Dog Training

Ok, I don't have an answer to this.

I would not say that my dog is a chewer.

I am actually pretty lucky!  Now he is 4 years old and we have only had one bad experience with him eating something he should not of ate...I think it was 3 years ago.  He was feeling really lousy one day and whimpering.  He was walking around with his tail between his legs.  He refused his dinner (which is a huge red flag because he is an EATER).  We took him to the emergency vet and he got x-rayed.  They found an intestinal block and operated on him.  Between the xray and surgery he found an cheap ink pen, screw, dry wall anchor, and the object that was binding him up was an old ripped up grubby t-shirt of my husbands.  So I hated the bill...but he didn't chew anything of importance.

The only other thing he chewed (on a separate day) was a little of the exterior plastic dryer vent cover in the back yard.  My husband is a carpenter (all around) so he actually had another in his work truck so we popped the chewed one off and popped the new one on and he has never touched it again. 
(He really didn't even chew much of it...just a little around the edges)

The third and final thing (not related to the final object which will be my point of this post..hang with me here) I have ever seen him destroy was one paper towel he found on the ground.  He really didn't eat it..he just ripped it into shreds.


So, folks, that is basically it.  Nothing of value and in 4 years that is basically it.  I have been very lucky.  I can leave the house and have him run free in it and come home to nothing destroyed.



HOWEVER...................................

There is one other thing that he has chewed several times (I know this is confusing)...now onto the point of this post..................

SEVERAL times over the course of his life he chews on pencils.  Regular old wooden, yellow, number two pencils.  Now going back to my husband being a carpenter...he wears a baseball hat to work every day and everyday he sticks a pencil in his hat because he uses pencils all day...he only uses wooden ones because he can sharpen them with his utility knife.  Now when he comes home at night he forgets the pencils are in his hat for awhile.  After relaxing for a bit...he realizes they are there and then he removes then and sets them random places around the house.  You would be surprised the places where you would find a pencil.

Now, my dog finds them and chews them up....................

but I don't know how to correct him because...I allow him to chew sticks in the backyard.....I sit and read a magazine outside and he chews on a stick right next to me.  Putting myself in my dog's shoes (well paws) I can see how he thinks, "She lets me chew on sticks and a pencil is just a wooden stick."  See what I mean?  So pencils are the only thing he touches and I have no idea how to make it stop.  Are pencils that bad for him?  He may have one pencil total in a months time.

The best thing to do is to have my husband STOP LEAVING PENCILS EVERYWHERE!!!!!!!! and I have asked him this several times.  But he works physical labor up to 12-14 hours a day and he has a lot on his mind so he does the best he can.  When he comes home exhausted I am sure "let me find a secure place for this pencil" is the last thing on his mind when food, water, sleep, next day's work is on his mind.  He does the best he can which is why Huck only gets about a pencil a month (maybe once every 2 months)

I am sure a 'pencil' is a 'stick' in his mind.

I can't think of how to train him without it confusing him. (the dog, not the husband)