Puppy help?

mekiakoo · April 2012

Obviously this is NWR haha.

Our silly lab is 2 years old and ever since we brought him home at 7 weeks, he has been obsessed with wood, sticks, trees, etc. He picks up billions of sticks and drops them off in front of the house. He even tries to rip off branches from bushes or trees if they're low enough. He goes for the largest, longest ones.

He acts like his world has ended every time we throw away the sticks and he goes looking for them like a mad dog.

Cute, right? Well not when it is time for us to mow the lawn or when one of our cars run over the sticks. It's just an ugly mess in our yard!

How do we get him to stop this obsession? It's not that big of a deal but it gets old! He likes to chew on them too, but doesn't swallow them. Leaving a huge mess of splinters. We stop him when we catch him yanking a branch off a tree. But we don't want to punish or stop him from playing with sticks- theyre his world!

Any suggestions? We would just like for him to stop piling them up in front of our house!

Madisonpenny · April 2012

I've always grown up with labs. The last one my parents had liked to chew stick as well and she ended up having a abscess in her mouth because she got a splinter in the very back of her jaw and we didn't know. She stopped eating and would drink very little until the vet finally checked her mouth.
Is there anyway you can try to break your dogs obsession and replace the stick your dog might be playing with at the time and give him a rawhide bone or throw balls instead?

LADY324 · April 2012

My dog loves these!!

http://www.bestbullysticks.com/home/bbs/page_27_21/full_bully_stick_cane_28_36_inches.html

mekiakoo · April 2012

Bully Sticks hmmm...

I have a feeling that this will be nearly impossible to stop his obsession. We live by the woods and it's like stick heaven for him!! Otherwise he is such a good boy.

Thanks for the suggestions! We'll try them out!

arunkumar · April 2012

Redirect his energy with chew toys. Our puppies (almost 2 now) love chew toys. The Kong brand is very durable. We fill them with treats so the dogs have more of an incentive to play with them. Raw Hide and Rope toys work well too. I would keep these toys inside though.

Somtimes our dogs still like to drag firewood from the garage to the grass in the backyard and slowely destroy it. We let them do it because it doesn't happen often.

Watch your dog when it's outside and try to correct his behavior when you see it. Dogs won't really connect you scolding them to the behavior if you don't do it right away.

Sometimes our dogs act out and chew up something they shouldn't. I know it's partly because we don't give them enough exercise. Try walking your dog or playing fetch more. It can really help.

mekiakoo · April 2012

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-club-boards_july-2012-weddings_puppy-help?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding Club BoardsForum:066005ef-215f-48b1-8655-328b41e07c52Discussion:92f2066d-0a84-42e3-a6d0-8df8b8903509Post:23d6a7a9-87e1-4161-8d5b-498494de3365">Re: Puppy help?</a>:
[QUOTE]Redirect his energy with chew toys. Our puppies (almost 2 now) love chew toys. The Kong brand is very durable. We fill them with treats so the dogs have more of an incentive to play with them. Raw Hide and Rope toys work well too. I would keep these toys inside though. Somtimes our dogs still like to drag firewood from the garage to the grass in the backyard and slowely destroy it. We let them do it because it doesn't happen often. Watch your dog when it's outside and try to correct his behavior when you see it. Dogs won't really connect you scolding them to the behavior if you don't do it right away. Sometimes our dogs act out and chew up something they shouldn't. I know it's partly because we don't give them enough exercise. Try walking your dog or playing fetch more. It can really help.
Posted by arunkumar[/QUOTE]

Good lord, I wish it was this simple! My dog destroys every single chew toy even the big black kong! He devours rawhides within few minutes. He's a beast! I also take him running all the time 3-5 miles. He's just a ball of energy :) We live on 8 acres so it's quite difficult to keep an eye on him 100% of time, but good suggestion.

We'll try to figure out something! To be honest it's not that big of a deal- we can live with this- just a funny quirk of his. We'll try the suggestions, thanks!

arunkumar · April 2012

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-club-boards_july-2012-weddings_puppy-help?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding Club BoardsForum:066005ef-215f-48b1-8655-328b41e07c52Discussion:92f2066d-0a84-42e3-a6d0-8df8b8903509Post:6ecb07b5-8db2-4645-963f-a7092d40079b">Re: Puppy help?</a>:
[QUOTE]In Response to Re: Puppy help? : Good lord, I wish it was this simple! My dog destroys every single chew toy even the big black kong! He devours rawhides within few minutes. He's a beast! I also take him running all the time 3-5 miles. He's just a ball of energy :) We live on 8 acres so it's quite difficult to keep an eye on him 100% of time, but good suggestion. We'll try to figure out something! To be honest it's not that big of a deal- we can live with this- just a funny quirk of his. We'll try the suggestions, thanks!
Posted by mekiakoo[/QUOTE]

OH MY!!! I think either hire a trainer or just let him be? lol Our friend has a dog who will destroy our dog's chew toys if we leave them laying around. I don't know what the answer is for that! We bought some antler toys and our dogs like them but they went through them quicker than we expected. I know this sounds crazy, but maybe get another puppy to keep your lab company and play with him? I was so glad when we got our second dog (3 months after the first) because our first dog seemed much happier and they can play together when I'm busy and can't devote my full attention to them.

Puppy help?

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