Please help

Bella is 12 months old now and a lab. She is house trained and has great recall. The problem is chewing and barking. It's got so bad hubby wants to find her a new home

We all spend a lot of time with her and I thought to start with it was boredom. We do garden agility with her, rope toys, kongs, treats in plastic bottles etc to try and eliminate the boredom but it has not helped at all. She is walked for and hour and half each day which just doesn't seem to tire her out. Her barking is out of control and she just barks constantly. I spoke to the vet and she just laughed and said that's a lab for you. I am home with her all day and seem to spend all day entertaining her.

Please help I really want to keep her but hubby has had enough and wants to find her a new home as she takes up all of our time and we have no life anymore as it all revolves around her.

When is she chewing and barking? is it when you're not with her? It sounds like you really love her and have invested a lot of time in making her life fun
Some dogs just love to bark! you need to reinforce when she's quiet so that she learns that not barking is far more rewarding than barking. If she starts barking and you tell her to be quiet, you are inadvertently rewarding her behaviour by giving her attention. Bentley was a barker. We tried training him the command 'quiet' which had some effect however, the real breakthrough came with clicker training. If you haven't already, I recommend you read Pamela Dennison's 'Positive Dog Training' book. I'm currently re-reading it to refresh my memory and it really is so eye opening and helpful. Please do not rehome your furbaby, she just needs you to train her the behaviour you do want from her

That's my two penneth worth! Others will be able to give better advice than me. Good luck! you can totally do this xx

I regret that I hear this a lot with young labs. Sorry. They are active working dogs, and boisterous when young. Yes, they do settle when older but they seem to peak around their teenage years - which is natural when you think about it.
Why not join an active dog club ( one that does scent work etc)? Or take up a sport with her?
I have never yet met a dog that gets tired before I do. So I would institute a good routine and stick to it. If she knows she walks / plays at certain times she is more likely to settle.
Does she get free running? Young dogs need to run and socialise and play - same as children .

You have a gundog and you live in Wiltshire. Some of the best gundog trainers in the whole country are in your area. Some of them even specialise in gundog training for pet dogs. Why not give it a go. You will be amazed what difference it will make to your dog.

Tried to give you reppies but board wouldn`t let me.

Thanks anyway!