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I hear you on the not wanting to go the route of surrendering if you can help it. Ours had been adopted and returned THREE times in short order before we got him (and that was just from the last refuge he was placed with, which got him from a humane society elsewhere...he could have been returned numerous times at that agency, too, for all I know). When I look at how resistant he is to obedience training (not out of stupidity, but stubbornness...common to beagles/beagle mixes), and how destructive he is, what kind of escape artist he is, and how he had crippling separation anxiety, which we worked for a LONG time to combat, it doesn't surprise me that he didn't fit just ANY family or household. Still, I was told by the foster that, in the case of at least the most recent aborted adoption attempt, he was left all day on a cable attached to the side of the house, and the adopter returned him because he ate the siding. Well, what do you expect?
I also suspect very strongly, given his lack of instinct at keeping his crate free of elimination, that he was left crated for very long periods of time, probably as a puppy, and is somewhat damaged from that...his separation anxiety points to this, as well. Given that we are in a state notorious for puppy mills, and given that he is a popular puppy mill breed, I strongly suspect that he was a puppy mill puppy.
He's kind of damaged goods, which has all along made us very reticent to surrender him, even though we assuredly bit off more than we could chew adopting him. It's been a long road, but he's such a sweet, sweet dog.
I would also recommend confinement in a secure crate (if your dog can dismantle a wire crate like mine can, you may have to reinforce it with zip ties or carabiners, or go the plastic varikennel route (I feared my dog would chew his way out of a varikennel, but he hasn't shown that inclination since we made the switch, and he seems happier in a "den" than a cage. My dog could NOT be confined to a room (even if we had doors in our house, which we for the most part do not...just archways, and he can knock over gates/climb them) unless we wanted the room destroyed. While travelling for the holidays when we first had him, we crated him in his collapsible wire travel crate in the guest bedroom at my pseudo in-laws' house while we took a morning to walk downtown and shop. He collapsed the crate in on itself and wriggled out. When he couldn't get past the shut doors in the room, he proceeded to rip the room apart, scratch all the paint off the doors, and carve deep grooves in them once the paint was gone. He also tore books off of shelves (SO's stepdad runs a used bookstore and keeps excess inventory at home), and ripped them up and gnawed furnishings, and this was the result of being confined to a bedroom with shut doors for only a couple of hours.
Did you assess what type of dog you and your family wanted prior to getting a dog? When we decided to get a dog, we looked at various breeds, and knew we wanted a low energy dog, who would be less inclined to be alpha dominant. We looked at a few different breeds, and ruled out larger dogs, and small dogs, we went with a middle of the road, basset mix, which worked well for our family. My kids fell in love with a black lab, and I was tempted...but decided that she would be too much to handle for us.
I will admit, that I did hate our dog for the first 18 months he was with us...it was constant work for me. Like, an additional 30 hours a week, of training, dog school, consistent work on his leash, off his leash, watching him in the house...that is part of getting a good dog, you have to put the work into it...they don't come perfect.
The most amazing thing, is after all these months of work with the demon from hell hound...everyone told me how "lucky" I was to get such a perfect dog!
Man, I love dogs as much as the next person, but holy crap, some of you dog apologists make me roll my eyes. "Your not training her right", "your not supervising her". Geeze, hate to be harsh, but not everyone is a dog obsessed person that can dedicate every waking moment to an animal. I think I would have less of an opinion of a person that DID dedicate every waking moment to an animal. It's unhealthy. I totally can see where the OP is coming from, you give the dog a moment to act up and he causes terror.
Bottom line: Sometimes dogs just aren't fun. There are people that are hard to get along with, there are dogs that are hard to get along with. I don't agree with the thought that it's ALWAYS the owner not the dog. Most of the time maybe, but not always. Sometimes you do get a misbehaved dog, mix that with the wrong house, and disaster ensues. I don't get how people say there are no bad dogs. If there was no bad dogs, there would be no good dogs, and they wouldn't be creatures with individual personalities, but rather balls of fur under the control of humans. Now that doesn't sound constructive.
If I were you, I might look for a home that better suits the dogs needs. I think a person really needs to get a dog that suits there current lifestyle. To me, you may try, and succeed for a few weeks to heavily exercise the dog to calm it down. But if this isn't who you are, it will wear over time. You are who you are, why drive yourself crazy and continue to have your stuff destroyed? That's not good for you or the dog.
She's over a year old now. She gets walks, play, good food and attention but it's not enough. We try discipline but it doesn't pierce the void.
I am not seeing anything there regarding toys. Dogs are kids (the most intelligent have the mental capabilities of a four year old), and chewing is their means of calming themselves when they are bored, or anxious. It sounds to me like this youngster needs some way of amusing, or calming herself.
The more intelligent the dog, the more complex the activities need to be to keep her occupied. Terriers and shepherds are probably the most needing to have something to do, but others fall into that list, too.
Take her to the local pet store and let her pick out a few things. Warning, the indestructible ones are pricey, but if she's destructive, get them anyway. Otherwise you will spend more buying replacements. Get several but only give her one or two at a time, and rotate them as soon as she loses interest. (She'll get interested in them again, later.)
Whenever she picks up something not hers, take it away with a firm "NO" and immediately replace it with one of hers. If she refuses it over more than a few minutes, rotate it for another.
When she cannot be watched, crate her with one of her indestructible toys, access to water, and a few treats.
Remember that at one she's still very much a baby.
