Dog help!!!!
Moms View Message Board: General Discussion: Archive December 2004:
Dog help!!!!
I know I have posted several times about my new dog. I finally got him looking healthy. Well I have another problem. My mil lives with me so the dog is rarely left at home alone. Well my mil went to NC for the month of Dec. So know if we go somewhere the dog is alone. Now I am home off and on throughout the day because I work second. Dh is home in the evening. So this dog does not have it that bad.
Sat was the first day we were gone for like 8 hours. We usually put him in the bathroom upstairs but he keeps tearing the curtain down and the towels. So we tried the basement. We dog proofed the room and guess what he got out and had full reign of the house. He tore up my christmas tree skirt but that was about it.
I was gone today twice and he got out again but I was smart this time and shut the basement door so he was at least confined to the basement. He tore up a mattress, jacket, a ball and I forget what else dh said. How do people deal with this?? I hate to buy a cage and cage him. I thought I was being kinder to him by giving him a space.
He does not do this stuff when we are home but its like he gets mad when we are gone and goes into destro mode. I am beginning to think where ever I put him he will find something to get into. My next suggestion is the garage. But it may get to cold.
I know that dh will not put up with this for long. He is not that bad of a dog I just need some suggestions Please!Thanks!
Get a crate, get a crate! Dogs are cave animals, this is comforting to them, it is safer for them and it is easier for you!
I agree - get a crate. Really. My dear son and dil have a Weimeraner who chews - everything!. They crate her and keep everything safe.
YOu are right - he is punishing you for leaving him alone, and he's bored.
Get a crate!
Ditto Kaye. Crating is not mean. Dogs in the wild live in dens and it is comforting to them to have their own place to go. When you are gone from home confine him to a crate and problem is solved. Sounds like some additional exercise, plenty of chew toys, and obedience training aren't bad ideas either.
Thanks for the suggestions so far. I did buy him some toys followed the vets advice. She said nothing he can mistake for my kids toys such as stuffed animals and only two or three. I bought him two and he won't touch either one of them. Any ideas for toys that dogs really like? I did used to walk him more but I have been busy. He gets to run around the yard a lot and seems to like being outside. I will just have to make more time to walk him also. Thanks again.
Kong toys that you can stuff with peanut butter and dog treats. He'll have to work to get to the treats so it will keep him occupied for awhile. My dog always liked plastic/rubber squeaky toys and loved rawhide chews and pig ears.
Jasmine loves her crate, goes right in when we are about to leave and sleeps while we are gone! We come home to her stretching after a nice nap. I would hate to come home to something else being damaged everyday. She has the run of the house, if we are home, but if we are gone, she is crated.
More exercise will help, too. Jasmine is a cattledog. The saying goes, "A tired cattledog is a good cattledog!" LOL!
I emailed the posts up to and including mine to my son, who is a vet tech. Here is his response:
DISCLAIMER: This is a case assessment based on what I have read, not
what I have observed. The advice herein is worth what you paid for
it. I do have a lot of experience with dogs in clinical settings and
in private life, and half a VMD by osmosis, but I am not (yet) a
veterinarian.
DIFFERENTIAL DIAGNOSIS: separation anxiety. Every dog goes through
this to some degree unless it's surrounded by other dogs 24/7. Every
vet has seen this and every dog owner has dealt with this. Sometimes
it's barking, sometimes it's passive-aggressive indoor
pooping/peeing, sometimes it's destructive behavior that is born in
anxiety or boredom.
The other boardsters are right: get a crate. A crate will give the
dog a quiet space of its own and also contain the dog, limiting
damage to your home. Get one that's size-appropriate for the dog; one
that will allow the dog to stand and turn around without difficulty,
and is at least 1.5 times the dog's length (minus tail). You didn't
say what breed/age/sex your dog is... Go to the local pet megastore
and get a crate of the appropriate size. Make sure it doesn't have
pointy bits in it, or parts that can be destroyed or disassembled by
teeth. Crates with opaque walls and ventilation holes are better for
this purpose than crates built of bars, like a jail cell or cage.
