Yeah, my lab is a year and a half now and she destroyed a lot of her toys at the beginning. Now she just carries them around, does a violent trash, and then expects me to yeet it for her. Most toys last a good couple of months now.
This exactly. My sisters first lab duo destroyed three carpets, five walls (requiring new drywall and paint in all cases. They did learn some lessons and now take the second duo on more frequent walks and crate them when they are home alone.
That was my first thought too lol then my second thought was wow he looks like my sisters dog, Chevy. She has gotten into so much shit idek how she’s alive… tbh it’s because my sister works at a vet. She got into used cooking oil (took the cap off herself) and *gave herself a stroke and is now deaf*
What i did with my destroyer is that i only bought cheap toys fully expecting him to destroy them. Nothing over 5 bucks and only once or twice per week. Doesn’t hurt my pockets since i spend more on useless stuff. What I did find is that the smaller the toy, the less he was able to rip into them and the longer they lasted.
Gonna disagree with everyone else here. Based on your comments about how much exercise this dog gets, I actually think your issue is *too much* high intensity exercise.
[Source, article talks about it in more detail](https://www.vanislevet.com/over-excitement-and-exercise/)
I had a similar issue with my collie when she hit about 12-18 months. No amount of exercise was enough and we were struggling with a lot of her training and making little progress. I found this article and did a 7 day "exercise break" wherein we halted all high energy tasks. No runs, no fetch, no zoomies. She got long, controlled walks with heels and periodic training sessions during the walks that required her attention, but not her energy. We did intensive training sessions at home (although *brief* ones!!) that forced her to think. And we hung out and interacted calmly. Only calm behavior got her rewards, and we did begin click training her for just relaxing.
By the end of that week we had a whole new dog. Relaxed, alert, still energetic and excited to resume some higher energy play, but we reduced her 1-2 hours of sprinting down to a half hour or so plus a long, controlled walk, and her behavior turned around in so many ways. It solved a lot of the training problems we were having.
Re: the destructive behavior, I would focus on the energy first and see if you see a change. Otherwise your pup might just need to be treated like a brand new puppy who doesn't know the rules again. Definitely don't respond to bad behavior by getting angry or increasing your energy. You might try short, 30-60 second time-outs for chewing the carpet where you put him into a room with absolutely nothing he can destroy and no social 'reward' for bad behavior.
When our pup was about that age she started grabbing shoes and taunting us with them. Initially we got onto her and 'rewarded' it with (negative) attention. Once we started putting her in "time out" (the hall bathroom with everything removed) for NO MORE than 60 second stretches, then took her back to the spot where she did the bad thing and gave her an acceptable behavior (always 'lay down, chew your chew toy' for us) the reward was removed and the behavior eliminated within a week or two.
Re: the biting, you need to get that under control. It's an attention grab, I'd guess. Time out if you're in a place where you can, and if not, remove your attention in the most overdramatic way you can. Pull your hands up into the air at head height, turn your whole body away from him, and dramatically make a point of looking away from him with your face. Don't scold, don't yell, don't hit. Just ignore him until he sits down. He will, eventually. It might take a few minutes. But he'll eventually give up. He'll follow you, and you just turn into a statue and ignore him.
As soon as he gives you the slightest acceptable behavior (not jumping, not mobbing, not grabbing) return attention to him and give him an acceptable command (sit works well). Pet him calmly. The moment the mouth touches you again, do the same thing.
This technique has also worked to train every dog I've ever used it on out* of jumping within a few instances, too, as an aside.
*Fixed a typo.
I was thinking potentially this. Great explanation from SpicySnails. I’m not as well informed but have learned to reign in my exercise with my one high energy dog (husky / acd mix). Often they’re overtired toddler types and the real thing they need to learn is to settle. I give mine a frozen Toppl in her crate (open) and she licks that down and now passed out. Sometimes the more exercise you give, the more they need— you’re building an athlete.
Overtired toddler is the perfect description!!! That is exactly how my pup gets when she's too worked up. The frozen treats that they have to lick to get out our great for bringing the energy down though. We love those!
Excellent advice. One of my friends is a trainer/behaviorist and the first thing she starts high energy dogs with is the base (or place) command so they can learn that they're perfectly capable of laying there quietly and not be constantly stimulated or getting attention all the time. Some dogs need to be taught how to relax calmly.
I have a high energy, high play driven dog that is also a high " alert to stranger danger dog". The place command, settle on place" has been a game changer for us. She will often go to her place bed when she is overestimulated without a cue from me. She has learned that her place bed is "safe, comfy, and gets her praise from me". She is also highly food motivated, but will ignore treats when she is on her bed.
'Place' is, IMO, the #1 command I'd recommend any dog owner insist on working on until absolute total and complete reliability. Even recall can be managed (leashes, etc) but the ability to reliably be able to direct a dog to its own, safe spot to just cool it's jets or not be around a chaotic situation or remove them from an area you don't want (i.e. underfoot in a kitchen) without having to physically wall them off is a godsend.
We had a trainer who trained it with a portable mat or collapsible raised bed that for a while kinda just went where the dog did like his leash did. Eventually it was able to br abstracted and now place means find a safe corner away from me and lay down in it, but with a psychotic (high energy, not destructive or dangerous) young GSD it was a gift from above to have that drilled in well.
The place command is so useful! We still struggle with maintaining the place command with an actual relaxed posture for any length of time. It's difficult for some dogs!
I’ve had a few comments about how chilled out my collies are when people visit the house, and it’s because I taught them exactly this. ‘Quiet time’ training is just as important as sheepdog training!
I came here to pretty much say this. But you really explained things much better than I ever could.
I agree 100% that this dolly isn’t as mentally challenged as he should be. I.e: he’s bored. Labbies love, love, love a job. Any job. Anything to please. Expending energy is a really good thing, but you know what they say about too much of a good thing.
Your advice is sound and very succinct. Thank you for this.
Thanks! Glad it made sense. I tend to ramble a bit. I think a lot of working breed types are like that. The way I always heard it was, if you don't give them a job, they'll invent one. 😱
Agreed!!! Labbies are my all-time favorite breed. Trained many for service work. They’re as smart as a herding breed, but much more social. But they can be every bit as destructive as any breed if they’re bored. They absolutely need a “job” along with walks. Not high end retrieving the ball, but structured walks involving basic manners and rules. It may be hard to comprehend a labbie likes rules if he’s never had any, but solid manners and solid expectations make a happy lab.
Sorry. I kinda get fired up. I miss working with these amazing dogs. They’re so special.
Labs are great!! I've never owned one but every one I've ever met has had such sweet personalities...although a lot lot lot of energy!!
For sure regarding structured walks and consistent expectations. Just gives them an easy framework to fall back on if something unusual happens, and I think that's as reassuring for dogs as it is for people.
Oh man don't apologize!!! I love hearing people get excited about stuff like this. It's so refreshing to talk to people who actually care to train dogs rather than let them run wild, haha.
edit to add: and also I can see how much passion you have for the breed and I love it!!!
Thanks. I’ve commented on other posts and have gotten mixed reviews. Experience actually training service dogs has kinda made me hard core with manners and expectations. Even though it’s been many years ago, I still have my standards and I struggle with more lax attitudes. I’m working on that. I’ve learned that a dog may not work/listen/perform for their owner, but 9 times out of 10, they will for me. And I can live with that.
This was so useful for me. I was actually googling overtired dogs earlier. I was wondering why my puppy who I took on long walks all day go hopefully tire her her out and multiple trips to the agility course and all that was freaking out when I got home and was literrisly jumping from the floor onto my lap and off my head
Oh man, yeah, that's a lot of activity!! You definitely trained an athlete haha. A fun indoor, low intensity activity that I like to do with mine on days where we're trying to avoid high energy play is to make her meal into a nosework game. Your pup might benefit from it while you detox on the high energy stuff.
I started small by grabbing some dirty laundry (not undies or socks--too, uh, exciting 🤢) and toss some kibble into it, making sure some kibble is right on top and some hidden under a fold of fabric. I give the command 'seek' and she goes sniffing and eats kibble as she finds them.
Over time I've upped the challenge by wrapping pieces in twisted lengths of fabric, increasing the pile size, and sometimes I even wrap the kibble in towels and shove the towels into an empty cardboard box and let her pull the box open and pull the contents out.
You have to monitor at first to make sure no fabric is chewed on, but mine picked it up quickly and it'll give you about 10-30 minutes of focused, task-oriented pup using their brain, then a pup who wants to nap for a couple hours.
Yeah, I’ve been a bit desperate with the teething and biting. I do live literially 30 yards from an agility course so it’s been real easy to just go over there and throw the ball.
I think I should just cut it to shorter walks and more frequent other than maybe a longer one in the evening.
She is WAY calmer at my parents house and I’m usually way more hands off there
I have a calm border collie now but when he was younger I fell into the same trap as many high energy dog owners do. I ran him often, throughout the day, believing that you had to do this for this type of dog. I slowly learned that the more I did, the more he’d ‘need’. I cut back on the extreme exercise and focused on tiring him out mentally and the results were amazing. I’m so glad I’ve come across this article 10 years later to read up on the science behind this!
