Well, I'm writing to you from rainy France where I am on holiday at my mum's. I took my dogs along with me, my good old Sam and naughty Tessa. I got up this morning to find a scratch in the wall of the flat's corridor. I am so furious and disheartened. Tess has not be left alone one minute for 5 days. She's been taken on fabulous walks and been a part of everything we've been doing since I arrived. She's been sleeping with me in my room so that she would never be left alone and cause any damage to my mum's pristine house. Only this morning my dad got up and walked them before I got up and went in the bathroom for 10 minutes to shave. IN the meantime, the damage was done, a big scratch with both paws in the wall of the corridor. She hadn't cried, called or scratched the door, so I don't believe it's anxiety. My bedroom door was ajaar and she could've come to me if she felt lonely.
She is just hopeless. She's 1 year old at the end of the month.

You've got to expect dogs to scratch doors or walls occasionally. Only yesterday my young collie jumped up and put her front feet on the wall to lick one of the bigger dogs faces. There is a tiny scratch in the wallpaper. I don't think she's hopeless, or doing it deliberately...I simply think dogs don't think about things like that. Most of my doors have scratches on them, dog owners either live with it or become adept at repairing them :-)

Thing is, you maybe don't remember my previous posts. She is a destructor. She has dug holes in the wallls of my house, so big she went actually through them. She's ripped the lino off, and chewed skirting boards. But ofr me the worst is the whole digging the walls business. She weighs 30 kg now and can do A LOT of damage. This was no accidental damage. This was deliberate. And to me, there was no excuse for it whatsoever.

Besides, when I say "scratch", I mean the wallpaper has been ripped off and the plaster dug in on 3 square inches.

This was deliberate. And to me, there was no excuse for it whatsoever.

She is a Lab ( I am assuming from your avatar ) so yes it is to be expected at her age !

I suppose. She is a Golden Retriever. But my older boy never did anything like this in his life. I suppose they're all different. I JUST SO hope she'll grow out of it because itb makes me feel so down.

She will probably after she is about 2 which is about the 'normal' time they give up and become civilised non chewers although the occasional crock or flip flop that is left is fair game ! 

When my rescue boy came to me at 6 months he was the most destructive dog I have ever had or heard about.

He actually ate cloth as in legs of trousers and a 3 inch hole in the back of a new nightie while my Mum and I were in the room!!!

I tackled it by denying him the chance to destroy things but also giving him plenty that he could chew. It took a long time but he did eventually grow out of it. Also it makes for a tidy house;-)

What other things are you doing other than long walks?  I know that GR's don't have as strong a working strain as some of the other gundog breeds but is your girl purely from a show line or working line?  Don't forget for gundogs you need to work their brains more than their bodies.

I know and I've had this said to me repeatedly. I agree but it is not the case here, and definitely not since we arrived in France. It's not as if she's had the time to get bored as just getting used to taking the lift, walking in town, coming to the pubs and restaurants with us are enough distractions, I think, to keep her mind busy! She's also had lots of treats from my parents, new dog chews every day, has been doing some retrieving at the lake in the mornings etc... What more can I do???

> What more can I do???

Training sessions :)
Several short training sessions per day, teach her new commands/tricks, or embelish the ones she knows. Great mental workout and also helps to strengthen the bond between you & her.

Some people say that it helps to get rid of unwanted behaviour by teaching it on command, that way the dog learns it's better to do the thing when asked as they get a treat. I know you don't want her to dig your walls out on command but how about teaching her to turn off the light switches, it works on the same principle as 'paws on wall', you'll just need to get her to hit the target and do it with a bit more controll???

> This was deliberate. And to me, there was no excuse for it whatsoever.

I can't agree that it was deliberate.  A dog doesn't think "OH I'll deliberately do something to annoy them like hell"

Unrealistic.

I'm sorry but I have to smile when I read the OP post. I have the same breed and had exactly the same problem with my older boy. My house was wrecked, but in my opinion you just have to wait for her to grow out of it. I can't begin to tell you the amount of things he destroyed, and our bitch we had since him has never chewed a single thing. Its just different personalities, and I truly believe they must just grow out of it!

On the brighter side, he is the best most well-adjusted dog you could wish to keep now... keep up the good work and training, she'll be fine... eventually!!!!

she is a Lab, and at best, this is what Labs do.. at worst, they take the whole wall down (been there done that)...

she is still very much a puppy, and in the most horrible stage, AKA  deliquent teenager... Its never deliberate.. dogs have no right or wrong , we as humans, see it as wrong.. Labs are simply digging.. A wall.. a table.. chair, or garden soil.. it makes not difference to them...

