I'm confused, you say he only chews when you are not there but yet you can't have him in the living room with you? If he's only chewing when he's not supervised, why don't you crate him with a kong full of tasty things as already suggested when you are not there, and have him in the living room with you when you are there. He sounds incredibly bored and frustrated and confining him to one area of the house 24/7 with no toys to chew and no company is not going to help that.

He sounds like a perfectly normal young dog. Is he your first ever dog? you sound like you are rather overwhelmed juggling both your children and a frisky young dog, which is of course understandable.

I would most definitely get rid of the muzzle. It is not fair to make a dog wear one for long periods and they certainly shouldn't be wearing one unsupervised. If your dog was sick in the night (a real possibility with a poo eater especially), he could easily choke on his own vomit if he is muzzled. A horrible thought but one you should be aware of.

Using a crate is an excellent idea. Your type of dog is exactly the type of dog who would benefit from being confined to one at night for his own safety first and foremost. Obviously, the night-time chewing will also stop.

I am presuming that these 20 minute walks are on a lead? how often does he get the chance to run? a dog of that cross really does need off lead walks and a chance to run every day. You will probably find that if you give him more appropriate exercise for his breed(s), his general excitement level in the house will decrease which will consequently make him more manageable.

Have you explored the idea of taking him to puppy obedience classes yet? your dog is a combination of two very smart breeds and should be able to take anything you throw at him training wise. Puppy agility classes when he is old enough are also worth looking at.

When my Goldie was 7 months he was a big chewer, however he stopped at about 11 months. So I think the chewing is because he is still young.

You have 2 active intelligent breeds in your dog, I think you dog sounds bored. Also the Golden Retriever half of your dog will ignore you if you shout, they do block of shouting.

I would go to training classes, I have found with both my dogs, that wears them out more than a long walk.

I would practice the leave command when he goes to the poo.

Can we have some piccys please.

he is not confined 24/7 nor is he alone all day or without toys! as i said i realise him being confined to the kitchen isnt ideal and i posted hoping for some advice not to be pretty much accused of cruelty!
when in the living room he is jumping all over the furniture and chewwing the laminate flooring and when he is corrected he becomes nippy, possibly i didnt make this clear in previous posts??
i WANT him to have free run of downstairs thats why i am asking for any help/tips/advice etc to make sure both he and the house are safe from harm ( he has eaten a tennis ball which he managed to get from the kitchen window sill whoch is behind the sink he was very very ill) I KNOW I AM DOING THE WRONG THINGS!!!!! i need help not criticism

i have been looking round the house and i really dont know if i have anywhere big enough to put a crate where it wont be seriously in the way!
i have looked into training classes and agility when he is old enough as both he and i would benefit from and enjoy them!, there a few in the area but i dont drive (currently learning) so will be until the end of the summer before i can get to any of them sadly
as for exercise he isnt always reliable to recall so he only goes off lead if i am sure there arent other dogs about so probably every other day, and most days i leave early for school and we have a half hour walk (over fields)on top of the normal 20 mins and when my husband is home early enough or off work we will walk up to 8 miles probably twice a week
any tips on recall with other dogs would also be greatly appreciated!
also how do i attach pictures?

To be honest, most people don't have room for crates. They are not exactly easy to hide or stick in a corner so unfortunately they will take up space. It is a small price to pay though for a safe dog, plus it is not a permanent addition to the furniture. When the dog has matured and stopped chewing, obviously you can get rid of it.

He is "hyper" when you bring him into the living room because being in there is a novelty to him. He is used to being shut in one room so of course he is going to excited when let out. The more you allow him to integrate with the family the less of a novelty being allowed 'free reign' will be. To control him in the living room, keep him on lead and encourage him to settle on his bed. I teach my dogs an "on your bed" command almost from day 1 as I want them to settle in the house and not charge around. This involves lots of time sat on the floor near the puppy, praising calm behaviour.

I would never walk a 7 month old pup for 8 miles. That is too much to soon. If you do long walks once or twice a week and much shorter ones the rest of the time, you run the risk of your dog becoming a 'weekend warrior' at his tender age. If you push a dog to do large amounts of exercise when his stamina and fitness hasn't built up enough (your dog is still developing physically), you run the risk of injury.

With regard to recall, how often dogs your dog get to play with other dogs? if he doesn't get enough interaction with his own kind, then yes they are going to be very tempting for him to bolt towards when he is off the lead.

Is there no way you can walk him for longer?
Don't go straight home after school, take a detour every day.
He doesn't really HAVE to be off lead, let him sniff, get a long line and throw a ball/toy for him.

General rule of thumb for exercise is 5 minutes for every month of the dogs life until fully grown, so at 7 months your dog should be getting 35 minutes.

Some say this only applies to leash walking and not off leash or long line. Others say it applies to both and is 35 minutes total. I tend to limit forced exercise such as leash walking, chasing a ball, tearing around with other dogs etc but not so much just mooching around and sniffing off leash or on a line.

8 miles was an extreme walk to try and get my mind off cigarettes! i do forget he is still a pup as he is so big, he is easily the size of a golden already and i assume he still has some growing to do? the other longer walk we do is about 4 miles is that still too far? i do regulary detour on the ay home from or on the way to school but dont always make it out the door on time so the very least he gets to walk is a mile a day
as for other dogs he plays almost daily with one of my neighbours dogs who we walk with and whilst they are both off the lead they play nicely although Alfie (neighbours dog) does occaisionally have to remind caleb of his manners! however if they are both on thelead they are a nighmare together i try sooo hard to get caleb calm with all 4 paws on the floor but as alfie is a miniature schnauser he is "allowed" to jump up due to his tiny size so on the lead caleb is actually better behaved!
Caleb plays beautifully with other dogs but when the other dog leaves i have no hope of calling him back and have to ask the other person to hold their dog still so i can get my dog back!