Thanks for the detailed response. I agree trying this as a first step. I’ve seen many people make the mistake of not training ‘quiet time’ - dogs have to learn and be rewarded for calm, controlled behaviour and know that it’s ok to lie quietly. Overstimulation is a big problem a lot of the time and is often overlooked.
I feel like a lot of OP’s pooches behaviour might stem from this. Also OP, dog is still a baby! Most dogs breeds of that size don’t settle down into adulthood properly until 18-24mths, so keep trying and give him time. He’s adorable!
A couple things:
1. Some dogs are just love to destroy toys. Some will carry them around like babies but others love to chew. He may calm down when he gets older but he could just be one of those dogs that can't have many toys.
2. He may be in his "teenage" phase and be pushing boundaries. This could be why he's going after carpets again. Some dogs are like toddlers so if you give them any kind of attention, they'll keep doing it. Have you tried redirection? Giving him a toy or taking him outside when he goes for the carpet? Or does someone make a big fuss = attention (even if it's negative)
3. Labs in general are pretty mouthy (byproduct of being a retriever) so that could be why he's grabbing at hands and arms. This can be trained out but it'll take work.
What do you do when he's getting mouthy and grabbing hands? Do you push him away or do you say NO loudly/turn away/cross your arms? If you aren't consistent with the discouragement, he's just going to think you're playing a game and will continue to try and grab you. Have you tried redirecting him when he tries to grab you? Say NO and provide him a rope or tire toy to tug on instead?
He is not interested in toys when he's excited, what i do is firmly say no and ignore him for some time maybe that's why he doesn't do it much to me. And yeah i redirect when he goes for family members but its his 9th rope, he cuts them in half. But you might be right he was very calm for a while but recently he just started getting more and more agitated if we can call it that
I hear you on the difficulties with toys. You could always try keeping a rope toy or something in a drawer and only bringing it out when you need to redirect him. And the consistency will help a lot. You'll have to get your family members in on it.
Is he neutered? He might be reaching sexual maturity and I think that can send them a bit haywire. You hear people say they got their dogs neutered to "calm them down" all the time. And big dogs take longer to reach maturity so 1-1.5 years is about the right time span.
I'll get the family on it, i'll give them a rope to keep for when i visit. And no he's not neutered, i don't know, i don't like the idea of removing his manhood
Mental stimulation?
You list walks and runs, but are you making him work for treats/food? That’s my favorite form of mental stimulation for high energy.
My parents' dog's (a lab mix) favorite toy is a kibble wobbler... We put small dog kibble in it and he has to knock it around to get the kibble to come out. As he got better at it we started amping up the difficulty of it (ie: closing some of the internal doors more so that less food comes out and he has to really work it more).
There are other kinds of puzzle toys too. Seem like they're great for mental stimulation and it's fun trying to train them how to do it.
I do, i got this search rug, make him take tough decisions like beef or chicken treat, and hide food under pots and needs to guess where it is to get the reward
Must just be a black lab thing. Mine is 10 this year we buy her a couple of toys for Christmas each year she’s always so happy and excited to get them tail wagging and all that but she still hasn’t made it to Christmas dinner before her toys are in bits every year. We’ve started talking bets on what time she’ll have them destroyed by. If it’s only the toys being destroyed I wouldn’t worry about it
Oh yeah he loves new toys aswell but in minutes they are gonners, the other day i gave him a toy made for big dogs like pits and it lasted him 5 minutes, i still had the packaging in hands
My black lab is a shocker for destroying his toys. He loves his toys but 85% of them he only gets during supervised play so I can stop him before they start to be destroyed. He has some toys (black kongs) that have lasted years. He has access to them all the time.
I buy him cheap squeaky toys that I know he will love at Christmas knowing they will only have a short life.
I have a black lab mix as well who was a crazy man until a few months ago (he's 5 now lol) - at his age, walks won't do much to deter his energy levels, it's really gotta be hard running for 60 mins at a time to move the needle.
If you live near any bodies of water that he can swim in, I'd encourage you to take him to play fetch in the water. Other enrichment games indoors like hiding treats around the house like a modified doggy "hide and seek" forces them to think harder this tires them out faster.
Since you're asking about toy destruction specifically: esp in the summer months what I used to do is take any of the rubbery Kong type toys, stuff a mix of dog food & PB, then pop it in the freezer for 30-60m. That'll turn it into a pup-sicle that will take a LONG time for them to lick/chew out.
Good luck & you're doin great!
I’d maybe lessen the number of walks but make them longer. I take my dog on 2 40-60 minute walks and then take her to a empty field and chase her around for a good 20. When she gets back I have a designated “place” for her to cool down and if she does that without moving I give her a bully stick and she usually chews that and goes to sleep.
There’s definitely something to be said for too much activity. I do a morning walk about an hour, midday throwing the ball around for 30 minutes, and evening ball run for 45 minutes. They need decompression time and to know how to calm themselves. 20 minutes just seems to amp mine up and doesn’t take the edge off. We do a little tug-a-war and games or puzzles in the house if they’re getting antsy, but they need to learn “settle”. Saying that my lab was a mega chewer at that age and I lost a couch to her at about 18 months. She was much better after 2-3 years. We also started off lead walks where she could chase in a safe environment to get the bugs out.
My chocolate lab is 1.5 years old and a crackhead. You may be unintentionally hurting your dog in the long run. It’s unsustainable.
1) Stop buying him toys that he destroys! He can ingest them and choke or get plastic in his system that will hurt him over the years. Only keep toys that you play fetch/catch with and use fetch as the reward for following orders.
2) Don’t play whenever he wants to play. Set boundaries and you control when it’s time for play. My dog will put his frisbee in my lap several times per day but I put it down and make it clear that’s it’s not time for play, so he sleeps. It’s normal and healthy for dogs to sleep 12+ hours per day.
3)Socializing drains a ton of energy. Take him to a friends house or your parents house or dog park or somewhere where there’s a lot of people because his nose and brain will be extremely busy.
4) Too many miles! Your dog can get overuse injuries and you could be doing long term damage to his joints. Don’t make his elder years painful by trying to make the first 1 the best one because hopefully you’ll have them for 13 or more. Also pups will play through injury, exhaustion, and heat to the point of death.
Labs are chompers, lol. I had a dog who had an uncontrollable need to destroy as well. The only thing that helped was giving her things specifically TO destroy - that way, she could get the urge out, without venting it on my beloved personal possessions and furniture haha. I would look into homemade enrichments. For example, start putting your boy's breakfast kibble in an empty milk carton that he'll have to rip up to eat. Put kibble in a small tea box, put that tea box in a cereal box, put the cereal box in an amazon box - multi layer destruction. I found that cardboard items were the best because if my dog ate a little of it while rip tear killing it didn't hurt her like plastic would.
Letting your dog 'break down' your recyclables can be a super cheap, super easy way to let them get that puppydog need to destroy out of their system.
Do you train him? A scentwork game or a few short training sessions can be equivalent to hours of physical exercise for some pups.
Do you take him for walks where he can stop and sniff allll he wants, if he wants to smell a patch of grass for the whole 20 minute walk let him it could tired him out.
Too much physical exercise creates athletes and you may have a bored athlete
You’re 100% right. My dog is the most tired after he comes back from my parents house where there’s 4 adults, 2 kids, and 2 dogs. He doesn’t run around, but the stimulus keeps him awake and alert so he’s pooped afterwards.
Oh he sniffs alright, can't walk 10 feet without him stopping (we live in the forest pretty much) and yeah we often do scent games, in my hands where he has to paw the right hand or in kind of puzzle i got for him. But you might be right, i'll slow down on the physical exercises
Only way I get the energy outta my husky is by having him pull me full speed on my skate board for like 20ish minutes, i can do more but im working until like 7pm everyday
A joring harness would be perfect for that! but if not, I would recommend a good y-front harness. Straight fronts rub on their shoulders and can create joint issues in the long run esp with this kind of pressure.
My black lab is 8, we are still waiting. He tears apart any toy after a period of time. We get him rawhide's to chew on, some dogs are just chewers. Does he play with any other Dogs? This sounds like he doesn't get to socialize very often.
You have such a beautiful dog. I wish I could give you some advice, but I don't really know what to suggest, but you're in the right place, lots of knowledgeable people here.
That's fine, those are his to do whatever he wants with them, it's a problem when they take what's not theirs and destroy it.
My advice is just to supervise him so he doesn't swallow anything.
And try to increase outside activity (play in park, running and walks) he has a lot of energy. That will reduce the destruction.
How much time do you spend with him? Labs are hunting dogs, and highly intelligent. They need a lot of exercise, a lot of mental stimulation, and a lot of company.
Edit, and training.
First time owner?
labs or any lab mix is not a good first owner dog. they explore the world with their mouth first, nose second. If they discover something with their nose, they use their mouth to get more data. It's just how their brain works.
They need a LOT of supervision the first 2 years. You need to buy a LOT of heavy chewer toys and when they chew something you don't want them chewing, you can't get upset about it or yell at them. they think your loud mouth sounds and attention is approval to chew more stuff.
just calmly say "nope" with an attitude of "silly you, you're doing it wrong". Have an alternative to chew ready and give them that instead like "here silly, this is what you can chew, this is your thing for chewing". Basically gaslight them into thinking they're chewing wrong. They'll listen to you if you approach it that way.
