18 mo old lab/greyhound mix eats EVERYTHING!!

I haven't heard you mention anything about excercise.  A Lab/Greyhound mix is an active breed.  They need tons of exercise, walks, runs and playtime.  He is frustrated and being destructive. 
 
When you aren't watching him 100% of the time, he should be crated or tied to you.  When you catch him being calm, praise him.  He needs a constructive outlet for his energy level.   
 
Tire him out and then praise him for being calm in the house and have him lay in his crate to rest.  Praise him some more.   

I guess I should have been more thorough.  He definitely gets lots of exercise.  In addition to a large yard that he has the run of, he gets taken on daily walks by me, and often a second walk by my kids.  He also has our other dog to run around with.  I'm honestly surprised he's not exhausted, but he seems to have limitless energy.

As far as tying him to me, I will have to try that.  Honestly, before coming to these boards I had never even heard of that!  No one else I've talked to, even the vet and the Humane Society, ever mentioned it.  We recently got him a muzzle harness because he is so big and strong that he was able to easily drag us along with a regular leash or harness (even my husband, and he's a pretty big guy!).  We have found that the muzzle harness has worked wonders to curb the leash pulling, so I will give it a try with tying him to me.  Does that work well with large dogs?  I'm not all that strong, and am a bit afraid of being knocked down and dragged around the house!

Do you have a crate for him?  If you feel he's too large and powerful to tie him to you, than I wouldn't do that.  Use the crate when he's not being supervised and how about a basic obedience class? 

We don't have a crate because the hallway has sort of served as a crate.  It's probably about 10 feet by 5 feet, and we keep both dogs in there at night.  Is that too much space?  Too little? 

We have in fact been thinking about signing him up for obedience classes for this.  He's great in all other respects.  He obeys commands, so I feel like if I could just catch him in the act I could get him to stop.  When I find what he's chewed up, he immediately runs off and hides, so he must have some idea that he's in trouble for it.  If it wasn't for the chewing he would literally be the PERFECT dog!  If I was leaving him alone for hours at a time I could understand his behavior, but he's literally never alone for more than a few minutes (except when we're sleeping and if we have to go out somewhere, in which case he gets locked in the hallway, since it no longer has any carpet for him to tear up).

I'm still going to try tying him to me and see how it goes.  He really is a good dog, just very strong and active.  And like I said, he's doing so much better with the muzzle harness, I think he might be okay.  I'll give it a try and see.

By the way, thanks for the quick responses.  I posted on another board several weeks ago and to this day I have not had one single response.


Edited for stupid spelling mistakes!  []

ORIGINAL: Katran

We don't have a crate because the hallway has sort of served as a crate.  It's probably about 10 feet by 5 feet, and we keep both dogs in there at night.  Is that too much space?  Too little?  

 
It's probably a good amount of space, but just wait until the dog decides to start eating the walls  If that does happen, consider getting an ex-pen, which gives some room for the dog to move around while preventing access to things like walls and moldings, and is metal so the dog can't chew through it. 
 
 Don't feel too frustrated, if you read through this forum you'll find lots of people with the same problem (and lots of advice on the subject!) Your dog is still young, and labs mature slower than some other breeds, and are also notorius chewers when they're in their youth.  I've got a Pit Bull pup, and if she's not watched closely she can create quite the path of destruction, as well.  That's unfortunately just life with an adolescent dog!

ORIGINAL: alisiaj78j

Your dog is still young, and labs mature slower than some other breeds, and are also notorius chewers when they're in their youth.

That's what we've heard, so we are trying to be patient.  We really don't want to get rid of him.  When we got him at the Humane Society they told us that he'd already been adopted once and returned when his owners decided he'd gotten too big.  So we really don't want to give up on him.

So far our walls have been spared, which really surprises me.  We also keep our vacuum cleaner in the hallway, and he hasn't touched that (I imagine it doesn't smell or taste too good, lol!).  So we know he can go long periods without chewing anything, because we keep him in there every night (with chew toys that he doesn't touch, I might add).

