1 Year Old Shredding Lab

Question
QUESTION: We have a 12 month lab who we have been leaving out of the crate for 3 months.  Even though we give him tons of toys and bones, he still will grab everything off the counter and chew it.  This includes anything edible or that he can chew.  We don't want to have to leave him in the crate every day and prefer to give him the fun of the living and kitch (we close all other doors) but this is still a problem.  He doesn't grab anything off counters when we are at home so we don't have a chance to correct his behavior.  What do you suggest?

ANSWER: Having free rein of the house is a privilege that must be earned; it is not a right. He has now formed some very bad habits that will be very difficult to fix, and he will probably never be trustworthy in the house again. He has been having too much "fun in the living and kitchen" area. (an obvious typo that was a true Freudian slip<G>)

Put that bad boy back in his crate where he belongs, and give him a Kong filled with treats to keep him occupied in there while you are gone.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Can you please suggest a method of going from the crate to staying in the house?

Right now we are going to start (tomorrow actually) taking him for a run in the morning and then putting small mouse traps on the counter.  These are not the super severe your finger traps but will definitely make a loud snap noise.  I got the idea from this site because I read somewhere dogs will avoid places which have previously scared them (ie the snap noise). We also were just pushing the items to the far back of the counter and now decided to remove everything from the counter so he can't grab anything.  Perhaps a long time without finding stuff will on the counter will do the trick?  Or if he finds something he won't like it.

It's not like he's chewing furniture or chairs.  He'll grab pens, papers, fruit/veggies off of the counter.

And if that doesn't work I guess it's a long time in the crate and then slowly allowing him to stay outside?  But please give a possible method.  That would really help.

Thanks,

Answer
>>Perhaps a long time without finding stuff will on the counter will do the trick?

Yes, keeping everything off of the counter will keep him from getting into anything... simply because it isn't there. That doesn't mean that he will ever stop looking for it.

If he no longer has items to chew on from the counter, he may well decide to start chewing on the furniture or cupboards. Dogs chew to relieve stress... and sometimes they just get bored.

I'm sorry. I guess I wasn't clear. I would never leave any dog loose who continued to get into things that he shouldn't. All it would take would be one forgotten moment, one wrong item, and you could be looking at one enormous vet bill.