What helped your puppy stop chewing stuff up.

[DefenderOfTheDry]

We have a 7 month old lab pup. We have always had dogs, always labs, but this one is particularly keen on chewing up our stuff. The chewing does seem to be lessening naturally , but he's damaged furniture and skirting boards etc.

We have got him chew toys, which he annihilates, he has torn apart his bed. He gets walked regularly and someone is always in the house with him, although often in a different room (he can't be in the office the whole time because he barks during important work calls).

Any ideas what else we could be doing? He is wonderful aside from the destruction.

What mental stimulation does he get? What training does he do with you? By nine months he’s not teething so I’d be looking at other issues - I.e bordem.

Nine months is super difficult as you can’t over exercise but physically and mentally they’re really growing up and often need more than we can (safely) give. It’s all about mental stimulation at that age

I'd be upping the enrichment too.
When you say walked regularly how often and for how long? On or off lead?
Do they have daily training? Basic commands/tricks?
Do you have any enrichment toys such as kongs/lickit mats?
How often do you spend time playing with them?
Do you provide long lasting chews?
As a last resort you can get bitter apple spray to spray on the bits they are chewing but I'd go with the other stuff first.
Some dogs are more chewy than others but they do grow out of it!

Management is key.

If he chews when he's left unattended, then you need to look at the environment but also the amount of stimulation, training and exercise that he's getting.

Normally people suggest more exercise and enrichment but I've personally found that doing too much can cause just as many problems as doing too little. You need to look at doing at the right kind of exercise and enrichment, not just up the amounts.

Labradors are bred to retrieve so I would be looking at tapping into that "drive" to work - teach him a retrieve, teach him to fetch dummies from the undergrowth or from the water. Engage his brain by getting him to do exactly what he's been bred to do. You could even look at some gundog classes. Don't encourage things like ball chasing as it just hypes them up even further.

I would also teach him how to settle down on his own quietly and calmly. You could use the house line or tethering method to keep him in one place while you focus on teaching him what he needs.

I do little bits of training with him. He can sit, give paw, roll over etc. I'm open to suggestions for other ways to mentally stimulate him.

We have kids and an older dog who also play with him.

Bitter apple spray! You can get it on Amazon or at big pet shops.

do you have pigs ears?
a licky mat
does he have a walk, scents, then a relaxing bed?

I'll have to look into those methods, never heard of them before. Thank you.

Have also never heard of a licky mat! Have bought one. He does have a nice bed, but we are constantly replacing the cushion as he likes to tear it.

Walk a couple of miles most days. The options for off lead stuff is very limited near us as most of the public spaces are on lead only but we do have a big garden he can run around.

We ended up with buffalo horns (which had to stop as he managed to chew through them!), deer antlers and wicker baskets. The baskets were absolutely not planned, but it turned out that he preferred them to other wooden furniture/skirting boards. When he ran out of baskets, he went back to the skirting boards. He still loves a chew, but thankfully only on deer antlers now.

I'd say a couple of miles of lead walking is not enough exercise for an adolescent Labrador.

Agree with @coffeesaveslives - 2 miles is not very far. I’d also not rely on food games to entertain him - labs go to fat fast and even when they look healthy they’re often not.

I’d be looking at gun dog training, and if the kids are old enough they can teach him new commands like ‘flying down’, ‘extended stay’ etc.

When you say a couple of miles most days what does he do on the other days? Are there some days he isn't walked?

The odd day, but he is walked most. Maybe 6/7.

I do think he likes the chew. We could take him for a walk hours and hours over the weekend and he still likes to come home and chew stuff.

Let one of his walks per day be very sniffy. The other can be for training.

take up cables etc or restrict him to a room where he can’t do too much damage and if he’s chewing walls and table legs, spray them with bitter apple.

intermittent training sessions through the day of things he knows how to do. Wait / stay is a good one.

Hide treats round a room so that he uses his nose to sniff them out, that’s using his brain. (Not the kitchen though if that’s where he spends most of his time). We did it when ours was reliably housetrained and allowed in the sitting room.

Licky mats are great - with cat food or dog friendly peanut butter. Ones that move or wobble are great. Do watch though as once clean, they also get chewed so you need to keep an eye on that.

Rotate toys so that he doesn’t just have access to all of them all the time. Mine get excited to see the crocodile come out, then the pheasant the next day. Teach him their names.

The odd day, but he is walked most. Maybe 6/7.

You need to be walking him every day, ideally twice. He's a young, high energy working dog. If he doesn't get what he needs then it's not surprising that he's destructive.

Be careful of a licky mat with a chewer. They will more likely chew the whole mat.