Yes, you missed the part about toys. She had dozens at first, soft toys, squeaky toys, balls, rubber ducky, chew toys etc. She destroyed them all, some within minutes (even a few Kong Genius chews were eventually destroyed) with the exception of the big dog Kong toys which is all the she can have now. She has those Kong toys available where she spends time but it appears that shoes that inadvertently get left within reach are much more interesting as are the car door panels and beds. She does not get rawhide and the like because she chews off large chunks and swallows them whole rather than just chew. Bad idea and a sure trip to the vet's office.
And in case this comes up again, we offer the proper chew item when she starts chewing her bed for example. Sometimes she takes it in lieu of chewing the bed, but most of the time she shows no interest in it unless we jazz the proper chew up with food or scent, which gets the old dog interested. Old dog doesn't need the extra calories. Sigh. Mismatch is correct even after doing our due diligent research. How we can handle this without losing our minds, or returning this dog to an uncertain fate is the question that we are still are working through. Last night though she chewed the smithereens out of a large Dental Kong to the point that it's days are numbered. We praised her several times for choosing the proper item to chew.
We are doing all of the commonly known right things to do with a difficult dog, this dog however remains a challenge to our household. It's raining today. We are hoping for the best today because she is going to spend more time indoors than normal. And so it goes on...
I had a Great Dane that did that, but it was because she was less than a year old. Do you know how hard it is to get things high enough to keep a Dane from reaching them?
I'm much more a cat person, so I don't have any suggestions that others haven't mentioned. It does sound like there may be some anxiety issues, but maybe it's just a high energy breed/dog.
With cats, pretty much any cat I can handle. With dogs I'm much more selective as I know my personality, and I know that the very high energy dogs and the small little yappers would not be a good fit for me to own. I like them when they are other peoples' dogs, but I wouldn't own one.
Though I would not ordinarily promote getting rid of a dog due to behavior, I do admit some animals are not a good fit to the human. What I wish is that people would be more in tune with their own selves and realize what pets they can handle rather than putting these animals through these situations.
Maybe you could find this great little dog a super home.
Yes, you missed the part about toys. She had dozens at first, soft toys, squeaky toys, balls, rubber ducky, chew toys etc. She destroyed them all, some within minutes (even a few Kong Genius chews were eventually destroyed) with the exception of the big dog Kong toys which is all the she can have now. She has those Kong toys available where she spends time but it appears that shoes that inadvertently get left within reach are much more interesting as are the car door panels and beds. She does not get rawhide and the like because she chews off large chunks and swallows them whole rather than just chew. Bad idea and a sure trip to the vet's office.
And in case this comes up again, we offer the proper chew item when she starts chewing her bed for example. Sometimes she takes it in lieu of chewing the bed, but most of the time she shows no interest in it unless we jazz the proper chew up with food or scent, which gets the old dog interested. Old dog doesn't need the extra calories. Sigh. Mismatch is correct even after doing our due diligent research. How we can handle this without losing our minds, or returning this dog to an uncertain fate is the question that we are still are working through. Last night though she chewed the smithereens out of a large Dental Kong to the point that it's days are numbered. We praised her several times for choosing the proper item to chew.
We are doing all of the commonly known right things to do with a difficult dog, this dog however remains a challenge to our household. It's raining today. We are hoping for the best today because she is going to spend more time indoors than normal. And so it goes on...
Man, I really do sympathize with your situation. Just wanted to say I've found some toys for my little pittie that she can't destroy in five minutes. They are't the kong toys, either. Molly loves, loves, loves the squakers in the toys and will destory a normal toy within minutes. I've found some with squeakers at PetSmart. These toys are more pliable than the kong toys, but more durable than the typical soft rubber squakers.
Also, you mentioned your dog gets socks. Maybe wear some old socks (get your smell on them) and then let her have the socks. LOL, my pittie is a sock thief deluxe and then she runs outside with them. and I buy pricy socks! Can't tell you how many socks I pick up from the yard. I think it's the smell but am not for certain.
Have you tried spraying a couple areas on your prized shoes w/ bitter apple [chew deterrent]? I've got a dog that likes shoes and slippers. Mostly the ones that have the cowhide smell (leather) or the leather smelling laces on some slippers. Something 'bout the smell of leather gets them going. I've caught him in the past and said no or ugh ugh and replaced with acceptable toy. When he starts chewing or playing with the toy, I praise him. He's been pretty good and I just thought of the bitter spray now as an alternative but at this time, it hasn't come to that.
She's more of a canvas and rubber connoisseur (all things with laces) and she goes after mostly my shoes though she got my husband's work shoes and did a number on them last Friday and she likes his slippers. Sadly, bitter apple is probably a "special sauce" as is habanero pepper juice. We set her up with treated shoes and it didn't phase her.
She's really something else...if she wasn't such a handful and destructive, I'd have to admire such tenacity. She needs a job but darned if we can think of one that she can do in an urban household.
Man, I really do sympathize with your situation. Just wanted to say I've found some toys for my little pittie that she can't destroy in five minutes. They are't the kong toys, either. Molly loves, loves, loves the squakers in the toys and will destory a normal toy within minutes. I've found some with squeakers at PetSmart. These toys are more pliable than the kong toys, but more durable than the typical soft rubber squakers.
I bet you're talking about the cuz squeakie toys! My dogs love them. My American Bulldog rips the feet off in two seconds but the rest of the toy lasts awhile & they love that it's a squeakie toy. The Cuz & the Kongs are the only toys that I buy him!
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