Black lab with behavior problems

Question
My family owns a 2 1/2 year old, female black lab. She was 6 months old and not housebroken AT ALL when we got her.  We love our dog but in 2 years we have had to replace 2 couches, a recliner, 3 twin mattress sets, hundreds of socks/undies, removed all carpeting from our home and had to replace our back door.....all because of this dog.  The first time we left her home alone after we got her she chewed the first couch and recliner.  The next time we had to leave, I hooked her on her run outside so she couldn't chew anything and she chewed her way through the back door to get into the house.  After coming home and discovering this, we loaded her into the car, headed to the pet store and bought her a crate.  Two years later we still crate her when we leave home.  She's never in her crate longer than 3-4 hours at a time yet everytime I let her out of it she needs to be bathed because she pees and poops in the crate and then lays down in it.  The second couch she ruined by vomiting and pooping all over it after she got into our pantry overnight and ate an entire brand new 18lb bag of  dog food (we also tore out the living room carpet because of that).  If she finds an opportunity to get into any of my childrens bedrooms she pees and poops all over their beds (which has led to replacing 3 mattress sets). She digs through the laundry baskets and eats any socks or undies she can find (I'm terrified one of these times they'll get stuck in her intestines and kill her)  She tries to fight with any other dog she sees (with the exception of our husky/Shepard who she adores and gets along great with).  We have to muzzle her  to bring her to the vet in case there are other dogs in the waiting area).  According to our vet she seems to be a very happy healthy dog.  We have a huge yard for her to run around, a 250 foot run to hook her on when necessary, and we walk 1-2 miles twice a day so she gets a lot of outside/excersice time.  She is very sweet loving and loyal and we love her dearly.  But I cant afford to keep replacing beds and clothing and I'm terrified of what will happen if another dog manages to get on our property.  We try sooo hard to keep her out of the bedrooms but it's very hard to get 3 very young children to keep their bedroom doors closed 24-7 (she even claws and chews on the doors trying to get in when they are closed!!!). We just replaced the 3rd mattress set last month and she's already peed/pooped on it 3 times!!!  We have a waterproof cover on the mattress but have replaced that twice already because she claws and digs at the bed after she goes to the bathroom on it (of course that also means the pees leaks through the tears and soaks into the mattress)  I don't know what  to do anymore!!  I don't want to find a new home for her (and in turn pass these problems on to someone else) but I'm finding I spend more time and money cleaning up her messes than I do my childrens!!  Please help!!!  Any suggestion is GREATLY appreciated!!

Answer
Bethany, you have a challenge here, but you know that.  I would have to respectfully disagree with your vet that this is a "happy healthy dog".  Medically healthy? - possibly.  Behaviorally healthy? - definitely not - and definitely NOT HAPPY.  All these behaviors you've described sound like they are related to anxiety and I have to commend you for keeping the dog this long.    

I'm going to offer you some suggestions below, but the very first thing I'd recommend is to get to a VETERINARY BEHAVIORIST. This person will be a veterinarian who specializes and treats behavioral issues using medication if necessary.  If you can't locate one in your area, at least consider seeing a professional dog behavior consultant.  Please let me know where you are and I can probably recommend someone.  It's important that you get to the right person. You've already spent a small fortune replacing belongings and furniture.  This is going to continue unless you get some professional in-person help.

My suggestions to get you started:

What are you feeding your dog?  Look at the label and be sure there is no corn and no by-products listed.  Get the dog on a super-premium food.  Feed twice a day and pick up what she doesn't eat after 15 minutes.  If you need recommendations for a food, let me know.  When you feed a high quality food, there is less waste produced and when you feed on a regular schedule, you should have fewer bowel movements.  

If you're walking 2 miles a day twice a day, that's probably enough physical exercise.  What about mental exercise?  Have you done any training with her?  Short training sessions a few  times during the day using positive reinforcement methods like clicker training are wonderful ways to stimulate the dog's mind.  Playing scent games, like hide the treat, or hide and seek with the kids (find the kid, get a treat), can also burn off energy.  Make her work for each meal by putting her food in puzzle toys. See the ones on this page for some ideas:  www.petexpertise.com/barbgadola

I'd like you to check out this product - www.Thundershirt.com.  If your dog's issues are truly based in anxiety, which I suspect, this product could possibly help.

I wish I could help more, but this is something you need to discuss with professional who can do an evaluation, full medical workup and develop an intensive behavior modification plan.  Good luck.  Please let me know if you have follow up questions or comments.

Barb