And...

[prosodic]

Reece just ripped a large chunk of drywall off the wall.

She does this. She scrapes the paint off the wall with her teeth (we have to make a few touch-ups here and there, after the windows are installed, since we'll probably need to repaint around the windows anyway).

She chews on baseboards. She chews on corners.

Lance is very angry with her right now. She doesn't really understand why.

I mean, it's FIXABLE. But still...

What is wrong with this dog? Our drywall eating, rock eating, mulch eating dog?

Comments

[dimwit68.livejournal.com]

It's not that unusual in adolescent doggies. Here are some ideas.

[prosodic.livejournal.com]

Calcium deficiency, eh? Well, I suppose I can look to see if there are calcium supplements for dogs. We already switched her to a more nutrient-rich food in the hopes that it might curtail her odd eating habits.

[dimwit68.livejournal.com]

I'd guess it's just behaviour, not diet. My mother swears that none of her puppies ever chew things, but they all seem to go through a chewing phase as far as I can tell. You just have to train them out of it.

Also, labs have a lot of energy and get bored easily. Are you giving her two walks a day (even if the morning one is just around the block) ?

[prosodic.livejournal.com]

I usually only give her one walk a day (haven't lately due to my illness). But she gets plenty of play in the evenings...Lance runs her all over the house.

[dimwit68.livejournal.com]

This, sounds about right to me: "From six months your puppy can have twenty minutes free running and half an hour walking on the lead daily. When your dog gets to eighteen months old, he will be able to endure as much exercise as you are able to give him". (You can over-exercise puppies, though, if not careful. Once adult, I'd guess at 1:30 - 2:00 hours / day).

I have more experience with beardies, which require similar (if not more) exercise.

Labs are quite sociable, so she'll do better out of the house, with other dogs around. The back yard isn't really enough for "free running" (unless you have a big one).

Depends on how much of a lab she is, of course!

Oh, and stick to the routine as best you can, especially while young.