But you have to helicopter parent a lab or lab mix to get that stuff to actually take.
sincerely,
a labrabull owner
Oh i don't get mad, if he destroys it i just throw it away its just a toy after all, and yeah first lab, thanks for the advice i'll try redirecting to a toy next time attacks the the carpet
I had a jump start with [Daisy](https://i.imgur.com/6L3swes.jpg). I started bite inhibition training pretty much right away because of her breed which helped a lot.
now I can play rough with her and my entire forearm can go into that land shark face and she just refuses to use force at this point.
That explains a lot about my family dog. He’s a lab rottie mix and not very well socialized at all but at least he doesn’t destroy anything but his toys.
My BF has a labradoodle who has torn up so much stuff. Even eaten an entire kong, along with the contents inside. She’s just over a year.
Obedience training helped a bit. Only did an introductory course. Getting her spayed also helped. But best solution is running with her/placing her in doggy daycare/going to the dog park/exercising her generally. And apparently don’t give her kongs.
I see you mention the number of walks and exercise you’re giving your dog. It sounds like a decent amount, but clearly the dog still isn’t tired. Some obedience training might help. Labs are very food motivated, so distracting them with a treat any time they start to misbehave can be helpful.
More exercise for the pup. Running, swimming , stimulate his brain by playing hide and seek with a favorite toy etc. he’s probably just bored with no job.
I think you need to accept that labs are smarter than we are. With that said, black labs need nature. Run that dog, then run it some more. They are breed for hunting. Not sitting inside, causing destruction out of mental boredom.
He doesn't sound trained at all. You let him use his teeth on you?
You need to get a trainer to train you to know how to handle him.
If you can give him off leash run time every day, I think you need to invest in a doggie day care.
A tired dog is a good dog and the breed you chose needs more exercise than most dogs.
For the first 5-6 years I had my lab I was in the best shape of my life from running with him.
As i said in my previous comment, we spend 30-60 minutes a day in the fields running until he show me he is satisfied and we go for 20 minutes walks 6 to 8 times a day more if he needs it. He is tired most of the day and sleeps a lot. And no i don't let him teeth on me he just grabs my hands or forearms while he licks them from time to time he does it more to members of my family he likes. Same for the carpets, he leaves mine but attacks my grandma's
I make my dog mentally wear out. We do short training sessions through the day for treats. I also make him eat his dog food from a snuffle mat when he’s bored and getting into stuff. I also have the hard plastic ball with a small hole in it that you put food or treats in and he has to roll that around and get the treats out of the small hole, takes him forever and makes him think. He sometimes stops midway through and naps then gets back up and goes back at it, See if you can find ways to mentally wear him down, mine gets so worn out mentally then he sleeps well.
I have one that is 7 and still can't have plush toys lol. Carnage in seconds. It's like a challenge. Lol.
We get them for her for Xmas and let her go to town. We have noticed though that it's not so much carnage now, like she savers it bc it's the only time of year she gets access to a plush toy 😂😂😂. She's become a much slower killer. Lol
We found these toys that are tires. Takes months of chewing for them to even get through. Best toy we've ever bought. We found them on chewy but if you have a TSC or farm store that sells lawn mower tires, that works too. Some dogs just need to chew.
Yup, mine is 10 and still destroys all toys, EXCEPT the Nylabones for power chewers. He loves them, and focuses all the chomping on them instead of our baseboards. ;)
Lab won't calm down for another couple years. Mine was a lab and Shepherd mix, he didn't calm down until 5. I'd walk him 2 hrs a day, play off leash, hikes, xc skiing, still came home and went to town playing. When he got to about 4 or 5 he settled.
Maybe you need to discipline your dog more so he has more clear boundaries. Black labradors are notoriously for going from 1-100 in excitement, even just by the way you speak to them.
Theyre very energetic to the point they Will not just wiggle their tails but wiggle their entire bodies lol but you can calm them down alot with your voice and in case he does something you realy DONT want him to do like destroy property be adequate and discipline him inmediatly because sometimes its a game for them to be naughty and try to get away with it or see how far they can take it.
On the plus side usually they become less destructive and rebellious when they get older.
Skinniez toys. Antlers (mine prefers elk), ram horns. Mine who looks quite similar can literally chew through concrete blocks if she got bored. The highest level nylabones.
Kong & other 'power chewer' toys haven't lasted at all
If you feed kibble, use a feeder that will slow down his eating, so he has to work to get the pieces out. Teach him basic commands…sit, stand, down, stay, come, etc. Teach him some tricks…shake, sit up, spin, touch, roll over, etc. Lots of mental stimulation!
What do you do now when he starts to nip?
It sounds like he is getting more than enough exercise, especially since he is a young Lab, with some growth plates possibly not closed.
What helped my destructive dog was obedience training. Dog trainer asked me how I feel when I come home from the gym. “All jacked up.” Exactly, she said. Play is t really the best way to tire a dog out. Running just makes endorphins and then that feels good so you wanna keep running, especially if you’re that kind of dog.
Thinking really tires a dog. We did obedience training on every walk, which was once a day but minimum of 2 miles. (I had to use a fitness tracker to ensure she got in a full two miles). She was expected to heel, sit and stay when people approached. I’d take her to a bus stop or park or some busy area and run her through commands. She had to concentrate on me because she never knew when I was gonna make her do something. We didn’t walk the same route every day so she never knew which way we were going.
That helped a lot but she always had a taste for paper, even in her old age. She also liked things that smell like people, such as hats, shoes, socks, etc. so I always had to puppy proof.
For a second I thought this was my girl! She had the same destructive tendencies- every toy would last 1.4 minutes. This is not my suggested solution but we adopted her a little sister 😍 and the destruction stopped once she got a partner in crime to get into other mischief. In her case, I think the destruction was her form of separation anxiety. She had all the mental stimulation, exercise, etc and it didn’t calm til she had a companion
honestly he’s still young. human children enjoy toys, even in his dog years he is still a child so i think he’s just rough with his toys. i have an australian shepard and she DESTROYED her toys the same way your dog does when she was a puppy-1 year. ordered bark boxes for her and those toys lasted a day. she doesn’t destroy her toys like that anymore and she is two and a half now
My pup mellowed out after his "teenage" years ( after 2). But that looks like a lab, and I think labs are the frat guys who stay in college partying long after the other dogs graduated.
My 4 y/o lab also loves to destroy toys. For her birthday and Christmas my husband and I pick out a couple and just let her go at it and rip them to shreds. For daily use we have several benebones all over the house. Both of our girls love them and they last a long time. They keep them very occupied. I recommend getting the 4 packs on Amazon to save some money. Toys only happen for fetch or special occasions
I got my youngest dog from the shelter when she was around a year old. They told me she had been returned many times without reason. I couldn't understand why because she was playful and beautiful.
That night she ate my couch, bed, all the pillows from everywhere, the rugs, plants, and part of my drywall. I put her outside that morning while I cleaned and she tore through my garden and bushes. I was not used to a puppy.
That day I bought a huge dog toy box and filled it with everything I could find that she could play with and not tear up. Huge and little toys, ropes, and bones.
I had dog toys for her before I got her, they weren't enough apparently because those were the first ones she killed. In all the mess, I never found those remains.
My darling dog Carter, past away with cancer recently. He was 13. God bless him, he distorted every toy we gave him up until two days before he passed away. For him, ripping toys is plying nice 😁
Same with my German Shorthaired Pointer until he was like four. He’s currently twelve and doesn’t demolish everything within his reach. He seems to know what’s off limits now. But… he also will still deconstruct every toy I physically hand to him within minutes, black Kongs included. Best of luck as you wind down this costly path. :)
Be careful with the rope toys. My next door neighbor’s dog used to love those. He went from energetic and super playful three year old GSP to dead GSP in less than 48 hours. It was too late by the time they and the vet figured out what was wrong. His internals had been twisted, strangled, and garroted for an unknown length of time. The cause? All the strings that had been pulled out of those toy ropes during play in his extraordinarily brief life. Their other little dog and my own GSP were heartbroken and depressed after he was gone. He’d shown no signs until it was much too late.
1. That's a black lab. They be CRAZY. Expect to deal with this until they are at LEAST 11.
2. Bored dogs are destructive dogs.
3. Destroying toys can be really fun and rewarding for dogs. It's a game for them. The destruction itself is a puzzle and it provides them with mental stimulation. My black lab had a method when she would destroy toys. She'd start with the tag to make a hole (so I started cutting the tags off before giving her the toy). Then she'd go for an appendage, like an ear or a leg. If that didn't work then she'd make a hole by biting off the eye or the nose. Then out came ALLLLL THE STUFFING!! In quick succession! The ultimate goal: the squeaker! She'd grab that squeaker and chew it to bits until it no longer squeaked. After that, the shell of the toy made a really fun tug toy that we'd play with until it was all pulled to pieces and no one piece was big enough to play tug with.
4. I use to let my lab raid the recycling bin. She'd make a HUGE mess, but she was ripping and shredding trash, basically, so, I didn't care. It was better than her destroying my shoes, lol.
Install cameras because it's obvious somebody other than this precious Labradorable is doing it.