Thanks for the advice guys!  I really do appreciate it.

let's address the exercise thing-- honestly, walking a large dog on a leash doesn't do much for them physically, and most dogs do not self-exercise if stuck out in the yard. Does the dog fetch? fetching games are a wonderful way to burn off excess energy. How about getting a Walkydog or Springer and taking him for hard bike rides? He probably also needs mental stimulation in the form of training games. Free-shaping with a clicker is mentally exhausting. Consider enrolling in an agility class.
And I would never leave this dog alone unsupervised even for ten seconds. In an ex-pen or tied to you.
How about offering him some big raw knuckle bones to chew on? cheaper and more satisfying than chew toys.

ORIGINAL: Katran

ORIGINAL: alisiaj78j



That's what we've heard, so we are trying to be patient.  We really don't want to get rid of him.  When we got him at the Humane Society they told us that he'd already been adopted once and returned when his owners decided he'd gotten too big.  So we really don't want to give up on him.

 
I'm sorry but this comment bothered me tremendusly.
So basically you aquired a dog, didnt enroll it in ANY obediance classes, you got it another dog  as a comapnion for a solution to its restelessness, it isnt crate trained, you bought a muzzle harness instead of teaching it not pull AND you consider two walks and a big yard exersice?
WOW, I can tell that you care about the dog or you wouldnt be here but you (with all dure respect) have made feeble attempts at addressing the issue.
 
1- obediance classes NOW, not only is it a great bonding experiene for the both of you but it will help in all aspects of daily life and with the pulling
2- crate training is a viable solution in your case, not giving him a safe place to keep away from eating things is setting him up for failure
3- two walks and a big yard HARDLY get his heart rate going like it would if he was doing what he was bred to do....run sprint, chase, haul doggy butt!
Honestly IF he was getting as much exersice as his body demands he wouldnt be as rambunctious as you say. A tired dog is a good dog.
Please dont give up on your dog and please dont take offense to this reply. In all reality you havnt done much to stop the chewing

ORIGINAL: sheprano

I'm sorry but this comment bothered me tremendusly.
So basically you aquired a dog, didnt enroll it in ANY obediance classes

For the life of me, I can't figure out what in my statement that you quoted could have offended you.  That I don't want to give up on my dog?  That we're trying to be patient with him because we know he's always going to be a chewing dog?  The we've gotten advice from others on how to deal with the chewing?  What, exactly, did you find offensive?

We didn't get him obedience training right away because, as I mentioned before, he is perfect in every other way.  He was already mostly trained when we got him, except for the leash-pulling and the chewing, which we felt at the time (and were told by our vet) he would grow out of with time and training from us.  I know a lot of people who have dogs who did not require professional obedience training, including myself, in the past.  This is not the first dog I've had, but it is the first one I've had that I was not able to break of a bad habit within a few weeks.

you got it another dog  as a comapnion for a solution to its restelessness

No, we got him a companion because we babysat another dog for three months and he seemed genuinely lonely after she left, even with our constant companionship.  So we felt that he might like another companion, and he does enjoy her company very much.  We had also been considering a second dog for our own sakes, which is one reason why we agreed to babysit the friend's dog for awhile, so we could see how our dog would do with another dog in the house.

it isnt crate trained

No, and why should he be?  Why is that an automatic thing for so many dog owners.  I know many, many people who have well-behaved dogs that were never crate-trained.  My parents had a few dogs while I was growing up, and never had to crate-train a single one of them.  I never had to crate-train a dog in the past, so no, I did not automatically assume that I would have to do so with this one.

you bought a muzzle harness instead of teaching it not pull

No, we bought a muzzle harness on the advice of THE HUMANE SOCIETY after trying to train him for several months not to pull on the leash, and after he nearly pulled my over 200lb husband's arm out of the socket.

AND you consider two walks and a big yard exersice?

Why do you assume that's all the exercise he gets?  I guess I didn't realize I had to spell out in detail every single interaction we have with our dog each day for you to get it.  I guess I didn't have to mention the fact that yes, we actually do play with our dogs quite a bit.  In fact, my three kids play with him until they're exhausted, and he's still ready to go.  I guess I thought that people would actually give me the benefit of the doubt on that.  Silly me.  I'll record it all and give you a full play-by-play next time, okay?

WOW, I can tell that you care about the dog or you wouldnt be here but you (with all dure respect) have made feeble attempts at addressing the issue.