Treats are not the best route to go down either.. she may even see the treats as a reward.  Treats are not a distraction either, they are simply food..

Do you parents have a room that she could use while there is no-one supervising her.. perhaps a utility room where she cannot do any serious damage.. not just to your parents property, but to herself also...

May for the short term, borrowing a crate for short unsupervised periods may work.. but its not going to solve anything long term.. and the use of a crate to be as you would, popping a baby into a playpen, when nipping to loo, cooking in kitchen, or while you are in bed at night...

On the practical side, if she is insured then your parents may be able to claim from the insurance to get the damage repaired. I know my dog insurance will pay for damage to other people's property (not mine unfortunately :-( as I also have a wall chewer - however I also have a tame joiner which means of course it never gets fixed :-D :-D ! ).
She will grow out of it but teaching her to touch the wall on command is a good idea and dedicating one room to be destructible and living with it might stop damage elsewhere. Our swedish lapphund hated to be locked in the kitchen if we went out, he would eat the walls, facings and door to get out, but if we left the kitchen door open so he could lie at the door we left by then he was fine and nothing was ever destroyed. They are odd creatures sometimes.

Oh i know it's not that bad, and I'm sure one day I'll look back on all this with a smile. At my home, she is mainly kept in a room that has been little by little pretty much proofed. The damage is not too bad here at my mum's, I just feel a bit furstrated and somewhat embarrassed especially when I know how houseproud my poor mum is. But we'll try and sort it out together this weekend.
She is not anxious or anything like that, like I said before, she's just very active and quite immature and the whole digging wall thing has just become "her thing" as I've never been able to catch her "red-pawed" so I don't think she even knows she's not allowed to do that.
I'm sure she'll improve, just takes hell of a long time!

> (not mine unfortunately :-( as I also have a wall chewer - however I also have a tame joiner which means of course it never gets fixed :-D :-D ! ).
>

:-)  :-)  :-)

Oh it brings back memories of our first dog, a boxer. We had two choices, to confine her in a room when we went out and she would destroy the door in a bid to escape or to give her the run of the house and every curtain and curtain rail would have been pulled down! She did grow out of it at about 18 months but always hated to be confined to just one room.

We had a boxer who chomped on everything in site, he was great with remote controls, the fridge and loved the window sills !!!!

However I now have a goldie and although I have not experienced the troubles you are having as my GR has never chosen to chew a thing the same can't be said he his brother and sister, who ate through walls, skirting boards, mats, you name it what ever they could get there teeth into - however rest assured they both grew out of it. I'm sure it will all come good, she is still so very young.

don't tar her with the delinquent brush.she can,t possibly have done the damage through malice,that's not in a dog's dictionary.it's nerve racking though to want your tess to make you proud and she doesn't know how to yet.my lab is one on the first of may and at one time i thought i'd made a big mistake with the choice i'd made from the litter.she's chewed my dining chair legs to the bone,peeled my new wallpaper and shredded it for me,chewed a big hole in the stud wall of the kitchen pulled up countless plants and dug countless holes in the garden,she,s chewed selected-she selected them- areas of carpet and rugs,she's eaten all her original toys,plus a few,her blankets all look like hairy ponchos and my laminate flooring has given up the ghost.BUT when her teeth settled in at about 10 months all that stopped.the only things she chews now are her bones and treats.the floor still looks a mess though-any ideas?forgive me if i'm wrong but can i ask if you've bonded with her fully?if not for the time being just imagine she's someone elses dog that you are taking care of.you'll see her differently and begin to understand her more from a slightly different viewpoint,you'll be more forgiving of her puppydom and you'll forge a lovely bond.x

My older boy did this to our downstairs toilet and also entrance hall walls.
He didn't do it out of boredom or being left alone.

I watched him once when he didn't realise i was there, he would stretch out and then run his front feet in a running action which is what took the paint and plaster off the walls. I liken the movement to that when they are asleep and appear to be chasing rabbits in their dreams..

It did stop, eventually, i put so much stuff on the walls initially as i thought he was chewing them, but no, he was scratching them.. He had all the toys in the world, lots of walks, other interaction with dogs in the house.. You name it, but have no idea what started it, ,aybe he liked the feeling on his feet.. This did go on for about 3-4 months on his latter puppyhood.