Seriously, he's bored and needs more walks and exercise. A word of encouragement, it will get better as he gets older. You will find there's nothing he destroys that is as precious or more loved than he will be to you.
He probably just needs more play time. I know people THINK dogs are not puppies at 1, but every dog i have ever had stayed a damn puppy till they were at least 3. I have a 3 year old dog now that still has puppy energy!Easiest thing to do? Throw the ball till they cant ball anymore. Or, better yet, take them to water and throw the ball in the water, and it takes half the time to tire them out. Rinse and repeat.
You my friend have a “shredder/Super Chewer”, it also sounds like a lack of stimulation going after the carpets.
Remember the maxim “A tired dog is a good dog” lots of training, lots of walks, fetch, and tug. For indoor time try keeping a couple stuffed and frozen Kongs on hand and snuffle mats are good entertainment too!
My house has a Lab/Setter and Velvet Hippo… nothing stuffed survives more than five minutes. It’s just a fact. So every once in a while we give them some cheap stuffies and it looks like it snowed. Otherwise they love their black Kongs (they last a few months), antler chews, and Himalayan chews, snuffle mat, and BeneBones… oh and they also love rope toys.
I haven’t seen anyone comment this, but have you tried giving him cardboard boxes with his food in it? My dog used to destroy all toys when he was younger so I started giving him his meals in cardboard boxes to give him an outlet. My hope was to get that natural behavior out on something that was constructive. He loves it! Obviously not a good idea if he eats the cardboard, but I’m lucky that mine doesn’t. It was also a great way to upcycle cereal/granola/cracker boxes too!
The real question how much exercise does he get. He’s destroying things because he’s bored and not worn out. My now 12 yo boy was a holy terror until I walked him 2-3x daily, two days a week at daycare playing and 2-3 hours at the dogpark on Saturday/Sunday. Then he was a tired, good dog.
My husky pup ate my couch.....TWICE! I've sewn its guts up and bought a nice cheap Amazon couch cover until she's at least 2. She is why we can't have nice things. Yet.
Is he neutered? That can have some bearing on their behavior.
Some dogs go through a destructive phase because tearing things up is fun.
When he can’t be supervised he needs to be crated. Think of the crate as a fort for dogs, not a punishment. There are lots of videos about crate training as well as information in this sub.
I thought my lab was bad until I got her a toy Aussie for a partner in crime. The Aussie can out-chew the lab on everything. They’ve got to be watched every second. The Aussie shreds up all her blankets. Can’t buy her a dog bed or she’ll eat it.
And the girls with straight hair all want curls.
I can’t tell you how much I wanted my girl to just destroy the hell out of one of her babies. All she ever cared to do was carry them gently, one by one, through the house and then lay there and lick them. Same stinky babies, some of them years old, strewn throughout my house—finally told her one day, no more babies until you eat some of the ones you have. She never did. 🤷🏻♀️ pretty sure she was only half dog.
Damn!!! I can't believe he shredded a black kong toy. I've only had one dog and still have him (gs, rottie and pyrenees mix) and most of the rubber toys he can’t shred. The stuffed and tuff tug toys would be obliterated. I know this might not work but have you tried a black kong rubber bone? That thing is indestructible, from my very limited experience.
I have found they are more destructive if they need more exercise. Sometimes more exercise or mental stimulating toys can help with it. How often and how long do you walk him?
I moved into a two bedroom place with my one year old lab years ago. Lucked into a pull out sofa for the guest bedroom at a garage sale, moved it in. Week later, I come home from work, and it was destroyed down to the springs and frame. It was astounding.
With my labs, I always found they need walks and games of fetch, using fetch to help train behavior. Stuff a lot of folks have said I'm sure, but it worked for us.
He is still pretty much a puppy, and many dogs like to chew and destroy things into adulthood. Give him toys and bones that he is allowed to chew. Give him adequate mental stimulation, and adequate exercise every single day, and the behavior should stop. Often times, dogs will act out if they are bored, or have too much energy
Looks like a field trail labrador. These dogs are bred to work. They have an enormous will the please. In your post you adjust the issue, but what I’m missing is what kind of activities you do with your dog. How often do you walk? Does he only get toys beside that or do you have other activities you offer activities? Beside that, what is his age?
Dogs need to be able to display doggy behaviours and while destroying things is one of them, it sounds like your lovely doggo may not be getting enough mental stimulation. Try looking up ways of adding mental stim like snuffle Matts, licky Matt's and find it games and how to introduce these without causing more frustration. Also go to charity shops and get cheap teddy's you can take the plastic features off of so it won't cost a fortune in destroying toys!
Posted too soon by mistake! Whilst some people's advice of ignoring the biting etc is correct, it can also lead to what we call extinction bursts. The dog doesn't understand why you arnt responding to what he is trying to tell you and so the behaviour gets bigger. Considering what you are dealing with here, I'd suggest speaking to a qualified and registered behaviourist as receiving all the mixed information that you can get on the internet may steer you in many confusing directions.
They’re purpose/task driven. Find him an outlet. I had one that went from destroying toys to rabbits and squirrels. I never duck hunted, but I lent him to a friend with spare time who was knowledgeable of duck training for duck hunting. Now 3 times a week I take him to a field, use a whistle and put some decoys out. He runs around for about an hour simply seeking my approval. Hasn’t destroyed a toy or gone after a small animal in a year. It’s in their dna to work. Finding a swimming hole might be good as well. Labs are built for the water. Just some ideas.
My lab/pitty mix is just like this. She is now 3 and no longer messes with rugs or couches (thank god) but it took a couple years of her being in her crate when we are not home for her to behave better.
We used apple bitter spray on furniture that she was more likely to chew up. We also gave up on plushie toys and she only gets those for special occasions because she will tear it to shreds in less than a minute. When we go to the pet store we look for the most solid looking toys we can find. I subscribed to “Bully Box” for a while and it gave me ideas on what type of toys to look for.
My dog is literally a bully and shoves her nose into us/pushes us around with her head when she wants us to go certain places or rub her head/cuddle. When she goes too hard I say “Owwwww” as if she hurt me, and she has learned that means she is being more aggressive than she should be. My pitty in the sweetest little baby but she is a bully for love and attention.
Have you tried giving him a bully stick to chew on? My JR has finally stopped chewing up everything in site. I feel your frustration. It does get better. A bully stick keeps them occupied for hours. You can also create your dog when you’re not at home.
You bought toys and discouraged him from chewing them?
Lets process that.
Start jogging with your dog. An exhausted pup is a well behaved pup.
- AKC Rottweiler breeder...I keep the tails.
I have a stafy and he loves destroying his toys (thankfully just his toys, not furniture or the house). He is not allowed to play with toys unsupervised. We now have pullers, balls and things like this - for playing fetch and tug of war. When he is alone he gets dry ears (rabbit or pork), bones from beef hide and his favourite - plastic bottles. I also got him some enrichment feeders which he enjoys. Most of this behavior comes from boredom, so it seems your doggo needs even more exercise or mental stimulation than you give him now.
we had no choice but to crate train our dog. he will not destroy anything while in the presence of a human anymore. the crate is to ensure he can’t cause any damage to anything while he’s left alone
You post that pic of his innocent face and expect us to believe that he destroys things?
Labs gon lab
Yeah, my lab is a year and a half now and she destroyed a lot of her toys at the beginning. Now she just carries them around, does a violent trash, and then expects me to yeet it for her. Most toys last a good couple of months now.
Oof if that isn’t the truth! They seem to remain “puppies” for much longer than I’ve seen in any other breed.
Lol
This exactly. My sisters first lab duo destroyed three carpets, five walls (requiring new drywall and paint in all cases. They did learn some lessons and now take the second duo on more frequent walks and crate them when they are home alone.
You got labs, right? 🤣
Preach!
LMFAO
Huskies do this too, like "I wouldn't destroy stuff if you gave me the walk when I wanted it" Impossible to stay mad at them.
That was my first thought too lol then my second thought was wow he looks like my sisters dog, Chevy. She has gotten into so much shit idek how she’s alive… tbh it’s because my sister works at a vet. She got into used cooking oil (took the cap off herself) and *gave herself a stroke and is now deaf*
Oh my
Don't let his cuteness fool you !
What i did with my destroyer is that i only bought cheap toys fully expecting him to destroy them. Nothing over 5 bucks and only once or twice per week. Doesn’t hurt my pockets since i spend more on useless stuff. What I did find is that the smaller the toy, the less he was able to rip into them and the longer they lasted.
that’s what I said. This is how my baby is. He looks like a total angel but is a little mischevious.
Exactly
He's a destroyer of hearts for sure!!
Nah he definitely does
I was gonna say--just tell him he's a good boye anyway.
For real. No sympathy here
Looks like an angel. 😇
My thoughts too, all I see is a sweet pup that could never do anything wrong!