So working with the dog for nearly a year, talking to the vet, the Humane Society and other dog owners, buying him appropriate chewing toys, increasing his activity level, and getting him a companion dog are all "feeble"? 

1- obediance classes NOW, not only is it a great bonding experiene for the both of you but it will help in all aspects of daily life and with the pulling

You apparently didn't bother to read one of my previous posts, or you would see that we have already been considering this. We've been checking into it and found that the closest place to us offers 6-week courses and we unfortunately just missed the most recent one. We've also talked to our vet, the Humane Society, and several other dog owners about this problem, so it's not as if we've just sat around doing nothing about it for the past year.  As I mentioned before (and again you seem to have missed or ignored), he always does these things when I'm out of the room.  And as much as I like to have him with me all the time, he won't fit in the shower with me!  I would like to get him to the point where I don't have to lock him up just so I can go to the bathroom.

2- crate training is a viable solution in your case, not giving him a safe place to keep away from eating things is setting him up for failure

Again, if you would actually read my posts you'd see that he already basically is in a crate, just a very large one:  our hallway (which has a door we can close).  You would have also noticed that he's spending more and more time in there lately, and it has not solved the problem.  I don't see how locking him in an even smaller space is going to make a difference.

Please dont give up on your dog and please dont take offense to this reply. In all reality you havnt done much to stop the chewing

I'm sorry, but how can I NOT take offense to what you posted?  You basically accused me of not doing much of anything to solve the problem, and either did not truly read my posts or are accusing me of lying.  You make negative assumptions about me and then bash me on them, without even bothering to find out first if your assumptions are correct or not.  And then you try to cover your butt with a weak "please don't take offense"?!  Give me a break!

ORIGINAL: mudpuppy

let's address the exercise thing-- honestly, walking a large dog on a leash doesn't do much for them physically, and most dogs do not self-exercise if stuck out in the yard. Does the dog fetch? fetching games are a wonderful way to burn off excess energy. How about getting a Walkydog or Springer and taking him for hard bike rides? He probably also needs mental stimulation in the form of training games. Free-shaping with a clicker is mentally exhausting. Consider enrolling in an agility class.
And I would never leave this dog alone unsupervised even for ten seconds. In an ex-pen or tied to you.
How about offering him some big raw knuckle bones to chew on? cheaper and more satisfying than chew toys.

Yes, we play with him a lot.  I have three active kids who love to play with the dogs several times a day.  And they just put in a dog park literally down the street from us, and we've been taking the dogs there.  My husband and I also play with them.  I don't have a bike to bike rides are not possible right now, though for my own health I hope to get one soon and it's a given that I'll take the dog with me when I ride.

I've given him lots of bones.  He destroys them in a matter of minutes.  I've given him the huge ones that look like they came off a dinosaur, and he just gobbles them up.  About the only thing he doesn't destroy are the rubber toys, like the Kong toys.  But that's because he won't chew on them.  I've even put treats in them and he sniffs and licks at them, but won't chew them.  Maybe I need a rubber house, lol!

He absolutely LOVES the cow hoofs, but unfortunately he can go through one of those in a few minutes as well.  I bought a bag of 10 last week and they're all gone. 

I had a yellow lab years ago, and he chewed but nothing like this dog!  When we first got him I thought maybe he was still cutting teeth.  I know that labs just like to chew, I just want him to chew on appropriate things, and those things don't last him very long. 

I've even made sure his chew toys are scattered around when I have to leave him for even a few minutes, but he'll chew on whatever he feels like (such as the day he chewed the hole in the couch while I was in the bathroom; he had lots of toys in the living room with him).

ORIGINAL: Katran

ORIGINAL: sheprano

I'm sorry but this comment bothered me tremendusly.
So basically you aquired a dog, didnt enroll it in ANY obediance classes

As I mentioned before, he is perfect in every other way.  He was already mostly trained when we got him, except for the leash-pulling and the chewing, which we felt at the time (and were told by our vet) he would grow out of with time and training from us.

you got it another dog  as a comapnion for a solution to its restelessness

No, we got him a companion because we babysat another dog for three months and he seemed genuinely lonely after she left, even with our constant companionship.  So we felt that he might like another companion, and he does enjoy her company very much.  We had also been considering a second dog for our own sakes, which is one reason why we agreed to babysit the friend's dog for awhile, so we could see how our dog would do with another dog in the house.

it isnt crate trained

No, and why should he be?  Why is that an automatic thing for so many dog owners.  I know many, many people who have well-behaved dogs that were never crate-trained.  My parents had a few dogs while I was growing up, and never had to crate-train a single one of them.

you bought a muzzle harness instead of teaching it not pull

No, we bought a muzzle harness on the advice of THE HUMANE SOCIETY after trying to train him for several months not to pull on the leash, and after he nearly pulled my over 200lb husband's arm out of the socket.

