This is our 3rd black lab. We're having a few issues with him and we're hoping he'll grow out of some of them, but could use some advice in the meantime. First problem and most dangerous is his running away. He'll stay with out for awhile and then just take off. The funny thing is, he'll stop look at us over his shoulder and then keep running. Now it's to the point were he won't even do that. We got him an outdoor kennel, so now he spends his time in there. We've never had to have any of our other 2 dogs on a leash or pinned up. We bring him in and out quite a bit, but even the short distance from the kennel to the house, he has to be on a leash. Any ideas on why he keeps running away?
Second problem...chewing. Yes, he is very much a puppy with his adult teeth. We put a doggie house into his kennel. The standard brown and white ones I see in lots of kennels. Well I first he just decided that he wanted to rearrange his kennel, so he'd move it from one side to the other, front to back, then wanted it flipped upside down. We gave up setting it back the correct way. Then he realized that the two pieces came apart and found himself enjoying a new game. Again, we got tired of putting it back together, so we wired the two halves together. Now he's chewing it apart pieces by piece. Now it's just a top half with a wonderful skyview. He's literally chewed the bottom half to pieces. We've put blankets, pet pillows for him inside the little house to make it comfy, but each one gets to put piece by piece into the trashcan. I'd like to get him another for protection from rain, snow, and temperatures, but I'm afraid the same thing will happen. His kennel is full of pet chew toys and some dog bones...he'll have no part of chewing on them. Any ideas on what to do to stop the chewing?