Why is my dog so destructive all the time?

Question

I am fostering an 8 month old lab mix who is about 50 lbs. She had a good home but the owners lost it& couldn't keep her. We've been fostering her & she does the strangest things. First the crate we keep her in at night is big enough for her to walk around in. She had a blanket & a food & water bowl. She tore the blanket up, dumped out the food & water and ripped apart the plastic bowls. She'll somehow push out the bottom plastic tray, even if her crate is facing the wall & in the morning we find the crate about a foot from where we left it with the plastic tray pushed all the way out. She'll reach thru the cage holes & pull in anything close by,rugs toys boxes& rip it to shreds even if she has a rawhide bone in the cage with her. During the day we walk her on a schedule 5 times & run her 2 times for 30 minutes. As soon as she comes in she tears around the house running into things, knocking tables over& jumping up on the furniture. The only thing the vet recommended was to medicate her but there's got to be a reason she's doing this. Any ideas?

Answer 1

What do you feed her on?

Answer 2

Sounds like a super hyper active dog. My guess is that the simple walking and running is not cutting it. She's bored and being locked in a crate overnight, well, hello..........BOREDOM!!  No matter if she has raw hides or not.  Try hiding things in the back yard and act like you are taking her hunting. Lab's live to hunt and chase birds and such.

You don't say how you correct her bad behavior but my guess is that she is chewing on other things while you are around and since she can get away with it there, she just keeps doing it. She's a puppy remember and they will chew things to pieces if you aren't careful.  Show her you are in charge and get her to respect you. You'll have a better chance of her stopping the chewing that way.

Also, try taking her to a doggie park for some interaction.

PS. I like what the dude above me says about grabbing her to get her attention in the house when she does misbehave. I've learned to correct my dogs bad behavior by taking her in the hallway, making her sit and stay for like 2 min. then I give her a treat and tell her good girl and let her go. IF she goes back to whatever she was doing that was wrong, I send her back. She's changed alot since I've started that technique. She knows I don't put up with it anymore. Takes time, but works.

Answer 3

Maybe she needs more mental stimulation.  Walks and runs work her body, but not her mind.

Try teaching her new things.  Teach her the names of her toys, or specific toy games.  Teach her "leave it" with treats.  It's torture, but really good for them, and it really works their noggins.

Try taking an obedience class that focuses on Canine Good Citizen (which really isn't anything except a fun class with good foundation for simple manners)

Answer 4

She needs a job.  She's bored. Teach her something.  Labs are smart dogs and they get bored easy.  Take her to agility, dock diving or fly ball classes.  Teach her some tricks.  I have a lab that had heartworm with I adopted him and he had to be confined or on a leash 24/7 until his treatments were over, so I took that opportunity to teach him tricks. He picked up a trick a day.  

Answer 5

There are a couple of reasons-

1st is that she is a puppy- Puppys do that- disencourage it and she will stop when she matures.

2nd is that Labs are high energy dogs- they need to be challenged.

She probaly needs to be walked 45 minuets a day.

Challenge her mentally as well. Get a doggie pool and fill it with sand. Put her favorite toy in the sand and make her find it.

Anything you can think of that will challenge her- do it.

When she goes wild in the house grab her collar and just hold her, make her sit, then let her go.

During all of this make sure you are not excited, when you are excited, they are excited.