MNpurple

Got a female black lab, just under a year. She stays in both an indoor or outdoor kennel unless it is bitterly cold. I provide her a beds or blankets in both and she shreds them. I cant keep going through blankets and beds. The vet told me I need to just pull them out and give her the metal pan and hard plastic floor to sleep on, to avoid her swallowing any stuffing and getting into bigger problems. I can leave her unattended in the house for a couple hours at a time and she just lays on her couch, so its not seperation anxiety, but when she is locked in a kennel for up to 5 hours at a time I assume she gets bored. What can I do to alleviate this problem. I hate taking away her bedding because she wont be very comfortable.

Toys, ideas, what to do to help her boredom? I wont give her rawhide or soft chew toys unattened for choking fears.

Doc E

Maybe she just needs for you to work her more.
A tired dog is a good dog.


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RIStrutStopper

Maybe more exercise is the answer, but I have the same problem you have. Mine sleeps on the bare plastic pan at the bottom of the crate. Any kind of bedding in there gets shreded and I wouldn't want it to cause a blockage. Mine is 18 weeks old, I cannot trust him to be unsupervised out of his crate at all for the time being.

EODLT

This is most likely your first lab...

I have owned 37 labs over the last 40 years.
ALL of them went through the 2 year "lab phase". For atleast 2 years your dog will Chew EVERYTHING and ANYTHING. I have had dogs chew on the corner of the wooden dog houses in their kennels. I have had the hole of the dog house, where dog enters "enlarged", I will take a picture for you to show you. These dogs will chew for 2 years, then they just stop. Occasionally you will get a bored adult dog that will destroy something, this happens randomly. I had a 6 year old dog chew up his bed for no particular reason one night, he hadnt chewed anything in years...

You can work them all you want, my dogs are worked 5 or 6 days a week. The under 2 year olds will still chew. Its just something you have to accept.

Question: Are your kennels on a concrete slab? If so, get Hard plastic iglooor wood houses, put cedar chips in there as bedding.Im not going to saytheywont eat the chips, but I havent had one eat chips ever. Spray the outside corners and such with the bitter apple no chew spray. This should discourage *some* chewing.

You will reach a point where the dog settles down and you can have a nice cloth bed for them, but even then, you might get a wild hair and the dog will chew it to bits.

Good Luck.

EODLT

You can see the original curve of the cut towards the top, I had one dog chew that much wood out of it in a matter of 2 days maybe. Probably 12 years ago, one of my best dogs too, "Bishop".



By the way, thats 5/8" plywood.

EODLT

One of Bishops sons,from 2001. Call name "scout". On his sires old house.

absolut40

Beautiful looking Lab!!!!!!!!!!

EODLT

Thanks!
6 years old. excellent marker, strong swimmer, good casts, hardheaded as all get out.
70ish lbs. Very fast. He's not my best dog ever, but hes my best right now.

crokit

LMFAO about the " hard headed as all get. " Aren't they all?? gOT AN INDEPENDENT STREAK A MILE WIDE, BUT i WOULD HAVE NO OTHER!!

EODLT

Usually a male thing, only had one or two females that were not submissive. Only had one or two males that were not hard headed!