great idea, too) and watching your dog like a toddler and stop him/her before they wrap those jaws around the object.

If the dog is doing this while unsupervised and not in a kennel, you may need to kennel your dog so it does not ingest something while you are around.

Just a few suggestions to add to you tool box.

[grannynancy]

Horse Stall Mat - Tractor Supply or Farm Supply. Cut to fit.
Gives needed padding and insulation and virtually indestructable.
Heavy.

[TabulaRasa]

Originally Posted by Jessiegee40

Good luck is all I can say. The lab I have now has not chewed up ONE blanket or bedding. My last lab eat every one. I can't tell you how many dog beds I bought for his crate. Also used up tons of blankets, comforters, etc. I hated to make him lay on the plastic bottom of his crate but I sure do miss all the "bedding" that he chewed up. Maybe some of that bitter apple spray. Just guessing.

We learned early on that my dog cannot have anything fabric in the crate, not so much as a towel, let alone a bed or blanket. Anything in the crate, he chewed, despite the presence of approved objects like his kongs and Nylabones. And, of course, since he is only crated when we are gone, there's no possibility of corrective training. Leaving him uncrated is not an option, and would only be the more dangerous route to go. The safest thing is to just leave him nothing that can be destroyed by his teeth.

He's not really interested in his bed, anyway, and never had been, although it's been available to him outside the crate since day one. It doesn't seem to bother him to lie directly on the plastic bottom of the crate, whatsoever. When we were using a wire crate, he even chewed up the plastic liner pan for that, despite our continuously and liberally dousing it with bitter apple spray. He's done a lot better in the molded plastic varikennel, although I was highly suspicious that he'd chew that up, too. But, yeah, no bedding for him.

[zugor]

Dr. Nick Trout, a veterinary surgeon who has removed countless objects from the stomachs and intestines of dogs provides a great explanation in his book Tell Me Where It Hurts.

Labrador - "It was there, so I ate it."

'Nuff said.