I was under the impression that this is something that had been going on for a long time, but if it has literally only just started, there could be something else that has triggered the behaviour.
Have there been any changes in the house/routine/visitors/people, are you near any bitches that may be in season? If it is a sudden change in behaviour it may be worth looking at potential causes.
____________ Owned by Bella, Shadow & Cats ....
Never forgetting Harry : 18/01/11 - 14/05/11 RIP
I was under the impression that this is something that had been going on for a long time, but if it has literally only just started, there could be something else that has triggered the behaviour.
Have there been any changes in the house/routine/visitors/people, are you near any bitches that may be in season? If it is a sudden change in behaviour it may be worth looking at potential causes.
he has always been a stealer, taking socks and ripping things up and generally being mischevious. Things that have been sitting for a long time that have never been touched by him before, all completely destroyed today. Yesterday it was the hall carpet. There has been no change to his daily routine. It is always the same. No bitches in heat that i'm aware of, we live in a nice scheme and the only other dog wiley comes into contact with is the neighbour 2 doors down has an 11 year old male staffy. There are no other dogs in the area that we've ever seen out.
I am wondering if you leave him alone a lot and he is getting bored? I know you say he gets a walk at lunchtime but if he is left alone all day apart from that it will seem a very long time to him.
I have ordered a 48" crate today, i really didnt want to crate him and he has never been crated. But i cannot trust him alone in the house anymore. I just need to make sure its done right as i don't want him distressed
I am wondering if you leave him alone a lot and he is getting bored? I know you say he gets a walk at lunchtime but if he is left alone all day apart from that it will seem a very long time to him.
I don't doubt for a second it is out of boredom. Its just it seems to have taken an extreme turn. he is left 4 hours at a time twice a day tuesday - friday, the radio is left on for him while we're out as has been suggested many a time on here and he has plenty of toys/chews to occupy him
I am not judging you but I think that is the answer. It must be rather lonely and boring for a young dog. If you could arrange for him to go to a dog sitter/walker for half of the day he would probably be happier and it would be cheaper for you than replacing carpets etc.
I realise I am lucky to be in the position to do this, but I never leave my two for longer than four hours and I would not do that as much as four times a week. Most of us have to work, but if there is a dog in the family thought has to be given to his needs too.
I am not judging you but I think that is the answer. It must be rather lonely and boring for a young dog. If you could arrange for him to go to a dog sitter/walker for half of the day he would probably be happier and it would be cheaper for you than replacing carpets etc.
I realise I am lucky to be in the position to do this, but I never leave my two for longer than four hours and I would not do that as much as four times a week. Most of us have to work, but if there is a dog in the family thought has to be given to his needs too.
I am considering every option i can, i love him and want the best for him, but don't have much of a choice with our current situation. I have looked at sitters/walkers in my area. All the ones in my area only offer either walks at about 40 minutes, or being in the house with him for a maximum for 45 minutes. We already walk him for 30 minutes in the morning and 30 minutes at night when we get home. Would getting someone to come walk him for 30+ minutes at lunch be that much better as that's all that's really on offer in my area. We don't have any family that is free to take him. There is my partners gran but Wiley is too big, strong and boisterous for her to handle.
When do you find the destruction, is it when you come home at lunchtime or in the evening? A 30 minute walk isn't really a huge amount of time for a young dog first thing in the morning, when he is then going to be left to his own devices for 4 hours. Crating him may solve the problem of him destroying things, but he could also destroy his crate, or injure himself trying to get out.
A few options that I can think of are ... walk him for longer in the morning and do some training while on the walk. Have someone come in at lunchtime to walk him for 40 minutes, or if you can get home at lunchtime yourself, have him walked mid-morning and when you are home for lunch spend 15/20 minutes doing some training with him (clicker training could be a good start, but anything that gets him using his brain). I would have thought that a 30 minute walk in the morning, followed by a 40 minute mid morning walk and some training at lunchtime, he will probably be tired enough to sleep in the afternoon.
The problem is down to bored and lack of stimulation so if you can address those problems you may start to see an improvement in his behaviour.
____________ Owned by Bella, Shadow & Cats ....
Never forgetting Harry : 18/01/11 - 14/05/11 RIP
It is obvious how much you do love your dog and want to get the best situation for him, but if he is bored because he is left so long when he has a whole room to be in, imagine his frustration if you then restrict him to a crate for such long hours. It is really making a bad situation worse.
If I were you I would get a dog walker in for the 40 minutes you feel is arrangeable whilst looking around for something which would suit your dog's set up better, i.e. doggy daycare.
I really want to just make a few extra points to the advice already given.
* Dogs when young may be angels. They may be devils as regards destruction and chewing. But every single thing they *get hold of* is because) and I say it with the greatest of understanding as to WHY we do it) we have set them up to fail.
* The reason most young dogs are OK as puppies given the run of rooms where there are a million chewable items, THEN start chewing and destroying is because it is habit forming. They don't think about it, then for some reason, a bit of extra time left or just an opportunity to a rapidly growing brain needing stimulation, and suddenly they do it to one thing, find it emensely fun, and most importantly, at the time noone is there to tell them its wrong, so therefore dogs are black and white, it must be OK to do!!
There is absolutely no trusting a dog because in trusting a young dog with a million things around it to rip up, tug about, tear to bits, chew up all we create is a destructive dog. be that at ten weeks or suddenly at ten months from a dog who previously had a halo.
* Crates are great but not for everyone. A crate is definately one answer. You remove ALL possibility of the dog doing wrong which really is entirely kind and sensible and the only answer to no destruction and breaking the habit that is starting (or has started).
Another answer which may appeal to some is just simply confining the dog to a 'safe' room. One you have slightly resignoed yourself to a bit of woodwork damage. Maybe the odd floor tile. A door handle or two on cupboards. Absolutely no rooms with carpets, reachable curtains, toys, remote controls, CD's, books, shoes, cables on the ground or soft furnishings!! So basically simply a kitchen, maybe a utility room, possibly a conservatory with chewable things removed.
Sadly you can't just think 'a dog should be able to be trusted'. It can't and the main reason being you are never there to tell it what its not meant to be doing so you absolutely cannot expect it not to. When we come home angry, they don't 'understand', they just feed off our angry vibes and think 'ohhhhh hes angry about something I must make myself as small as possible so he doesn't take it out on me/raise his voice/so I can try and aplease him' although the poor soul won't have a SCOOBY what he has done to deserve your anger as he may of trashed the cushion/priceless Elvis CD/DVD player cables 3.5 hours before
So seriously, don't set youngsters up to fail. And teaching them to be happy in a room that you have looked around, thought about, removed the obvious from and pushed things to the back of worksurfaces in, is good for them, accepting their own space not the run of the place.
Later on you can introduce freedom slowly in small stages, but for the time being, from 8 weeks till, for us, at least a year old, confine to the kitchen when you aren't there, or another room, or a crate if you are all open plan and its impossible and you will both become much happier with one another. And remember, as dogs grow they can reach higher and higher They also sleep a lot less and crave a lot more mental stimulation than a young puppy. So remember to factor that lot in
good luck!
Di
____________
The boys!
Read: Wylanbriar Dog Blog on the website: Updated! 1st February 12´!
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