Dog training tip?

[Norðvegr]

Long story short: My wife and I recently assumed ownership of a dog that wasn't being cared for by her previous owner. She's friendly, loving, healthy and generally well-behaved.

The one problem we've had is that she loves to chew up her bedding. She has chew toys and stuff like that, but anything we put out for her to sleep on gets devoured. There are a lot of things our garage and backyard that she could be chewing on (bags of grass-patch for the yard, the bag on my lawnmower, etc.) but she's good about that. It's just the bedding.

Neither of us has ever owned a dog before, so we'd be happy for any suggestions you may have.

[JW]

I left a redirect and moved this to the sporting dog forum as you should get a better reply in this forum.

JW

[mustad]

How old is she?

[Norðvegr]

She's about nine months old, but we've only had her for a few weeks.

My wife and I were at Tractor Supply the other day and saw this spray that makes things taste bitter in order to stop chewing. We thought that might be a good idea, but if it gives of a funky smell the dog may not want to lay on her bedding in the first place.

[JW]

When does she chew the bedding?

Are you there to witness the act?

Reason I ask that is I am betting you are not there and she is chewing out of boredom. You need to catch her in the act and scold her with a simple firm NO!
But you need to catch the dog in the act becuase after the fact it will make no sense to the dog when she is scolded.

JW

[Mite]

I would simply take the bedding away. There isn't anything wrong with laying on a hard floor. My dog likes to lay on the linoleum flooring on warm nights. Also, if the dog isn't actually eating peices of the bedding then its boredom.

Another way to prevent it is to get a toy which they like better like a Kong toy. Its a hard rubber toy which you put a cookie inside it. Some dogs will tackle it for hours.

[Norðvegr]

Originally Posted by JW!

When does she chew the bedding?

Are you there to witness the act?

Reason I ask that is I am betting you are not there and she is chewing out of boredom. You need to catch her in the act and scold her with a simple firm NO!
But you need to catch the dog in the act becuase after the fact it will make no sense to the dog when she is scolded.

JW

I've never seen her chew anything. She always does it when we're not home or just not in the garage/backyard. I don't know how we'd catch her, since she's pretty quick.

[Norðvegr]

Originally Posted by Mite

I would simply take the bedding away. There isn't anything wrong with laying on a hard floor. My dog likes to lay on the linoleum flooring on warm nights. Also, if the dog isn't actually eating peices of the bedding then its boredom.

Another way to prevent it is to get a toy which they like better like a Kong toy. Its a hard rubber toy which you put a cookie inside it. Some dogs will tackle it for hours.

She has all sorts of chew-toys and she uses them a lot. I don't know why she sometimes decides that her bedding would taste good.

[MrWinkles]

How often is she walked?

[kghops]

I've never seen the sprays work, especially with a lab.

Here's the best solution I've given people. Crate and kennel.
When you can't supervise your dog put it in a crate or a kennel. That way it can't chew the bedding or anything else you don't want.

If your dog doesn't like the crate and kennel, tough luck. Feed it in there a few times and it will start to like it as a positive association will have been made.

If you put the dog in there and it whines and sounds like it's about do die....ignore until quiet and then slowly approach the crate and let it out on your terms.

The exercise suggestion is a good one as well.

Also, I'm guessing the dog has not been fully trained on basic obedience, that would help too.

Best of luck.

Kg