AND you consider two walks and a big yard exersice?

Why do you assume that's all the exercise he gets?  I guess I didn't realize I had to spell out in detail every single interaction we have with our dog each day for you to get it.  I guess I didn't have to mention the fact that yes, we actually do play with our dogs quite a bit.  In fact, my three kids play with him until they're exhausted, and he's still ready to go.  I guess I thought that people would actually give me the benefit of the doubt on that.  Silly me.  I'll record it all and give you a full play-by-play next time, okay?

WOW, I can tell that you care about the dog or you wouldnt be here but you (with all dure respect) have made feeble attempts at addressing the issue.

So working with the dog for nearly a year, talking to the vet, the Humane Society and other dog owners, buying him appropriate chewing toys, increasing his activity level, and getting him a companion dog are all "feeble"? 

1- obediance classes NOW, not only is it a great bonding experiene for the both of you but it will help in all aspects of daily life and with the pulling

You apparently didn't bother to read one of my previous posts, or you would see that we have already been considering this. We've been checking into it and found that the closest place to us offers 6-week courses and we unfortunately just missed the most recent one. We've also talked to our vet, the Humane Society, and several other dog owners about this problem, so it's not as if we've just sat around doing nothing about it for the past year.  As I mentioned before (and again you seem to have missedor ignored), he always does these things when I'm out of the room.  And as much as I like to have him with me all the time, he won't fit in the shower with me!  I would like to get him to the point where I don't have to lock him up just so I can go to the bathroom.

2- crate training is a viable solution in your case, not giving him a safe place to keep away from eating things is setting him up for failure

Again, if you would actually read my posts you'd see that he already basically is in a crate, just a very large one:  our hallway (which has a door we can close).  You would have also noticed that he's spending more and more time in there lately, and it has not solved the problem.  I don't see how locking him in an even smaller space is going to make a difference.

Please dont give up on your dog and please dont take offense to this reply. In all reality you havnt done much to stop the chewing

I'm sorry, but how can I NOT take offense to what you posted?  You basically accused me of not doing much of anything to solve the problem, and either did not truly read my posts or are accusing me of lying.  You make negative assumptions about me and then bash me on them, without even bothering to find out first if your assumptions are correct or not.  And then you try to cover your butt with a weak "please don't take offense"?!  Give me a break!

Whoa I never intended to put you so on guard! Its going to be hard if you cant see through some frankness and get to the real point we are all trying to make. So I'll start from the top.

As for you adopting him upon a stipulation that he will grow out of something, that seems unfair all around.
My dog isnt crate trained either, it was suggested because it would be a great solution to the chewing problem you are currently having. I'm not a "jump on the crate badwagon" kind of person, its a alternative to the tethering solution or to be used in addition.
I think that this all of this is going to fall on deaf ears because you sensed a rudeness in my post that wasnt there. We deal with uneducated people all the time so the most productive way to help address the issue is as if you dont know better. And I dont need a play by play of his activities but if thats all you gave us to go on then how am I supposed to guess you do more? I truly hope you dont let being offended (for no reason) get in the way of helping your dog.

ORIGINAL: sheprano

As for you adopting him upon a stipulation that he will grow out of something, that seems unfair all around.

Once again, you are making unfounded assumptions.  We never adopted him assuming he would grow out of anything.  We knew that, as a lab, chewing might be an issue, because I've had a lab before.  We contacted the Humane Society several months after adopting him to see if they could offer any advice about his chewing, because we weren't able to catch him in the act to stop him, and just showing him the chewed item and saying "No chewing!" did not seem to be working.  Locking him up was not working either, nor was providing plenty of appropriate chewing things.  So we sought outside help, after working with him for several months.  At that point we were told to "keep working on it" and that he would "grow out of the worst of it eventually".  We have always expected that he would chew, we just expected it to get better in regards to chewing things he's not supposed to.

