Operative word: Resistant

When we first brought Darby home, we were hoping for the best.  Although I had always had a dog growing up, I had lived on a farm and the dog was pretty hands-off.  The lady at the ARL made it pretty clear that I was not to keep Darby outside (though isn't that where a large dog would like to spend time?), and the first few days we had her it was pouring rain so she quickly became a house dog.  Luckily and unbeknownst to us, she was crate trained and house trained.  She was very well-mannered in the house, didn't beg at the table or jump up on the counter to steal a cookie.  We usually have to give her a new toy 2 or 3 times before she will take it; she doesn't chew on anything that isn't hers.  She doesn't bother the Christmas tree and in the year we have had her, we have only had one sock causality.  Things in the backyard are less safe (our sprinklers no longer have round wheels), but we have been very fortunate.  She is a great dog.

Her one downfall is her beds.  She had one in her kennel when we first got her, and it went untouched for weeks.  Then one day I came home and found her in her crate covered with stuffing.  Many months later we thought we would try it again, and again the bed lasted for a week or so and one day we came home and she was again on a shell of a bed in her kennel, surrounded by stuffing.  We then decided to hold off on a new bed in her crate until she was out of the puppy phase.  Luckily for us, I hear labs are puppies for 2-3 years.  Great.  We did buy a bed for the living room, but she wouldn't be "alone" with it since she would only be on it when we were home.  It survived the longest of any of her beds: nearly a year.

Again, we have been very fortunate.  Darby only chews on things that belong to her.  She goes through a chew bone every 6 weeks (a very specific kind--we have several in stock in case they ever stop making them) and aside from a few toys that did not prove to be "durable", we have found what works for her.  With the the bed dilemmas, we kennel her whenever we leave the house.  Every day, every time since the day we bought her.  We have tried leaving her outside when we go to the gym or store, but that usually leads to a sizable hole at the gate.  She is digging an escape route.  We just don't trust her out when we're not around.  We also crate her at night when we're sleeping for the same reasons.  I fear for the couch cushions and given her affection for wood chips and branches am surprised she has not figured out the table and chairs contain delicious wood.

This summer, I started having Darby sleep with me in our bedroom when Rick was out of town.  Now our dog is a dog and is not allowed on furniture, but I drug her little bed up to the bedroom and shut the door thinking I would hear if she was to get into any shenanigans in the middle of the night.  Nothing bad happened so after time the door was opened and she slept on her bed all night.  Her occasional nights out became every night with her bed in the living room (she snores and chases things in her sleep).  At first she would come up in the middle of the night to check on us, shove her little nose under the covers (we have a platform bed, so it's perfect height for her head), and would not leave until we pet her.  Eventually that passed and she learned to not come upstairs until she heard the alarm in the morning.  We were still crating her when we were out of the house, but all was well every night and she had more time and freedom outside of the crate at night.  Except of course weekends.  Our dog does not sleep in.

You may have read a few weeks ago that we got Darby a new bed for the living room.  Her old one was so thin it wasn't really much of a bed and she loved the new chew-resistant bed immediately.  We moved the old one down into her crate to keep her off the basement floor and all was well.  For a week or so.  I came home one day and she was sitting in a sea of green fluff.  I'm always surprised at what the insides of these beds look like.  I'm also surprised at how she seems genuinely curious of how this happened.  We have never caught her in the act--she is very crafty.  She had never chewed on this bed when it was in the living room, but it seems all that go to the crate leave in several pieces.  Once again, she is on the plastic in her crate, bed-less.

Shortly after that incident, I found some threads on the floor and noticed that Darby had attempted to chew her new bed in the living room.  She got the piping, but I remember telling Rick that it was indeed chew resistant.  Her teeth had been stopped in their tracks.  Success!

 Or so I thought.  A week or so later, I came down in the morning and let Darby outside when I noticed something dark in the shadows on her bed in the living room.  At first I thought maybe she had an accident (though she has never had one), but when I turned on the lights there was dark stuffing on her bed.  And a gaping hole at the opposite end of the torn piping.  Super.  Again, she only chews on her things; her bed is currently between the love seat and couch next to a basket full of blankets.  This could have been much worse.  But Darby has won herself a free pass back to kenneled nights, at least for now.

Given that the bed is actually 3 different pillows in 3 different compartments, we have decided to see how long it survives (please note we brought it home November 27th and it is by far the fanciest and most expensive bed we have purchased for her).  It is now a game; we shove the stuffing back in the hole and roll it up and she will pull it back out.  Again, we have never caught her in the act, and she seems to take pride in this.  The other morning I ran up to brush my teeth before work and in the 2 minutes that took, she had pulled the stuffing to the middle of the floor and had come up to join me.  Little stinker.  Such is the joy of pet-ownership.

Faithful readers: do you have any suggestions on how to keep a dog from chewing up soft things?  We don't promote this with soft toys (I'm sure a stuffed animal would not last anyway), so I'm not sure of the fascination.  I know we're lucky, but it sounds like we may still have another year of puppy-ness and I would love to not have this constant bed battle!