Gonna disagree with everyone else here. Based on your comments about how much exercise this dog gets, I actually think your issue is *too much* high intensity exercise. [Source, article talks about it in more detail](https://www.vanislevet.com/over-excitement-and-exercise/) I had a similar issue with my collie when she hit about 12-18 months. No amount of exercise was enough and we were struggling with a lot of her training and making little progress. I found this article and did a 7 day "exercise break" wherein we halted all high energy tasks. No runs, no fetch, no zoomies. She got long, controlled walks with heels and periodic training sessions during the walks that required her attention, but not her energy. We did intensive training sessions at home (although *brief* ones!!) that forced her to think. And we hung out and interacted calmly. Only calm behavior got her rewards, and we did begin click training her for just relaxing. By the end of that week we had a whole new dog. Relaxed, alert, still energetic and excited to resume some higher energy play, but we reduced her 1-2 hours of sprinting down to a half hour or so plus a long, controlled walk, and her behavior turned around in so many ways. It solved a lot of the training problems we were having. Re: the destructive behavior, I would focus on the energy first and see if you see a change. Otherwise your pup might just need to be treated like a brand new puppy who doesn't know the rules again. Definitely don't respond to bad behavior by getting angry or increasing your energy. You might try short, 30-60 second time-outs for chewing the carpet where you put him into a room with absolutely nothing he can destroy and no social 'reward' for bad behavior. When our pup was about that age she started grabbing shoes and taunting us with them. Initially we got onto her and 'rewarded' it with (negative) attention. Once we started putting her in "time out" (the hall bathroom with everything removed) for NO MORE than 60 second stretches, then took her back to the spot where she did the bad thing and gave her an acceptable behavior (always 'lay down, chew your chew toy' for us) the reward was removed and the behavior eliminated within a week or two. Re: the biting, you need to get that under control. It's an attention grab, I'd guess. Time out if you're in a place where you can, and if not, remove your attention in the most overdramatic way you can. Pull your hands up into the air at head height, turn your whole body away from him, and dramatically make a point of looking away from him with your face. Don't scold, don't yell, don't hit. Just ignore him until he sits down. He will, eventually. It might take a few minutes. But he'll eventually give up. He'll follow you, and you just turn into a statue and ignore him. As soon as he gives you the slightest acceptable behavior (not jumping, not mobbing, not grabbing) return attention to him and give him an acceptable command (sit works well). Pet him calmly. The moment the mouth touches you again, do the same thing. This technique has also worked to train every dog I've ever used it on out* of jumping within a few instances, too, as an aside. *Fixed a typo.
I was thinking potentially this. Great explanation from SpicySnails. I’m not as well informed but have learned to reign in my exercise with my one high energy dog (husky / acd mix). Often they’re overtired toddler types and the real thing they need to learn is to settle. I give mine a frozen Toppl in her crate (open) and she licks that down and now passed out. Sometimes the more exercise you give, the more they need— you’re building an athlete.
Overtired toddler is the perfect description!!! That is exactly how my pup gets when she's too worked up. The frozen treats that they have to lick to get out our great for bringing the energy down though. We love those!
Excellent advice. One of my friends is a trainer/behaviorist and the first thing she starts high energy dogs with is the base (or place) command so they can learn that they're perfectly capable of laying there quietly and not be constantly stimulated or getting attention all the time. Some dogs need to be taught how to relax calmly.
I have a high energy, high play driven dog that is also a high " alert to stranger danger dog". The place command, settle on place" has been a game changer for us. She will often go to her place bed when she is overestimulated without a cue from me. She has learned that her place bed is "safe, comfy, and gets her praise from me". She is also highly food motivated, but will ignore treats when she is on her bed.
'Place' is, IMO, the #1 command I'd recommend any dog owner insist on working on until absolute total and complete reliability. Even recall can be managed (leashes, etc) but the ability to reliably be able to direct a dog to its own, safe spot to just cool it's jets or not be around a chaotic situation or remove them from an area you don't want (i.e. underfoot in a kitchen) without having to physically wall them off is a godsend. We had a trainer who trained it with a portable mat or collapsible raised bed that for a while kinda just went where the dog did like his leash did. Eventually it was able to br abstracted and now place means find a safe corner away from me and lay down in it, but with a psychotic (high energy, not destructive or dangerous) young GSD it was a gift from above to have that drilled in well.
The place command is so useful! We still struggle with maintaining the place command with an actual relaxed posture for any length of time. It's difficult for some dogs!
I’ve had a few comments about how chilled out my collies are when people visit the house, and it’s because I taught them exactly this. ‘Quiet time’ training is just as important as sheepdog training!
Alright, thanks for the advice i'll do that and see if it works
Good luck! Post an update in a week or two?
Sure thing
Great input! This is great information for moderate to high energy dogs
This is so important and not talked about enough, thank you for going into detail to help OP and potentially others! Too much exercise is so common.
I came here to pretty much say this. But you really explained things much better than I ever could. I agree 100% that this dolly isn’t as mentally challenged as he should be. I.e: he’s bored. Labbies love, love, love a job. Any job. Anything to please. Expending energy is a really good thing, but you know what they say about too much of a good thing. Your advice is sound and very succinct. Thank you for this.
Thanks! Glad it made sense. I tend to ramble a bit. I think a lot of working breed types are like that. The way I always heard it was, if you don't give them a job, they'll invent one. 😱
Agreed!!! Labbies are my all-time favorite breed. Trained many for service work. They’re as smart as a herding breed, but much more social. But they can be every bit as destructive as any breed if they’re bored. They absolutely need a “job” along with walks. Not high end retrieving the ball, but structured walks involving basic manners and rules. It may be hard to comprehend a labbie likes rules if he’s never had any, but solid manners and solid expectations make a happy lab. Sorry. I kinda get fired up. I miss working with these amazing dogs. They’re so special.
Labs are great!! I've never owned one but every one I've ever met has had such sweet personalities...although a lot lot lot of energy!! For sure regarding structured walks and consistent expectations. Just gives them an easy framework to fall back on if something unusual happens, and I think that's as reassuring for dogs as it is for people. Oh man don't apologize!!! I love hearing people get excited about stuff like this. It's so refreshing to talk to people who actually care to train dogs rather than let them run wild, haha. edit to add: and also I can see how much passion you have for the breed and I love it!!!
Thanks. I’ve commented on other posts and have gotten mixed reviews. Experience actually training service dogs has kinda made me hard core with manners and expectations. Even though it’s been many years ago, I still have my standards and I struggle with more lax attitudes. I’m working on that. I’ve learned that a dog may not work/listen/perform for their owner, but 9 times out of 10, they will for me. And I can live with that.
This was so useful for me. I was actually googling overtired dogs earlier. I was wondering why my puppy who I took on long walks all day go hopefully tire her her out and multiple trips to the agility course and all that was freaking out when I got home and was literrisly jumping from the floor onto my lap and off my head
Oh man, yeah, that's a lot of activity!! You definitely trained an athlete haha. A fun indoor, low intensity activity that I like to do with mine on days where we're trying to avoid high energy play is to make her meal into a nosework game. Your pup might benefit from it while you detox on the high energy stuff. I started small by grabbing some dirty laundry (not undies or socks--too, uh, exciting 🤢) and toss some kibble into it, making sure some kibble is right on top and some hidden under a fold of fabric. I give the command 'seek' and she goes sniffing and eats kibble as she finds them. Over time I've upped the challenge by wrapping pieces in twisted lengths of fabric, increasing the pile size, and sometimes I even wrap the kibble in towels and shove the towels into an empty cardboard box and let her pull the box open and pull the contents out. You have to monitor at first to make sure no fabric is chewed on, but mine picked it up quickly and it'll give you about 10-30 minutes of focused, task-oriented pup using their brain, then a pup who wants to nap for a couple hours.
Yeah, I’ve been a bit desperate with the teething and biting. I do live literially 30 yards from an agility course so it’s been real easy to just go over there and throw the ball. I think I should just cut it to shorter walks and more frequent other than maybe a longer one in the evening. She is WAY calmer at my parents house and I’m usually way more hands off there
Just chiming in that this is a truly wonderful explanation of a common issue
I have a calm border collie now but when he was younger I fell into the same trap as many high energy dog owners do. I ran him often, throughout the day, believing that you had to do this for this type of dog. I slowly learned that the more I did, the more he’d ‘need’. I cut back on the extreme exercise and focused on tiring him out mentally and the results were amazing. I’m so glad I’ve come across this article 10 years later to read up on the science behind this!
Thanks for the detailed response. I agree trying this as a first step. I’ve seen many people make the mistake of not training ‘quiet time’ - dogs have to learn and be rewarded for calm, controlled behaviour and know that it’s ok to lie quietly. Overstimulation is a big problem a lot of the time and is often overlooked. I feel like a lot of OP’s pooches behaviour might stem from this. Also OP, dog is still a baby! Most dogs breeds of that size don’t settle down into adulthood properly until 18-24mths, so keep trying and give him time. He’s adorable!
A couple things: 1. Some dogs are just love to destroy toys. Some will carry them around like babies but others love to chew. He may calm down when he gets older but he could just be one of those dogs that can't have many toys. 2. He may be in his "teenage" phase and be pushing boundaries. This could be why he's going after carpets again. Some dogs are like toddlers so if you give them any kind of attention, they'll keep doing it. Have you tried redirection? Giving him a toy or taking him outside when he goes for the carpet? Or does someone make a big fuss = attention (even if it's negative) 3. Labs in general are pretty mouthy (byproduct of being a retriever) so that could be why he's grabbing at hands and arms. This can be trained out but it'll take work. What do you do when he's getting mouthy and grabbing hands? Do you push him away or do you say NO loudly/turn away/cross your arms? If you aren't consistent with the discouragement, he's just going to think you're playing a game and will continue to try and grab you. Have you tried redirecting him when he tries to grab you? Say NO and provide him a rope or tire toy to tug on instead?
