my 8 month old pup

Question
I adopted a mutt from the shelter- he's a blue-tick hound, black lab, pitbull mix. (named Blue)We've been trying to play  with him but not agressively because of the pitt in him. but now we're having a chewwing and licking problem with him. He never went throught the chewwing phase when he was little, but he's in it now. I'll buy him a new toy and it's in pieces of cloth and fluff in minutes. I've tried the toys made of firehose and those don't last either. He's torn all the low branches off of my lilac bush too. He's also torn the yard furniture cushions. This is getting tough! When he's inside with us all he does is lick- our feet, our legs, faces, the sheets,the blankets, It doesn't matter how much we yell or kick him off the bed etc. he doesn't stop. I thought it was a food issue, because he swallows everything- the bits of plastic, and cloth and string. But we feed him the reccommended amount daily- two feedings a day. the food is gone in less than a minute and he pushes his bowl around the rest of the day to get our attention. The sour apple spray helped stop the chewing on furniture, but what can i do to stop the licking, and make toys last longer? Help!- ALSO how can I train him to start sleeping on the floor and not the bed- he's gotten big in a hurry! thanks Angela

Answer
The key to most behavior problems is approaching things using the dog's natural instincts.  Dogs see all the people and dogs in the household as a pack with each having their own rank in the pack and a top dog.  Life is much easier if the 2 legged pack members outrank the 4 legged ones.  You can learn to play the role of top dog by reading some books or going to a good obedience class. A good obedience class or book is about you being top dog, not about rewarding standard commands with a treat. Start at http://www.dogsbestfriend.com/  For more on being top dog, see http://www.dogbreedinfo.com./topdogrules.htm

Maybe treat the licking about like biting.  Give a yuck, pull your hand away, and walk away.  It should only take a few hundred times to stop it as long as everybody is very consistent about it.  

If you see him thinking of jumping on the bed, give him a sharp ''Ah, ah. ah!''.  If he is already on the bed, follow his name with off in a quiet, but firm voice.  You may need to follow it up by pushing him off.  

The pet stores are full of toys that many dogs will quickly chew up into
pieces they could choke on or cause intestinal blockages.  If you are not
there to watch, stick to sturdy stuff such as Nylabones and Kongs.  Keep a
close eye on chew toys and quickly discard anything that is coming apart in
pieces.  Rawhide is especially bad because it swells after being swallowed.
I don't trust any of the consumable chews.  The dogs just gnaw them down to a
dangerous size too quickly.  These problems are the worst with, but not
limited to, large, aggressive chewers such as Labs.

Ropes from the pets' store quickly turn to hazardous shreds.   Ones I made
lasted much better.   Go to a hardware or home center that sells rope by the
foot.  Buy 2' of 3/4" poly rope.   Melt the ends, and tie  knots in it.   Get
them as tight as possible, put it in a vise and pound it with a hammer.  Watch
carefully, and be ready to discard when it comes apart.