Dog chews bedding

We have an 18 mth old lab who continuously drags his bedding out of his kennel and chews it up.We introduced this to him as a very small puppy.However,we had him sleeping inside until he was about 11months old (due to the fact he was quite unwell).He has recently started crying in the very early mornings (4-5am) wanting to come inside.We assume that this is because he is cold. We therefore trialed his inside bed inside his kennel and he completely detsroyed it in one night. It was a mattress style cushion, which he had been using inside (ie before he went out at night) for about 6 weeks. It was the first inside bed he had not chewed.We are worried that he is too cold and annoying the neighbours.How do we get him to sleep outside,in his kennel and stop chewing up his bed? He has lots of toys (inside and outside) so I don't think he is bored.
Posted: 26/06/2007

Answer: chewing bedding, Melbourne
To be honest, I don't really know of any dog that sleeps happily outside. My suggestion to you is to look in to crate training on the net. This will be a great way to give your fella a restricted, but safe and warm place to sleep in the home. Remember the key point of crate training, that the crate is his safe sanctury and must never be treated as a sin bin. For it to work effectively his must love his crate. I feel this would be the best and practical solution for you.
Posted: 10/07/2007