[tendercare]

My 3 year old male Labrador Retriever keeps on chewing on household objects.

How can I train him out of this habit?

[mkbiggs]

My Silky terrier never chewed on things. She is now 14. We got a new puppy, Soft coated wheaten terrier for Christmas and he chews EVERYTHING! Furniture, wood base moldings, anything and everything! A firm "No! Leave it!" and replacing with something chewable like a toy has worked with most of the time. Is this a new habit for your lab? Is he stressed? Any big changes in the household? New baby, work schedule, move- that sort of thing?

[ILOVEDOGS:)]

My Akita also chewed everything. What we found that worked best was to always have them in your site. If you can't trust them to run around by themselves (which we can't) maybe buy a puppy play pen so you know where the puppy is and know it's can't chew anything it's not allowed. Or confine the dog with a baby gate to the room you are in. Dog's are not suppose to be left unattended in the house until they are 4 years old. By then they should know the house rules and respect them.
Another thing you might want to try is bitter spray. It works really good. The only bad point to it is you have to recover things every few days because the taste wares off.

[tendercare]

Is this a new habit for your lab? Is he stressed? Any big changes in the household? New baby, work schedule, move- that sort of thing?

Actually just a few months ago we decided to let him be inside the house (Before this he stayed in a pen). I'm not sure if he's stressed; we always assumed he chewed on things out of boredom.

[petshopgirl]

My thought is to give the dogs PLENTY of their own things to chew. There are taste deterents on the market. There are also repellent sprays. When they chew the right thing be sure to give them positive reinforcement. I think dogs do get bored and will chew as a nervous habit. I like to give dogs toys that keep them busy....sometimes I'll take an old soda bottle that I've polished off and fill it with treats that they have to work to to get out. --There! Cheap toy!