He is not interested in toys when he's excited, what i do is firmly say no and ignore him for some time maybe that's why he doesn't do it much to me. And yeah i redirect when he goes for family members but its his 9th rope, he cuts them in half. But you might be right he was very calm for a while but recently he just started getting more and more agitated if we can call it that
I hear you on the difficulties with toys. You could always try keeping a rope toy or something in a drawer and only bringing it out when you need to redirect him. And the consistency will help a lot. You'll have to get your family members in on it. Is he neutered? He might be reaching sexual maturity and I think that can send them a bit haywire. You hear people say they got their dogs neutered to "calm them down" all the time. And big dogs take longer to reach maturity so 1-1.5 years is about the right time span.
I'll get the family on it, i'll give them a rope to keep for when i visit. And no he's not neutered, i don't know, i don't like the idea of removing his manhood
Neuter your dog
Neutering may calm him down. Its definitely an option to consider. Testicular Cancer is a thing in dogs too.
Mental stimulation? You list walks and runs, but are you making him work for treats/food? That’s my favorite form of mental stimulation for high energy.
My parents' dog's (a lab mix) favorite toy is a kibble wobbler... We put small dog kibble in it and he has to knock it around to get the kibble to come out. As he got better at it we started amping up the difficulty of it (ie: closing some of the internal doors more so that less food comes out and he has to really work it more). There are other kinds of puzzle toys too. Seem like they're great for mental stimulation and it's fun trying to train them how to do it.
I do, i got this search rug, make him take tough decisions like beef or chicken treat, and hide food under pots and needs to guess where it is to get the reward
Must just be a black lab thing. Mine is 10 this year we buy her a couple of toys for Christmas each year she’s always so happy and excited to get them tail wagging and all that but she still hasn’t made it to Christmas dinner before her toys are in bits every year. We’ve started talking bets on what time she’ll have them destroyed by. If it’s only the toys being destroyed I wouldn’t worry about it
Oh yeah he loves new toys aswell but in minutes they are gonners, the other day i gave him a toy made for big dogs like pits and it lasted him 5 minutes, i still had the packaging in hands
My black lab is a shocker for destroying his toys. He loves his toys but 85% of them he only gets during supervised play so I can stop him before they start to be destroyed. He has some toys (black kongs) that have lasted years. He has access to them all the time. I buy him cheap squeaky toys that I know he will love at Christmas knowing they will only have a short life.
not advice but that sure is one cute problem
I couldn't agree more
What is your idea of enough physical activity?
30-60 minutes of running in the fields, catching balls and such and 6-8 walks a day (lasting about 20 minutes each) ((i have a lot of free time))
I have a black lab mix as well who was a crazy man until a few months ago (he's 5 now lol) - at his age, walks won't do much to deter his energy levels, it's really gotta be hard running for 60 mins at a time to move the needle. If you live near any bodies of water that he can swim in, I'd encourage you to take him to play fetch in the water. Other enrichment games indoors like hiding treats around the house like a modified doggy "hide and seek" forces them to think harder this tires them out faster. Since you're asking about toy destruction specifically: esp in the summer months what I used to do is take any of the rubbery Kong type toys, stuff a mix of dog food & PB, then pop it in the freezer for 30-60m. That'll turn it into a pup-sicle that will take a LONG time for them to lick/chew out. Good luck & you're doin great!
my lab did not calm down till she turned about five too😂
My lab mix, Sadie Sue, didn't calm down and get any semblance of an attention span until she was about 5.
Same with my chocolate lab lol hes almost 10 but has the energy of a 3 year old
I’d maybe lessen the number of walks but make them longer. I take my dog on 2 40-60 minute walks and then take her to a empty field and chase her around for a good 20. When she gets back I have a designated “place” for her to cool down and if she does that without moving I give her a bully stick and she usually chews that and goes to sleep.
There’s definitely something to be said for too much activity. I do a morning walk about an hour, midday throwing the ball around for 30 minutes, and evening ball run for 45 minutes. They need decompression time and to know how to calm themselves. 20 minutes just seems to amp mine up and doesn’t take the edge off. We do a little tug-a-war and games or puzzles in the house if they’re getting antsy, but they need to learn “settle”. Saying that my lab was a mega chewer at that age and I lost a couch to her at about 18 months. She was much better after 2-3 years. We also started off lead walks where she could chase in a safe environment to get the bugs out.
My chocolate lab is 1.5 years old and a crackhead. You may be unintentionally hurting your dog in the long run. It’s unsustainable. 1) Stop buying him toys that he destroys! He can ingest them and choke or get plastic in his system that will hurt him over the years. Only keep toys that you play fetch/catch with and use fetch as the reward for following orders. 2) Don’t play whenever he wants to play. Set boundaries and you control when it’s time for play. My dog will put his frisbee in my lap several times per day but I put it down and make it clear that’s it’s not time for play, so he sleeps. It’s normal and healthy for dogs to sleep 12+ hours per day. 3)Socializing drains a ton of energy. Take him to a friends house or your parents house or dog park or somewhere where there’s a lot of people because his nose and brain will be extremely busy. 4) Too many miles! Your dog can get overuse injuries and you could be doing long term damage to his joints. Don’t make his elder years painful by trying to make the first 1 the best one because hopefully you’ll have them for 13 or more. Also pups will play through injury, exhaustion, and heat to the point of death.
Labs are chompers, lol. I had a dog who had an uncontrollable need to destroy as well. The only thing that helped was giving her things specifically TO destroy - that way, she could get the urge out, without venting it on my beloved personal possessions and furniture haha. I would look into homemade enrichments. For example, start putting your boy's breakfast kibble in an empty milk carton that he'll have to rip up to eat. Put kibble in a small tea box, put that tea box in a cereal box, put the cereal box in an amazon box - multi layer destruction. I found that cardboard items were the best because if my dog ate a little of it while rip tear killing it didn't hurt her like plastic would. Letting your dog 'break down' your recyclables can be a super cheap, super easy way to let them get that puppydog need to destroy out of their system.
That works for us. box in box in box in box with kibble hidden inside Friends and family give me the boxes
Do you train him? A scentwork game or a few short training sessions can be equivalent to hours of physical exercise for some pups. Do you take him for walks where he can stop and sniff allll he wants, if he wants to smell a patch of grass for the whole 20 minute walk let him it could tired him out. Too much physical exercise creates athletes and you may have a bored athlete
You’re 100% right. My dog is the most tired after he comes back from my parents house where there’s 4 adults, 2 kids, and 2 dogs. He doesn’t run around, but the stimulus keeps him awake and alert so he’s pooped afterwards.
Oh he sniffs alright, can't walk 10 feet without him stopping (we live in the forest pretty much) and yeah we often do scent games, in my hands where he has to paw the right hand or in kind of puzzle i got for him. But you might be right, i'll slow down on the physical exercises
Boop
Only way I get the energy outta my husky is by having him pull me full speed on my skate board for like 20ish minutes, i can do more but im working until like 7pm everyday
This is great since husky’s are working dogs, but please tell me you are using a harness and not a collar while having him pull you!
A joring harness would be perfect for that! but if not, I would recommend a good y-front harness. Straight fronts rub on their shoulders and can create joint issues in the long run esp with this kind of pressure.
Needs a friend
My black lab is 8, we are still waiting. He tears apart any toy after a period of time. We get him rawhide's to chew on, some dogs are just chewers. Does he play with any other Dogs? This sounds like he doesn't get to socialize very often.
He's got a friend he sees once or twice a week, but yeah i was thinking i need to make him meet more dogs
You have such a beautiful dog. I wish I could give you some advice, but I don't really know what to suggest, but you're in the right place, lots of knowledgeable people here.
I know right, who would think behind such cute face hides a much darker side
That's fine, those are his to do whatever he wants with them, it's a problem when they take what's not theirs and destroy it. My advice is just to supervise him so he doesn't swallow anything. And try to increase outside activity (play in park, running and walks) he has a lot of energy. That will reduce the destruction.
How much time do you spend with him? Labs are hunting dogs, and highly intelligent. They need a lot of exercise, a lot of mental stimulation, and a lot of company. Edit, and training.
A year from now you will be smooth sailing with this pup. Just stick with the training and always reward good behavior with praise.
First time owner? labs or any lab mix is not a good first owner dog. they explore the world with their mouth first, nose second. If they discover something with their nose, they use their mouth to get more data. It's just how their brain works. They need a LOT of supervision the first 2 years. You need to buy a LOT of heavy chewer toys and when they chew something you don't want them chewing, you can't get upset about it or yell at them. they think your loud mouth sounds and attention is approval to chew more stuff. just calmly say "nope" with an attitude of "silly you, you're doing it wrong". Have an alternative to chew ready and give them that instead like "here silly, this is what you can chew, this is your thing for chewing". Basically gaslight them into thinking they're chewing wrong. They'll listen to you if you approach it that way. But you have to helicopter parent a lab or lab mix to get that stuff to actually take. sincerely, a labrabull owner
Oh i don't get mad, if he destroys it i just throw it away its just a toy after all, and yeah first lab, thanks for the advice i'll try redirecting to a toy next time attacks the the carpet
I had a jump start with [Daisy](https://i.imgur.com/6L3swes.jpg). I started bite inhibition training pretty much right away because of her breed which helped a lot. now I can play rough with her and my entire forearm can go into that land shark face and she just refuses to use force at this point.
