Woof! Bark! And also Whiiiiiiiiiine.

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Alice the Camel May 2021 5:56pm, 8 May 2021 7,329 posts	0 Alice the Camel My only advice would be to be consistent and make sure everyone in the house is reading off the same hymn sheet. If you don’t want the pup snacking on human food and pestering every time you walk into the kitchen, don’t let your husband sneak it bits of toast... (Incidentally, we used puppy pads successfully for the first few weeks, so they’re not always a disaster.)
Lizzie Whizz May 2021 6:14pm, 8 May 2021 24,959 posts	0 Lizzie Whizz Labradors Eat Everything.
LazyDaisy May 2021 6:21pm, 8 May 2021 33,360 posts	0 LazyDaisy They do indeed. Three Labs in, I would say be prepared for them to chew everything - including, by all three, holes in the plaster by their beds!!! They are fab dogs though Looking forward to seeing the photos!
poppyH May 2021 6:24pm, 8 May 2021 1,353 posts	0 poppyH Really useful thank you everyone. We don't have a door in the kitchen, sis is providing a stairgate for the doorway. Aiming for dog to remain downstairs and off sofas (who am I kidding?) and we've told boys they won't be allowed to feed the dog from the table. However boy2 has already taught the cat that roast chicken means treats, the only time the cat bothers us at meals. I'm in charge of training. I understand labradors eat even more than Teen boys do, and with much less discrimination. Pic of puppies last weekend.
LazyDaisy May 2021 6:27pm, 8 May 2021 33,361 posts	0 LazyDaisy Seriously, stick RIGIDLY to the 'no feeding at the table' rule. Labs have an astonishing memory for people who supply treats and will pester or rather 'look soulfully but shamelessly' if you slip just the once!
BaronessBL May 2021 9:22pm, 8 May 2021 8,926 posts	0 BaronessBL Agree totally with Alice especially on toast feeding and who the culprit is likely to be. That picture of them all is too cute.
RooA May 2021 7:09am, 9 May 2021 783 posts	0 RooA Puppies are always much harder work than you think. Brilliant though. I think "I am in charge of training" is fair, its good to have consistency in the formal training, BUT remember that everyone in the house is training Puppy every time they interact with him/her. So while you might lead the formal training everyone has to be responsible for producing an adult dog you can live with. Things I would focus on training with a puppy now: 1. Toilet outside. Obviously. 2. Settle on a bed/boundary/place. 3. Walk nicely on a lead. 4. Recall. 5. Automatic LEAVE IT. (Especially for a lab) 6. Sit. Lab puppy will be obsessed with picking things up. The key for dealing with that is puppy proofing, so they can never get anything that matters or us dangerous. It all looks like chew toys to them. And also doing swaps for higher value items rather than trying to wrestle things away... no matter how valuable! If you go in to grab dog is actually way more likely to swallow the contraband which can be a disaster. My parent's whippet ended up in the vets with a corn cob stuck in his stomach because my mum went to grab it instead of distracting him with his ball... on the flip side my friend's labrador brings anything she finds straight to my friend for a swap! I only got halfway there with this with spaniel. He will present items but sometimes doesn't release. not until I "show him the money". Sprollie will take things off the spaniel then bring them to me though. Like the girlie swot he is!
LazyDaisy May 2021 8:07am, 9 May 2021 33,364 posts	0 LazyDaisy Excellent advice from everyone! Our difficulty with the wall chewing was that it usually happened overnight. For this reason I think I would use a crate next time, which we've not done until now.
Roberto May 2021 8:16am, 9 May 2021 1,871 posts	0 Roberto Constantly have my hands in arlos mouth. He is getting better at leave it though. And I'm pretty hypervigilant around him so usually get him as he is picking it up. Picked up a lemon while we were running yesterday. Think he let me take that one out willingly though.
RooA May 2021 8:21am, 9 May 2021 786 posts	0 RooA My dog trainer told us a horror story of someone losing a finger trying to fish stuff out of their spaniel's gob. I tend to try to remember to offer something better for a swap. But do on occasion find myself grabbing. Monkey instincts. It's hard to find something more valuable than a whole pheasant or massive rabbit that he's managed to find...