Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I will never be able to leave my dog out of her crate while I'm not at home. She does not seem to be improving in the areas that I need in order to let her have a little free roam while I'm gone. She only behaves with potty if I'm directly around, as in she knows that I could stand up and see her. She still has accidents when I'm not here but my gf is. We take her out 4 times a day for potty. She is 11 months old. If I leave for 20 minutes to go next door and do not crate her, then I come back and shes peed and many times pooped from anxiety or lack of respect or both. She has chewed 3 wall corners. Once I fell asleep on the couch and woke up an hour later and she had chewed the wall corner RIGHTTTTTT next to me, how I didnt hear I have no idea. Lately the biggest pet peave, which is partially my fault, is just ridiculous. I have a flat piece of cardboard, pretty good size on top of her crate, as we have lack of storage space for a few things of hers, and like to keep them all together. So we put the cardboard on top of her crate, and then put some of her things on top of the cardboard where she couldnt get to it while in her crate or out of her crate. Her frisbee, a spare leash coiled up, some treats, her flea stuff, an old box from a training collar, etc. The other day I came home, and she must have shaken the cage so much that the box of flea stuff moved over like a foot and she was able to pull on one of the corners of the boxes through her crate and ate a thing of flea medicine. I was so freaked out and I thought she was going to die, and yet at the same time I was mad at her So then I moved anything that could harm her and regrouped everything even further out of her reach, but still on the cardboard. I came home today, somehow she got the old box from the training collar over to where she could bite at who knows what part of it since it was closed..and ripped pieces of it through her crate and it was all over the floor of her crate. A month or so ago she pulled the entire huge cat bed through the little space between the bars and ate half of it, all the cotton and everything. If shes that anxious in her crate with toys, and pees and poops in the 15-20 minutes I'm next door at the neighbors, I dont know WHEN if EVER I'll be able to trust her out in my house without eating my furniture, walls, or ruining my floors. This sucks. Everyone elses dogs that I know dont do this. My old dog didnt. They all get to be happy and stay out roaming the house when people are gone. It makes me depressed, b/c I work so hard and spend so much time with her. Even after this I still want a boy dog for her to have around. I must be stupid.
Sounds like a combination of separation anxiety and boredom.
Have you tried leaving her in the kitchen with a baby gate? It may be that she is bored & restless in the crate.
How much exercise does she get? Some dogs need more than others, but a tired dog will tend to relax better.
When Shadow was little I would give her a frozen marrow bone when I left. It gave her something to do, and took her attention away from the fact that I was leaving. Most importantly it satisfied her need to chew, which she did not outgrow until after she was 2 years old.
Sounds like a combination of separation anxiety and boredom.
Have you tried leaving her in the kitchen with a baby gate? It may be that she is bored & restless in the crate.
How much exercise does she get? Some dogs need more than others, but a tired dog will tend to relax better.
When Shadow was little I would give her a frozen marrow bone when I left. It gave her something to do, and took her attention away from the fact that I was leaving. Most importantly it satisfied her need to chew, which she did not outgrow until after she was 2 years old.
ya I did the baby gate with the kitchen. that was the first time she chewed the wall. I usually stricly exercise her for about an hour a day. then she is supplemented with a couple 10 minute walks and also playing with the kitten seems to do pretty well. Her newest fun way to exercise is to chase the laser pointer around for as long as I'll keep moving it around. Its awesome to watch and she has a lot of fun doing it. I usually leave a kong and her nylabone for her to chew on. I cant leave her blankets or anything soft b/c she will devour them instantly. It just sucks that I cant let her be a normal dog and give her a feeling of duty kinda like shes watching the house while we're gone. Instead shes locked in a cage I know she probably needs even more exercise, b/c both dobermans and greyhounds (which is her mix) are very energetic. In fact greyhounds need around 2 hours a day. That is why I try to make such an effort even with a newfound busy schedule to spending the time doing so. I cant wait until I can get a yard and another dog so that I can supplement our exercise with just fun playing with the other dog in the yard and wearing each other out. I've just tried to build respect as much as I can and its so hard not to get frustrated when she doesnt hold up her end of the respect mutual understanding.
