Lab who wont stop chewing!

Hey, new to these forums and iv read a few other posts and you all seem like good people, so i need some advice , i just got an 8 week old lab and it chews anything he can get its mouth on, i hose the garden he bites into the hose, i weed the garden and it tries to eat any weed i pull out, i pick up his droppings and he bites into the plastic bag, hes chewing on the grass on the plants, he tries to nip my hand (playfully) when i go to pat its head, what is the best way to get him to let go of something (right now i have to wait for him to release to get a better grip)or even better not bite things he isnt supposed too. Also iv taught him to sit, stay and come but he only does them when HE feels like it, what is the best way to teach him that im boss and when i tell him to do something he should do it or is he simply too young to be taught that?, and yes i do make him sit and stay for his food and i have small sessions during the day where i get him to come, sit and stay. Plz help id love to fix these problems when he is young (better to train a nipping puppy than a biting adult) Any advice is appreciated and i dont think its dominance but it could be :yikes:

At 8 weeks old, he is so young. Getting him to associate the words with the actions is good for future obedience.

A puppy will chew on things, especially while teething.

I was given great advice on this board if a puppy keeps nipping you. Take a washcloth, put under warm water, and squeeze some of the water out. Then take the washcloth and wipe the pup's face with it. It will feel like the warmth of the mother licking him and calms the pup down. This worked for me.

Also, get him some yummy things to chew on. This will help with the chewing on things. He probably has so many teeth trying to come in.

Toys and bones ...........he's still a baby . No tug of war games !

He's a puppy so he's teething and playing, the world is his toy! When he goes after things you are using (the hose for instance) which are triggering him because of their movement then stop moving it. Once he lets go redirect him to a toy and continue what you were doing, repeat until he sticks to his toy then when you are done with the hose go play with him and his toy. For other stuff try simple prevention right now when you pick up his poop hold him away from the bag with the leash or a stay command, give him a treat when he obeys the stay. He is not being dominant, not listening is not dominance neither is playing, he's just a puppy who is not sure what the rules are yet. What do you mean by "When he feels like it"? Just on occasion or when you have food? Does he look at you when you say it or completely ignore you? I'm gonna guess he just is unsure of the command still so you should work on training him in different scenarios (while you sit, stand, jump up and down, turn away from him etc.) and quickly reteach the command in each new position so he learns that your body position has nothing to do with what's being asked. Also once he understands the command (not until he KNOWS what the command means) put him on a varying schedule of rewards, giving treats only sometimes and only for the really good responses, perhaps reward for the fast responses and not the slow ones or for the square sits and not the sloppy side ones (only work at one at a time though, don't try and improve the Speed AND position of the sit at the same time, only work on and reward one). By reward I mean food reward, saying "good girl!" is fine for any correct response. This will teach her that treats will not always come and will also make her strive to be better at the command in hopes that the change in her response will elicit a treat. Eventually though the command will just become part of her vocab and she will respond without the constant hope of treats, of course I still recommend giving her some every once in a while as well and verbal and other praise.

It's important to remember how young your pup is. He is teething now and will teeth again around 7 months of age. Having lots of good chewies will help. Also a clean, wet, then twisted and frozen washcloth is a good thing to chew on. It will help soothe his gums. But always supervise him so he doesn't eat the cloth.

Also when you are working in the yard, you might set up an exercise pen or playpen so he can be with you, but not close enough to interrupt you. Just a couple extra ideas - hope they help. Congratulations on your new puppy!

thx heaps all, ill be sure to put it into practice =), when i say he does it when he feels like i mean that sometimes he looks at me and just cant be bothered (he would lay down for example if i told him to come while he was sitting) and other times he just completely ignores me, for example i tell him to sit when he is standing infront of me and our other dog (5yr old terrier) walks behind him and then our lab turns around and follows him around.
Would what my terrier does influence my Lab?, like for example if the Terrier is always jumping up on me would that influence my Lab to do the same even though i constantly put both there paws on the ground?

No, dogs don't really imitate other dogs (or humans, or anything else). Your lab may learn that the terrier gets your attention when he's jumping (that's what he's getting when you put his paws on the ground), and if your lab wants your attention he will start trying anything he can think of too. Eventually he'll jump, which will work.

I think your puppy is not ignoring you or choosing to disobey you. I think your puppy is just too young and new to training to understand what you're trying to communicate. He's only 8 weeks old! How long have you had him? How many days have you been working on these commands? In addition to not having had enough practice to be expected to know what you're telling him, puppies have very VERY short attention spans. That's what you are experiencing when your puppy gets distracted by the other dog after you've told him a command. Puppies' attention spans are just like children's who have bad ADHD. He simply CAN't pay attention at this age.

Incidently, the chewing and the attention span are the two main reasons why I will probably never have another puppy!

So you have a little lab demon too huh? Hehe, the chewing is just beginning at 8 weeks for a lab my friend! (sorry not picking on you, I have an 8 week old chocolate lab, so I'm right there with ya)

The playpen idea works GREAT. I can keep an eye on what she's doing and she can play with her toys, and I can still do what I'm trying to (clean,pick up poo, etc) and she can watch/be near me. A crate is also great for when you guys need a break from each other.

It's good that you're teaching him simple commands now and it'll really help in the future, but like others said, they have very short attention spans. My pup has learned sit, down, and to look at me when I say her name, but I don't expect her to listen everytime yet. (they have important puppy things to do ya know )

Also with the chew toys, make sure to rotate/not let him play with all of them everyday. This keeps them more interesting to your pup, when they haven't seen a toy for a week or so and you bring it back out, they think "Oh, cool! A new toy!"

Hang in there! It'll get better! I've had 3 labs in the past and they've all grown up to be great adults.

kk cool, cant wait till he gets past that biting stage =D, im keeping the training fairly easy, he has got sit down well, as soon as i walk out with food he is sitting =P, he has nearly got stay, and im just starting on lay, but i might have to stop that and instead get him used to his name (look at me when i say his name), thx for all your tips, he loves the frozen washcloth.

Yeah, name response is by far the most important thing you can teach your puppy. Good luck!