I have a 7 month old female lab mix at my kennel for basic OB training.This is a board and train dog. She is dropped off on Sunday night, stays with me all week, then goes home on Friday evening with a lesson. This is her last week here and we are working on the place command. She is very good at the send away, the down and the stay. The problem is when I release her, no matter what the place is, she starts to play with it and chew the item which we are using for place. Even if she is in the stay/place she will eventually get bored and chew or rip up the place item. I started with her bed, but she ripped it up. I then chose a rug, which she is better at not chewing at, but if the client were to leave her in the place for a long period of time, she would tear up whatever she was lying/sitting on. Any ideas on how to stop her from chewing the place item? (She is excellent at sit/stay, down/stay, recall and walking nicely on leash with distractions. She also automatically sits at doorways and gates before entering and leaving. She is being trained as a pet. She was an outside dog but he will be bringing her in to live, if any of that matters.)Is she still too young to be expected to stay for a period of time?
Thanks

What about giving her something to chew, when she's on the place item? Stuffed kong or an everlasting treat or a bully stick?

How long are you expecting her to stay?

PS sounds like you've done a nice job w/ her obedience!

Thanks, Lynne. She is staying for about 2-3 minutes and I can move about 40 feet away and I can move out of her sight for about 45 seconds. Thats funny that you mentioned giving her something to chew. I noticed she took one of the other dogs stuffed toys and that was keeping her busy for quite a while. So I did think, hmmmm, maybe I could use that toy instead of treats for helping to hold her stay without chewing.