Oh I also forgot to mention, the baby gate now would be useless if I werent home. She respects it as a barrier when I'm home, but she is capable of jumping a 4 foot fence (I've seen her do it) so the tallest baby gate I could get still isnt tall enough to keep her out.
Ahhh, the joys of not only puppyhood, but an extremely intelligent puppy at that. My last dog was 1/2 Doberman, and she was so smart that she got bored easily.
I remember one day when she thought it might be entertaining to investigate the pantry, which was undergoing a remodel and had no door at the time. She pulled a 5 pound bag of sugar out & brought it into the living room. She shook it until it exploded. Then she shredded the bag into a million or so sticky little pieces. I was gone all of 2 hours. I came home, opened the door, and she flew out & hid under the truck. She knew she was in trouble. I think she was 7 or 8 months old. I remember just standing there and looking at all of that sugar......
That dog had a few of those episodes. She matured around the age of 3. She ended up being the best dog ever.
Its only 11 months old so not fully mature yet in the p'ing dept. Go outside with the dog and praise it and give it food for going outside. What is your feeding practice ? Do you fill the bowl up and let her eat all day, or do it twice ? I did that and it was a disaster. Then I decided to let him eat 2.5cups twice a day and its easier to regulate his "gotta go time". If they nibble all day theyll go all day.
As for leaving him in the kitchen with a baby gate, they will still chew when bored. Buy a few rawhide (the smoked kind) and leave him more than he can handle, hell be attracted to them and wear himself out chewing htem too. Also leave ambient talk radio in the back ground.
You are a WONDERFUL pet owner!! Everyone has already given the best advice.
We had a little Terrier Mix who was a real terror in his adolesence. He ate a recliner chair, the legs off a full dining room set, among other things. He was also a very moody little varmint! But he ended up being the best dog (he was one of so many strays we found, and he was a puppy). The thing was, he was super smart and bored very easily. We should have had a crate for him (and quite a few others) back in the day, but didn't know back then.
Dogs can be very sensitive to our emotions. We learned to talk to them stern and firm (no shout) just like a child. This puts them on the worst guilt trip when you go like this: : and keep doing it while showing them the bad deed until they "get it". (Thank Heavens for these smilies!) Give a good <GASP!> when you for best effect.
you sound like a great owner.
our guy didn't get to roam until about a year and a half.
I swear puppies go through a teenage rebellion period around 8 or 9 months. Until he was out of that stage he was locked up when we where gone.
what if you excercise her brain majorly before putting her in the crate. It takes about ten minutes and probably less with a puppy. We use to do this w/ Cody-dog when he was a pup and after ten minutes his brain would be fried and the crate was a relaxing place to hang out after. maybe look into shaping?
My ****zu still can't be trusted out of his kennel at the age of two. He does well if we leave him on his own for maybe a month or two, but then he will do what he wants to do, so I decided he will be kenneled when I am not home.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
So then I moved anything that could harm her and regrouped everything even further out of her reach, but still on the cardboard. I came home today, somehow she got the old box from the training collar over to where she could bite at who knows what part of it since it was closed..and ripped pieces of it through her crate and it was all over the floor of her crate. A month or so ago she pulled the entire huge cat bed through the little space between the bars and ate half of it, all the cotton and everything. If shes that anxious in her crate with toys, and pees and poops in the 15-20 minutes I'm next door at the neighbors, I dont know WHEN if EVER I'll be able to trust her out in my house without eating my furniture, walls, or ruining my floors. This sucks. Everyone elses dogs that I know dont do this. My old dog didnt. They all get to be happy and stay out roaming the house when people are gone. It makes me depressed, b/c I work so hard and spend so much time with her. Even after this I still want a boy dog for her to have around. I must be stupid.