My dog isnt crate trained either, it was suggested because it would be a great solution to the chewing problem you are currently having. I'm not a "jump on the crate badwagon" kind of person, its a alternative to the tethering solution or to be used in addition.

Again, did you not bother to read my previous posts?  I have already said that he is basically "crated" in an enclosed space.  So unless you can tell me how crating him in an even smaller space it going to change anything, I don't see what difference it will make to go buy a crate when I already have a built-in one.

I think that this all of this is going to fall on deaf ears because you sensed a rudeness in my post that wasnt there.

So saying that you take offense to my post, saying that I've made "feeble" attemps, and basically bashing me at every turn is not rude?  Wow, I'd hate to see you when you get really mean!

I truly hope you dont let being offended (for no reason) get in the way of helping your dog.

Wow, I don't even know where you get off saying this.  I've already said that I've discussed this problem with my vet, the Humane Society, other dog owners, am looking into obedience classes, have come to these boards for advice (and already said I would try some of the advice given), and you have the nerve to insinuate that if I'm offended by your posts I'm just going to drop it all and dump my dog?  And you try to claim there is no rudeness in your posts?!  You've got some nerve!

With all due respect, I can only go off of the information you post. What stood out to me was that you "we really dont want to get rid of him" so I tried addressing that issue first.
We get peole pn this board getting rid of dogs becuase they are pregnant, they have to move, the dog goes potty in the house, whatever and again I apologize if I came off a little put off by that comment however I did vioce that you obviously do love your dog.
And again, with all due respect if the "crating" you currently do was effective then I would have never suggested proper crating. Please understand this is a public forum, you are going to get plenty of views, advice, and even some stupid suggestions, you dont have to reply or take them all. I'm sorry if you think I jumped to some conclusions but I am not there to see how much exersice the dog gets so when you are seeking info on the web its best to YES give a play by play so everyone can ehlp out as much as possible.
Good luck to you and you puppy

ORIGINAL: sheprano

With all due respect, I can only go off of the information you post. What stood out to me was that you "we really dont want to get rid of him" so I tried addressing that issue first.

First of all, I'm sorry if I took offense that wasn't meant.  I really DO love my pets, so for anyone to insinuate, even unintentionally, that I'm not doing all I can to take care of them really burns me. 

I still do not understand why you take offense to that statement though.  I said we DON'T want to get rid of him.  Believe me, if we just didn't want to be bothered by his chewing, we wouldn't have spent the last year working with him.  But when he is getting into the laundry hamper and destroying the kids' clothes, and busting through the fence into the neighbors yard (for which we got into a LOT of trouble over), something has to be done and soon.  That's why I came on here, hoping to get advice and see if there is maybe something we haven't tried yet.

I understand that you can only go off what I post, but did you really think that I never play with my dog?  If I say we take him for walks, buy him lots of toys, and give him lots of affection, can you really assume that we're ignoring his play needs? 

I just don't think it's ONLY boredom or pent-up energy, because I would think he would chew on anything that happened to be nearby if that were the case.  But he likes soft things the most, like clothing, blankets, etc.  I don't think I mentioned that before, and that's my fault for overlooking it.  At first I thought it was because those things usually have our smell on them, but he even chewed up a dusty blanket that we had just taken out of storage after several months.  He chewed through the plastic garbage bag it was in (which was covered in dust) and then chewed up the blanket.  So that kinds blows my "family scent" theory.

I feel like if I knew WHY he was chewing, I would know how to stop it.  We did initially think boredom was the issue, which is why we paid even more attention to him, played with him more, took him for more frequent and longer walks, etc.  When the dog park opened up we thought it would be a great way to wear him out and the chewing would settle down, but he never seems to get tired!  Maybe it's because he's still pretty young (my last lab was 3 when I got him and was never that active), or maybe it's the combination of his breeds, but we wear out long before he does!


By the way, Mastiff, I've had him tethered to me for a large part of today and he's doing very well for the most part.  It's been a bit awkward for both of us at times (maybe I need a longer tether?), but he's really doing well.