Opacity creates the feeling of solidity and security. My advice: get
a water bottle to go with the crate; the kind with the ball-bearing
nozzle seen in rodent caging on a smaller scale. This will keep your
dog from stepping in/kicking over a water dish inside the crate. When
the dog gets thirsty, s/he will figure it out. A little bit of
coaching will go a long way with this, too. A scant smudge of peanut
butter on the end of the valve (the first time the dog sees it) will
definitely teach him/her that water can be found here.
Start out by crating the dog for short times while you're still home
and within earshot of the dog. Step it up to crating the dog and
being away for an hour or two. Step it up even further. Eventually
the dog will mellow out. That's the way it works. If your dog starts
barking when you leave the house, DO NOT immediately return to
reprimand it, since by returning immediately, you would be defeating
the purpose of this exercise. I know it'll be hard; I was there too.
Read on.
Make sure that the crate has safe chew toys (rubber bones, not
stuffed animals, squeaky things or rawhide chews) in its crate.
Keeping a radio on at low volume also seems to help with some hard
cases.
HISTORIES: my dear late Keeshond had this problem when I first got
her. She would bark bark bark and rip the place up. She was crated,
and eventually learned that the time I was away was the time for her
to settle down and have a chew. So she spent the days listening to
talk radio and chewing her bone, and half a year later, she went from
doing that in the crate all day to doing that on the couch all day.
Success story.
My ex's goofy Lab was crated for two years before it could be trusted
to be out for the day. Two years, but she's out now and not messing
the place up. Mind, this dog is exceptionally stupid.
My brother's and SIL's neurotic Weimaraner was a hard case. This dog
wrecked everything and even blunted its teeth trying to chew out of
the crate. This dog wound up on tranquilizers for a couple of years.
Now it spends its days in the basement on an old chair. Not crated,
and not on tranqs either. This dog has mellowed out considerably,
with a lot of TLC and training. Weimaraners and other sighthounds are
particularly nutty to start with, and usually a load of heck when it
comes to separation anxiety.
Get a crate. Do some research. Talk to your vet. And bear with the
program; everyone has to do it.
--
Scott
If the crate you can find is the wire type, you can put a towel or blanket over the top to give it the cave field. As far as toys that dogs love each is different. We have a kong, it is mostly useless for our dog. Mine loves those rope toys, specifically the ones that have something else to them, her favorite is a pumpkin body with rope arms and legs.
I never never never leave our 11 month old boxer without crating her. In fact, she even get crated if I am busy upstairs and don't want her helping me. ie. wrapping christmas presents.
There is no way she would stay out of trouble. It's hard to even begin to imagine what she would get into.
There is a toy you can get at petsmart called a KONG. It's wonderful. It doesn't look like anything special, but that is the only toy my dogs will play with now. Plus they can chew the mess out of it and it doesn't tear up and they get their nack to chew out. Crating is great, just make sure they have food, water, and a kong.
My mom has a small dog (chiwawa). Sorry I spelled that wrong. Anyway this dog LOVES the cage! He sleeps there, plays there, naps there. If company comes he stays there without being told to. If you want him to go to the cage all you have to say is "Cage" and he runs right in. I love the idea.
This is great info thank you very much. I was wondering should I crate him at night also? He doesn't do bad at night. I guess he knows we are just in the other room. He will sleep in the bathroom on a blanket and usually doesn't do anything bad. So I was wondering if I should continue to let him do this or it is important to crate him at night also. Thanks! Tell your son thank you very much Ginny and the dog is part lab and sharpei.
Beth,
He should be crated anytime he isn't visible to your or some adult in the houses eye. It keeps him from getting into mischief and he will learn to love his new home. Trust me this will solve alot of your dog issues! My puppy is in his as I type! LOL 
My son responds to your question about crating at night:
Crating at night is discretionary if the dog is not misbehaving at night. Leave the crate open at night if the dog wants to sleep in it. If it's set up like a dog's bedroom (cushy pillow, favorite toy), the dog may well elect to sleep there.
I should tell you that for my son, the dog's bedroom is his bedroom and the dog's bed is his bed - he presently shares his bed with a 110 pound Rottweiler. She is a sweety and I love her dearly, but I sure wouldn't want her in my bed. Noooo, she's not spoiled, not a bit!(LOL).
|
Members
