Meley

Hi. I have a 10 week old female Labrador named Rani. She is absolutely beautiful and we are doing really well on the training aspect so far. I just have two issues that I don't know what to do about... Firstly, how do you teach a puppy not to chew on everything? She has plenty of her own chew toys, but much prefers my shoes, electrical cables, the kids stuffed animals or anything else she can get too (none of her toys resemble anything she is not supposed to have). How do I teach her what is acceptable to chew and what is not? Secondly, she will come when I call her 9 times out of ten. But when, for example, she is supposed to be on her bed (she is being trained to sit on her bed while we are eating at the dinner table as I HATE dogs sniffing around while I'm trying to eat) she gets off her mat, wont come when I call her, so I chase her - which she thinks is a great game. Its the same if she gets out of her yard, into an area where she is not supposed to be, so I have to chase her to get her back. I know its giving in to her game by chasing her, but what else am I supposed to do?

Hey. I have also just become "parent" to a little lab puppy. And I also have a 5 year old daughter - and a two year old son. My puppy - Rani - is almost 10 weeks and we have had her for about a week. When the kids are playing and Rani jumps I've trained the kids to stand still with their arms crossed. Works really well. Labs seem to get the message really quickly! As for the crying at night, we don't have that problem with this puppy - sorry - but with the old dog we were advised to put a ticking clock under a blanket for her to lay on (didn't do a damn thing but apparently it will work with some dogs. They are supposed to think the ticking is their mothers heartbeat). What I found did work was if I wore an old shirt for a few hours before bed, then tucked him up in that. He'd settle quicker as my smell was around him. Good luck with your puppy. Hope she brings you many years of joy.