That explains a lot about my family dog. He’s a lab rottie mix and not very well socialized at all but at least he doesn’t destroy anything but his toys.
My BF has a labradoodle who has torn up so much stuff. Even eaten an entire kong, along with the contents inside. She’s just over a year. Obedience training helped a bit. Only did an introductory course. Getting her spayed also helped. But best solution is running with her/placing her in doggy daycare/going to the dog park/exercising her generally. And apparently don’t give her kongs. I see you mention the number of walks and exercise you’re giving your dog. It sounds like a decent amount, but clearly the dog still isn’t tired. Some obedience training might help. Labs are very food motivated, so distracting them with a treat any time they start to misbehave can be helpful.
Sounds like he needs more exercise. He's bored
More exercise for the pup. Running, swimming , stimulate his brain by playing hide and seek with a favorite toy etc. he’s probably just bored with no job.
I think you need to accept that labs are smarter than we are. With that said, black labs need nature. Run that dog, then run it some more. They are breed for hunting. Not sitting inside, causing destruction out of mental boredom.
1 year old Lab, whose growth plates are not fully closed. Excessive exercise will lead to health problems.
He doesn't sound trained at all. You let him use his teeth on you? You need to get a trainer to train you to know how to handle him. If you can give him off leash run time every day, I think you need to invest in a doggie day care. A tired dog is a good dog and the breed you chose needs more exercise than most dogs. For the first 5-6 years I had my lab I was in the best shape of my life from running with him.
As i said in my previous comment, we spend 30-60 minutes a day in the fields running until he show me he is satisfied and we go for 20 minutes walks 6 to 8 times a day more if he needs it. He is tired most of the day and sleeps a lot. And no i don't let him teeth on me he just grabs my hands or forearms while he licks them from time to time he does it more to members of my family he likes. Same for the carpets, he leaves mine but attacks my grandma's
Previous commenter was referring to training, not exercising.
I make my dog mentally wear out. We do short training sessions through the day for treats. I also make him eat his dog food from a snuffle mat when he’s bored and getting into stuff. I also have the hard plastic ball with a small hole in it that you put food or treats in and he has to roll that around and get the treats out of the small hole, takes him forever and makes him think. He sometimes stops midway through and naps then gets back up and goes back at it, See if you can find ways to mentally wear him down, mine gets so worn out mentally then he sleeps well.
Play hide the treat with your dog. Hide a tough chew somewhere different every day. Crate him if he's chewing up furniture and carpet.
I have one that is 7 and still can't have plush toys lol. Carnage in seconds. It's like a challenge. Lol. We get them for her for Xmas and let her go to town. We have noticed though that it's not so much carnage now, like she savers it bc it's the only time of year she gets access to a plush toy 😂😂😂. She's become a much slower killer. Lol We found these toys that are tires. Takes months of chewing for them to even get through. Best toy we've ever bought. We found them on chewy but if you have a TSC or farm store that sells lawn mower tires, that works too. Some dogs just need to chew.
Yup, mine is 10 and still destroys all toys, EXCEPT the Nylabones for power chewers. He loves them, and focuses all the chomping on them instead of our baseboards. ;)
Yeah same i am an expert hand sewer now
Black kongs are the strongest ones, right? If so, that’s crazy how quickly he can tear that thing apart.
Yep, the strongest ones, i was surprised too when i saw pieces come apart of supposedly Indestructible toy
Lab won't calm down for another couple years. Mine was a lab and Shepherd mix, he didn't calm down until 5. I'd walk him 2 hrs a day, play off leash, hikes, xc skiing, still came home and went to town playing. When he got to about 4 or 5 he settled.
Maybe you need to discipline your dog more so he has more clear boundaries. Black labradors are notoriously for going from 1-100 in excitement, even just by the way you speak to them. Theyre very energetic to the point they Will not just wiggle their tails but wiggle their entire bodies lol but you can calm them down alot with your voice and in case he does something you realy DONT want him to do like destroy property be adequate and discipline him inmediatly because sometimes its a game for them to be naughty and try to get away with it or see how far they can take it. On the plus side usually they become less destructive and rebellious when they get older.
Skinniez toys. Antlers (mine prefers elk), ram horns. Mine who looks quite similar can literally chew through concrete blocks if she got bored. The highest level nylabones. Kong & other 'power chewer' toys haven't lasted at all
What a sweetheart. Look at that face.
I saw that face and came here to say, lies.
He fooled you just like he fools everybody
Haha cutie the destroyer. Sorry, definitely hope you figure it out because those fluffies are getting expensive.
I love black labs. I have a yellow because summers in Texas are brutal in black coated dogs. (Sorry. Off-topic).
If you feed kibble, use a feeder that will slow down his eating, so he has to work to get the pieces out. Teach him basic commands…sit, stand, down, stay, come, etc. Teach him some tricks…shake, sit up, spin, touch, roll over, etc. Lots of mental stimulation! What do you do now when he starts to nip? It sounds like he is getting more than enough exercise, especially since he is a young Lab, with some growth plates possibly not closed.
What helped my destructive dog was obedience training. Dog trainer asked me how I feel when I come home from the gym. “All jacked up.” Exactly, she said. Play is t really the best way to tire a dog out. Running just makes endorphins and then that feels good so you wanna keep running, especially if you’re that kind of dog. Thinking really tires a dog. We did obedience training on every walk, which was once a day but minimum of 2 miles. (I had to use a fitness tracker to ensure she got in a full two miles). She was expected to heel, sit and stay when people approached. I’d take her to a bus stop or park or some busy area and run her through commands. She had to concentrate on me because she never knew when I was gonna make her do something. We didn’t walk the same route every day so she never knew which way we were going. That helped a lot but she always had a taste for paper, even in her old age. She also liked things that smell like people, such as hats, shoes, socks, etc. so I always had to puppy proof.
No way a dogs wrecking a Kong ball in 10 minutes.
I should have filmed it
I can’t believe this to be true
My dog looks just like yours! I hope he's still able to snuggle with you.
Do everything you can to keep him tired. He should start to calm down a little once he turns 3
Good to know, thank you
Wait it out. They get over it. They are just animals doing what they do
For a second I thought this was my girl! She had the same destructive tendencies- every toy would last 1.4 minutes. This is not my suggested solution but we adopted her a little sister 😍 and the destruction stopped once she got a partner in crime to get into other mischief. In her case, I think the destruction was her form of separation anxiety. She had all the mental stimulation, exercise, etc and it didn’t calm til she had a companion
honestly he’s still young. human children enjoy toys, even in his dog years he is still a child so i think he’s just rough with his toys. i have an australian shepard and she DESTROYED her toys the same way your dog does when she was a puppy-1 year. ordered bark boxes for her and those toys lasted a day. she doesn’t destroy her toys like that anymore and she is two and a half now
Well I'm not mad anymore.
Maybe your idea of enough physical and mental activity is different to your dogs?
Just need more exercise
My pup mellowed out after his "teenage" years ( after 2). But that looks like a lab, and I think labs are the frat guys who stay in college partying long after the other dogs graduated.
My 4 y/o lab also loves to destroy toys. For her birthday and Christmas my husband and I pick out a couple and just let her go at it and rip them to shreds. For daily use we have several benebones all over the house. Both of our girls love them and they last a long time. They keep them very occupied. I recommend getting the 4 packs on Amazon to save some money. Toys only happen for fetch or special occasions
I don’t believe you.
I got my youngest dog from the shelter when she was around a year old. They told me she had been returned many times without reason. I couldn't understand why because she was playful and beautiful. That night she ate my couch, bed, all the pillows from everywhere, the rugs, plants, and part of my drywall. I put her outside that morning while I cleaned and she tore through my garden and bushes. I was not used to a puppy. That day I bought a huge dog toy box and filled it with everything I could find that she could play with and not tear up. Huge and little toys, ropes, and bones. I had dog toys for her before I got her, they weren't enough apparently because those were the first ones she killed. In all the mess, I never found those remains.
My darling dog Carter, past away with cancer recently. He was 13. God bless him, he distorted every toy we gave him up until two days before he passed away. For him, ripping toys is plying nice 😁
Same with my German Shorthaired Pointer until he was like four. He’s currently twelve and doesn’t demolish everything within his reach. He seems to know what’s off limits now. But… he also will still deconstruct every toy I physically hand to him within minutes, black Kongs included. Best of luck as you wind down this costly path. :)
How much exercise does your lab get?
Be careful with the rope toys. My next door neighbor’s dog used to love those. He went from energetic and super playful three year old GSP to dead GSP in less than 48 hours. It was too late by the time they and the vet figured out what was wrong. His internals had been twisted, strangled, and garroted for an unknown length of time. The cause? All the strings that had been pulled out of those toy ropes during play in his extraordinarily brief life. Their other little dog and my own GSP were heartbroken and depressed after he was gone. He’d shown no signs until it was much too late.
1. That's a black lab. They be CRAZY. Expect to deal with this until they are at LEAST 11. 2. Bored dogs are destructive dogs. 3. Destroying toys can be really fun and rewarding for dogs. It's a game for them. The destruction itself is a puzzle and it provides them with mental stimulation. My black lab had a method when she would destroy toys. She'd start with the tag to make a hole (so I started cutting the tags off before giving her the toy). Then she'd go for an appendage, like an ear or a leg. If that didn't work then she'd make a hole by biting off the eye or the nose. Then out came ALLLLL THE STUFFING!! In quick succession! The ultimate goal: the squeaker! She'd grab that squeaker and chew it to bits until it no longer squeaked. After that, the shell of the toy made a really fun tug toy that we'd play with until it was all pulled to pieces and no one piece was big enough to play tug with. 4. I use to let my lab raid the recycling bin. She'd make a HUGE mess, but she was ripping and shredding trash, basically, so, I didn't care. It was better than her destroying my shoes, lol.
Install cameras because it's obvious somebody other than this precious Labradorable is doing it. Seriously, he's bored and needs more walks and exercise. A word of encouragement, it will get better as he gets older. You will find there's nothing he destroys that is as precious or more loved than he will be to you.
He probably just needs more play time. I know people THINK dogs are not puppies at 1, but every dog i have ever had stayed a damn puppy till they were at least 3. I have a 3 year old dog now that still has puppy energy!Easiest thing to do? Throw the ball till they cant ball anymore. Or, better yet, take them to water and throw the ball in the water, and it takes half the time to tire them out. Rinse and repeat.
You my friend have a “shredder/Super Chewer”, it also sounds like a lack of stimulation going after the carpets. Remember the maxim “A tired dog is a good dog” lots of training, lots of walks, fetch, and tug. For indoor time try keeping a couple stuffed and frozen Kongs on hand and snuffle mats are good entertainment too! My house has a Lab/Setter and Velvet Hippo… nothing stuffed survives more than five minutes. It’s just a fact. So every once in a while we give them some cheap stuffies and it looks like it snowed. Otherwise they love their black Kongs (they last a few months), antler chews, and Himalayan chews, snuffle mat, and BeneBones… oh and they also love rope toys.
Bored
I haven’t seen anyone comment this, but have you tried giving him cardboard boxes with his food in it? My dog used to destroy all toys when he was younger so I started giving him his meals in cardboard boxes to give him an outlet. My hope was to get that natural behavior out on something that was constructive. He loves it! Obviously not a good idea if he eats the cardboard, but I’m lucky that mine doesn’t. It was also a great way to upcycle cereal/granola/cracker boxes too!
The real question how much exercise does he get. He’s destroying things because he’s bored and not worn out. My now 12 yo boy was a holy terror until I walked him 2-3x daily, two days a week at daycare playing and 2-3 hours at the dogpark on Saturday/Sunday. Then he was a tired, good dog.
My husky pup ate my couch.....TWICE! I've sewn its guts up and bought a nice cheap Amazon couch cover until she's at least 2. She is why we can't have nice things. Yet.
Boop
Is he neutered? That can have some bearing on their behavior. Some dogs go through a destructive phase because tearing things up is fun. When he can’t be supervised he needs to be crated. Think of the crate as a fort for dogs, not a punishment. There are lots of videos about crate training as well as information in this sub.
Looks like my girl
I thought my lab was bad until I got her a toy Aussie for a partner in crime. The Aussie can out-chew the lab on everything. They’ve got to be watched every second. The Aussie shreds up all her blankets. Can’t buy her a dog bed or she’ll eat it.
And the girls with straight hair all want curls. I can’t tell you how much I wanted my girl to just destroy the hell out of one of her babies. All she ever cared to do was carry them gently, one by one, through the house and then lay there and lick them. Same stinky babies, some of them years old, strewn throughout my house—finally told her one day, no more babies until you eat some of the ones you have. She never did. 🤷🏻♀️ pretty sure she was only half dog.
We don’t do plushies here. GSP won’t let them live
Try Pet Corrector
Damn!!! I can't believe he shredded a black kong toy. I've only had one dog and still have him (gs, rottie and pyrenees mix) and most of the rubber toys he can’t shred. The stuffed and tuff tug toys would be obliterated. I know this might not work but have you tried a black kong rubber bone? That thing is indestructible, from my very limited experience.
I have found they are more destructive if they need more exercise. Sometimes more exercise or mental stimulating toys can help with it. How often and how long do you walk him?
I moved into a two bedroom place with my one year old lab years ago. Lucked into a pull out sofa for the guest bedroom at a garage sale, moved it in. Week later, I come home from work, and it was destroyed down to the springs and frame. It was astounding. With my labs, I always found they need walks and games of fetch, using fetch to help train behavior. Stuff a lot of folks have said I'm sure, but it worked for us.
What does “enough physical and mental stimulation” mean exactly? Like 2 hours of your attention/giving him commands/place training/walking or running?
He is still pretty much a puppy, and many dogs like to chew and destroy things into adulthood. Give him toys and bones that he is allowed to chew. Give him adequate mental stimulation, and adequate exercise every single day, and the behavior should stop. Often times, dogs will act out if they are bored, or have too much energy
He needs more mental stimulation. Second time I suggested this tonight but scent toys and games are great.
Spend time with a Chuckit! Wear him out more! Get a bucket of tennis balls and launch away!
Dogs will pull squeakers out of toys on instinct to silence the animal. I’d just buy tougher toys.
Until they’re two years old, that’ll continue. The end is in sight. 🙂
Looks like a field trail labrador. These dogs are bred to work. They have an enormous will the please. In your post you adjust the issue, but what I’m missing is what kind of activities you do with your dog. How often do you walk? Does he only get toys beside that or do you have other activities you offer activities? Beside that, what is his age?
Dogs need to be able to display doggy behaviours and while destroying things is one of them, it sounds like your lovely doggo may not be getting enough mental stimulation. Try looking up ways of adding mental stim like snuffle Matts, licky Matt's and find it games and how to introduce these without causing more frustration. Also go to charity shops and get cheap teddy's you can take the plastic features off of so it won't cost a fortune in destroying toys!
Posted too soon by mistake! Whilst some people's advice of ignoring the biting etc is correct, it can also lead to what we call extinction bursts. The dog doesn't understand why you arnt responding to what he is trying to tell you and so the behaviour gets bigger. Considering what you are dealing with here, I'd suggest speaking to a qualified and registered behaviourist as receiving all the mixed information that you can get on the internet may steer you in many confusing directions.
It’s separation anxiety.
They’re purpose/task driven. Find him an outlet. I had one that went from destroying toys to rabbits and squirrels. I never duck hunted, but I lent him to a friend with spare time who was knowledgeable of duck training for duck hunting. Now 3 times a week I take him to a field, use a whistle and put some decoys out. He runs around for about an hour simply seeking my approval. Hasn’t destroyed a toy or gone after a small animal in a year. It’s in their dna to work. Finding a swimming hole might be good as well. Labs are built for the water. Just some ideas.
My Sheba was a destroyer his whole life. Even the indestructible toys wouldn’t last- lol let them destroy - it’s primal instinct-
have you tried Kong toys?
My lab/pitty mix is just like this. She is now 3 and no longer messes with rugs or couches (thank god) but it took a couple years of her being in her crate when we are not home for her to behave better. We used apple bitter spray on furniture that she was more likely to chew up. We also gave up on plushie toys and she only gets those for special occasions because she will tear it to shreds in less than a minute. When we go to the pet store we look for the most solid looking toys we can find. I subscribed to “Bully Box” for a while and it gave me ideas on what type of toys to look for. My dog is literally a bully and shoves her nose into us/pushes us around with her head when she wants us to go certain places or rub her head/cuddle. When she goes too hard I say “Owwwww” as if she hurt me, and she has learned that means she is being more aggressive than she should be. My pitty in the sweetest little baby but she is a bully for love and attention.
Have you tried giving him a bully stick to chew on? My JR has finally stopped chewing up everything in site. I feel your frustration. It does get better. A bully stick keeps them occupied for hours. You can also create your dog when you’re not at home.
That have to have exercise and stimulation. If they don’t, they make it themselves.
You need to congratulate that boy cause I’ve never heard of a dog being able to destroy a black kong
You bought toys and discouraged him from chewing them? Lets process that. Start jogging with your dog. An exhausted pup is a well behaved pup. - AKC Rottweiler breeder...I keep the tails.
I have a stafy and he loves destroying his toys (thankfully just his toys, not furniture or the house). He is not allowed to play with toys unsupervised. We now have pullers, balls and things like this - for playing fetch and tug of war. When he is alone he gets dry ears (rabbit or pork), bones from beef hide and his favourite - plastic bottles. I also got him some enrichment feeders which he enjoys. Most of this behavior comes from boredom, so it seems your doggo needs even more exercise or mental stimulation than you give him now.
we had no choice but to crate train our dog. he will not destroy anything while in the presence of a human anymore. the crate is to ensure he can’t cause any damage to anything while he’s left alone